ACLU, education groups warn Granbury schools their book removal process violates students’ rights

Granbury school officials are violating the First Amendment by removing books from libraries, the ACLU of Texas and other civil rights organizations claim in a letter sent Monday to district leaders. The Hood County district took more than 125 books off campus library shelves as part of a review prompted by Texas Republican leaders, who are cracking down on books they’ve deemed obscene or pornagraphic. Many of the titles in their crosshairs are about LGBT characters or the country’s history of racism. “Granbury ISD’s mass book removals provide a roadmap for further removals that violate the First Amendment’s clear protections for access to an array of ideas,” the civil rights groups wrote. “Schools, and in particular school libraries, must be a place where students have such broad access to a wide variety of ideas — both the popular and unpopular ones of the moment.”

They are urging district leaders to bring the books back into libraries, reevaluate its removal policies and publicly affirm its “commitments to LGBTQ+ and racial inclusivity and to educating its students on the history of racism and racial injustice in the United States.” Granbury ISD officials have not yet commented on the letter. In a Friday update, school leaders noted that of the 131 books removed in January, roughly 100 have been returned to library shelves. One book was removed because of sexual content, two books were “lost” and 25 are still under consideration, according to the district. A spokesman did not provide a list of which titles fell into which category. The ACLU has previously been successful in getting a controversial book back onto school library shelves. In 2013, they settled a lawsuit against a Utah school district that restricted access to a story about two mothers and their adopted children. That book was ultimately brought back into elementary schools and the district had to pay the ACLU $15,000 in attorneys fees.