Legislators request JLARC study last four years of Virginia book removals

A Senate committee recently advanced a proposal for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to report on book removals in Virginia public schools between July 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2024.

The study had an initial due date of Nov. 1, 2026, but a proposed Senate amendment could move up the timeline by a year.

Del. Marcus B. Simon, D-Fairfax, sponsored House Joint Resolution 440. The study proposed is in relation to Senate Bill 656, which passed in 2022, Simon said in the House session. 

SB 656 tasked the state Department of Education to create a model policy on sexually explicit instructional materials, which includes notifying parents, allowing them to review, and giving alternative material if requested. Local school boards had to adopt the policy, and were allowed to “be more comprehensive,” according to the bill.

“In 2022, we passed a bill that really made it much easier and expanded the ability for folks to challenge books in our public libraries and challenge certain titles,” Simon said. “With the idea being that they wanted to keep their kids from having to read offensive materials.”

Virginia had the fifth highest amount of book bans in the country last school year, with approximately 121 bans across five school districts, according to a report by PEN America. 

“Books like Judy Blume’s ‘Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,’ are disappearing from library shelves across the commonwealth,” Simon said.

The commission would look at what books and authors have been removed from public school libraries over the past few years and associated themes found in the books, according to the bill.

Books targeted for bans in the U.S. increased by 65%, from 2022 to 2023, according to data from the American Library Association. Across the U.S. there were around 4,240 books targeted, during 2023. 

“Some people say that banning books from libraries doesn’t have an impact because “you can buy them!”” stated Virginia Commonwealth University librarian M. Teresa Doherty, in an email. “But that is a disingenuous response, because not everyone can afford to buy the books they want to read, and they should not have to do so.”

Public and school libraries are meant to share their book collections with the community, Doherty stated. 

Pen America is part of a century-old, international literary organization which protects free expression. The most common themes and topics in banned books, according to the organization, include: violence, health, grief, racism, LGBTQ+ related topics and detailed sexual experiences — including teen pregnancy, abortion or sexual assault.

“Some books are challenged because they present a view of the world that is different from what the people reading them are comfortable with, and which makes them uncomfortable,” Doherty stated. “Books which discuss racism, transphobia, the traditional patriarchy, capitalism, etc. can be seen as objectionable.”

The books of LGBTQ+ authors and authors of color are most targeted, according to Pen America. 

2023 Librarian of the Year calls for proper procedure, due process

The Virginia Library Association helps promote libraries and open access to information services. VLA executive director Lisa Varga was the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year in 2023. She was recognized for testifying against book bans and censorship, advocating for libraries, working to protect intellectual freedoms and standing up for First Amendment rights, according to the Library Journal.

Many books are targeted for bans because of content shown on only a few pages of the entire book, according to Varga. There are also books targeted for “sexually explicit” themes that do not actually contain them, but portray an LGBTQ+ person or couple. 

Varga used the book “Bathe the Cat” by Alice B. McGinty as an example. Parents opposed the book for sexually explicit content, because of a page showing two men holding hands, implying that those men have sex, according to Varga.

“Are we expected to go through the library and take out any books where two people are holding hands? Even a mother and daughter?” Varga said. 

The most banned book in the U.S. during 2023-2024 was “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult. The book is about a school shooting and was banned because of a rape scene, according to PEN America. There were 18 other books banned in at least 50 school districts across the nation. 

Banned books that make it to the top 10 will often be heard about the most, but books further down the lists need just as much attention, according to Varga. 

“It's important to look at those books as well because they may be ones getting caught up in this giant lasso of trying to remove things,” Varga said, paraphrasing from a colleague.

It is important to know why a book was banned and if the proper procedures and due process was used, according to Varga. An important part of this due process is the Miller Test, which evaluates books as a whole rather than in parts. Varga found through information requests that many books were not read in their entirety.

“People will be looking back on this time in history to say ‘what were people doing to stop this, to prevent this?” Varga said.

House lawmakers passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote, but with support of three Republicans. The bill advanced from a Senate rules committee on Feb. 14. Lawmakers have until Feb. 22 to take final action on bills, according to the General Assembly calendar.