Some states are banning books. Maryland is banning bans.

State lawmakers are ironing out the details of the Freedom to Read Act, a bill that will require local school districts and public library systems to adopt book review policies that guarantee no book is removed from shelves “because of partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval.”

It will also increase protections for school and public librarians, who often face backlash or retaliation for following book removal protocols.

The bill passed the House of Delegates and the Senate two weeks ago. After both chambers nail down the details, it will go straight to Governor Wes Moore’s desk to be signed into effect as an emergency measure.

“Books are being taken off the shelves, and librarians are being threatened here in the state of Maryland,” said bill sponsor Delegate Dana Jones. “So this is a problem that we're not just seeing in other states, it's right here at home.”

The American Library Association reported a 20% increase in book banning efforts across the nation in 2023. In Maryland, 148 titles were challenged last year in both public and school libraries — making the state one of 17 nationwide to exceed one hundred.

Book banning campaigns have popped up in multiple counties in recent years — like Howard County this school year, Baltimore County last winter and Eastern Shore counties in 2022.

In September, Carroll County’s superintendent pulled 56 titles from school libraries while they were being reviewed.

“Some folks call it a shadow ban,” Jones said. “So when you pull Judy Blume in order to review it, ‘Handmaid's Tale’ to review it, Toni Morrison to review it, and it's never on the shelf, then we essentially are taking that book away from people who want to read it.”

Jones’ bill requires that all books stay on the shelves while being reviewed.

“The ability for everyone to see themselves in literature — and I mean everyone — is something that is so important to me, and important to people in my district and people throughout the state,” Jones said. “And sometimes, folks turn to literature when they're going through a hard time. I just didn't want that to be taken away from anybody who needed it.”

Is it an issue of race and sexuality — or just sex? 

Nearly half of all challenged books feature LGBTQ+ and racially diverse characters or authors. But conservative opponents to Jones’ bill, and proponents of book removals, argue that books aren’t being banned for diversity reasons. Instead, it’s because they contain sexual material.

The school board in Carroll County unanimously adopted a policy in January banning “sexually explicit” books from their school libraries. That policy — and six recent books removed from school shelves in the district — became a focal point during bill hearings.

“Does anyone on the panel know whether the book ‘It Ends With Us’ has any LGBTQ or racially-oriented content? Anybody? Yeah, I don't think it does. How about ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses?’” questioned Delegate Jason Buckel, the state’s House Republican leader, in a Feb. 21 hearing. “The reasons that were articulated in Carroll County related to acts of explicit sexual imagery and sexual violence between non-LGBTQ characters.”

Jones responded that the Freedom to Read Act isn’t about a specific book — or a specific county.

“This is about a slippery slope of censorship,” she said in the hearing. “This is about taking books out of libraries, and when does it stop?”

But Delegate Chris Tomlinson, a Republican representing Carroll County, said the targeted backlash towards his county is “frustrating.”

“We already do everything that this bill is trying to implement or create,” Tomlinson said. “So why are we getting grief about it?”

Tomlinson and other Carroll County representatives released a joint statement in early March to “strongly oppose” the Freedom to Read Act, saying it takes away local control.

“We never like it when the state comes down and says, ‘We don't like what you're doing in your county, so we're going to change things at a state level,’” Tomlinson said. “They are saying that the counties can set up whatever policy they want. However, it's got to be consistent with the state standards for libraries, which is repeated over and over and over again in the bill.”

But Jones says the bill still gives local leaders the final say in developing their book review policies.

“This bill does not make any requirements on curriculum at all,” she said. “And it leaves latitude for parents of children in schools, through the process laid out in the bill, to request librarians’ review of a book.”

Leave it to the professionals

And, most importantly Jones says, the bill returns power to local librarians.

“I really want to leave the job of the library collection, the curation of the collection, to the highly-educated professionals that we have, and we're lucky to have,” Jones said.

Capathia Campbell has served as a media specialist in school libraries for 21 years, most recently at Hebbville Elementary School in Baltimore County. She says parents should trust librarians to stock books that are safe and educational for their children.

“I am a professional librarian. I have a master's degree in library science,” she said. “You wouldn't tell a doctor or surgeon what to do and what tools to use. So give me that same respect.”

Before bringing a book into her school library, Campbell spends weeks vetting it.

“I use Kirkus Book Review. I use the School Library Journal. I use the New York Times Book Review,” she said. “I go to the public library. And I will sit there for hours, sometimes weeks, looking at the reviews, reading the reviews, checking out the book, reading the books myself.”

Campbell knows many colleagues who’ve faced backlash because of book banning campaigns — but she’s faced very little.

“Baltimore County has a really strong policy and procedure in place, and it's been working for years,” Campbell said.

But neighboring counties don’t have strong policies — and that’s when issues happen.

“If you don't want your child to read that book, that's okay. But don't stop someone else from reading it,” she said. “Unless we all can read what we decide to read, none of us can.”