You’re probably aware that this month, I’m highlighting Black authors whose books have recently been challenged or banned. I think it’s important that we continue both our support for marginalized authors as well as an awareness to challenges to freedom of speech, and diverse ways of being.

Freedom of speech, a guarantee of the US Constitution, is implemented at the state level. While laws and policies in a school district in Texas may not directly impact what’s happening in your state, it’s important to watch because these movements do spread. So does the work people are doing either in terms of prevention or reaction.

The state of IL seems to still be the only one that has passed legislation that outlaws book bans. It “also included $1.6 million in the FY24 state budget to launch Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library statewide. This initiative includes a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter a family’s income”. Through these efforts, Governor Pritzker seems to be working to develop a life-long love of reading among IL residents.

Indiana, just to the east of Illinois couldn’t be further away in terms of its approach to literacy. The state’s current legislative session is embracing literacy development in education. It’s an interesting path.

Last year, the state’s legislation passed House Enrolled Act 1447 that requires schools to remove library books and other materials that are “obscene” or “harmful to minors.” Librarians or educators found in violation of this law can be charged with a Level Six felony and risk up to two and a half years in jail and $10,000 in fines.

But we want children in Indiana’s reading scores to improve. While the state did adopt Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library last year, the current literacy initiatives are focused on improving test scores. Schools continue to have no certified librarian, and poorly funded libraries. I don’t know that legislators understand the correlation between libraries, their philosophy of building a lifelong love of reading and literacy rates.

This past week, the IN attorney general’s office, headed by Todd Rokita, released the web portal, Eyes on Education. Created without consulting the state’s department of education, the site asks residents to post curriculum, policies, and books that affect children’s learning. The sight states, “Our kids need to focus on fundamental educational building blocks, not political ideology – either left or right.” Because this site is free of political ideology.

States across the country are struggling with what children should have access to read. I think if legislators are going to get involved in classrooms, they need to listen to experts from all sides. More important, they need to connect the dots between all the forms of literacy that exist, understand all the various ways we read the world and work to provide resources that lead to the development of skills that allow young people to maneuver the world with intelligence, and empathy. Teaching them ways to decode a book’s message, a video’s intent, or a website’s biases will carry young people much further than removing books.