SALT LAKE CITY — Days after the Utah State Board of Education released a list of 13 books that are now banned from all state public schools, a debate still rages about whether removing student access to certain literature does more harm than good.
The board followed state law that was amended in 2022 allowing a book to be banned from school if at least three local school districts, or at least two school districts and five charter schools, claimed its content contained "objective sensitive material."
"So we’re following the law," said Board Library Media Specialist Davina Sauthoff. "In that law, it was asked that we be responsible to communicate to LEA’s which material met a statewide threshold for removal."
LEA's are local education agencies, which are basically local public school districts in Utah.
"As far as the state board is concerned, we follow the law, we are facilitating what the law asks us to do, and so I know there’s different perceptions and viewpoints out there, but my goal is to help lea’s implement the law in the best way," added Sauthoff.
Administrators at the public library in Salt Lake City also have a process when it comes to procuring their collection, but say limiting access, particularly from those authors with a very different viewpoint, is a dangerous thing to do.
"So many of these books that are being challenged or removed are by BIPOC authors or are showing off the LGBTQIA+ experience," explained Quinn Smith with the Salt Lake City Public Library. "and so when you take those out of schools, you’re limiting what children can see, whether that’s having that empathetic experience or seeing themselves reflected, and that can be harmful either way and it is a slippery slope, like to start seeing what else is going to be removed in the future."
Many families spent Monday at the main library in downtown Salt Lake City, enjoying the many resources available, something the library's Teen Services Specialist say they hope will only continue.
"My whole job is about access and providing access to people, especially teens, so when I hear that their access is being taken away, I get concerned!," said Stephanie Costa.
Costa thought as a society we’d progressed past this sort of thing.
"It’s wild!," she exclaimed. "I think we, maybe a few years back, didn’t see this coming. And now it’s happening?"
The public libraries promise to continue to offer as many different viewpoints as possible for families to make their own decisions on what’s appropriate for their child.
"Every parent has their own opinion as to what their young person should be reading, or what values they have in their home," Costa added, "and we want all the parents in our community to be able to find the materials that they find appropriate,"
Sauthoff claims focusing on getting kids to read and bettering their educational opportunities is the board's ultimate goal, once they’re in compliance with the law.
"Once I’ve done that, I want to continue to support school libraries and librarians who serve our students in developing literacy and a love of reading," she said. "And so that’s where I focus. I try not to get into the nitty-gritty of the camps and different viewpoints, I want to support librarians who serve our students."
