The recent movement to remove books appears to be a coordinated campaign taking place at both the state and local levels; it often targets books that address race, gender or both. Some of these efforts have resulted in laws that threaten to jail librarians. Most Americans oppose removing books from libraries. That may explain why Illinois recently enacted a law that outlaws banning books: If any public library in the state bans materials because of 'partisan or doctrinal' disapproval, it will be ineligible for state funds. Bans ' and the banning of bans ' have already ended up in the courts. For example, in a lawsuit in Florida, a First Amendment advocacy group, a publisher, parents and authors whose books have been targeted filed suit against the Escambia County School District's removal of 10 books and restriction of 100 others in the school library. They alleged that school officials violated students' First Amendment rights when they removed books that discussed, race, racism...
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