Protecting the Freedom to Read

Early efforts to restrict access to books within schools left teachers, youth, local community groups, and sympathetic public officials struggling to adjust in real time. This became particularly challenging with the polar responses at the federal level—during the Trump presidency, rhetoric around parents’ rights stifled supercharged attacks against schools, while the Biden presidency foregrounded discussions of civil rights and students’ constitutional rights. As we return to the policies of Trump I in Trump II, we examine how advocacy responses have changed. In this, we find some hope—recent efforts have established and nurtured national, state, and local advocacy networks that seek to minimize the harm of the book-banning movement. In this chapter, the authors examine how the book challenge movement has inspired advocacy for preserving the freedom to read on multiple levels.