Book bans in California? How lawmakers, book stores defend diverse literature choices

In February, Capital Books on K in Sacramento’s downtown received a two-star review critical of the store’s children’s book section.

It was Black History Month, and the store was adorned with posters of Black children, families and books to celebrate African American literature.

“Children’s section is littered with woke leftist ideologue literature,” the review read. “However, it was nice that the children’s section had a small chair and bean bags.”

In support of its selection of diverse literature, and in opposition of the review, Capital Books put the review on a shirt. The move has been lauded as an example on how to deal with push back by those in favor of book bans by the American Booksellers Association, Capital Books co-owner Ross Rojek.

“Somebody wants to claim there’s too much Black representation in a bookstore that is during Black history month,” Rojek said. “You can’t please everybody.”

Book bans have been going on for as long as books have been printed, Rojek said. But now, critics often target features stories from LGBTQ+ and communities of color.

“What it does is reduce representation and the ability for children to find books that represent them or their family,” Rojek said. “Not every child in public school is a white straight evangelical child., so those (children of color) need to see books that represent themselves.”

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With book bans spreading across the country, a new piece of legislation seeks to prohibit censorship and protect the First Amendment rights of literature in California.

Assembly Bill 1825, also known as the California Freedom to Read Act, aims to prevent public libraries from banning literature in a discriminatory manner.

“We want professional librarians to be making decisions on how and what books to provide to their local readers. Rather than these vocal minorities with an agenda to attack and suppress the voices and perspectives of LGBTQ and communities of color.” said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, who authored the bill.

AB 1825 would require libraries to establish a book challenging process for community members where criticism could not stem from “the origin, background, or views of those contributing to the creation of the materials,” the bill proposes. Additionally, a book could not be banned because the topics addressed or opinions expressed in the literature. This requirement seeks to protect stories about LGBTQ+ and communities of color from being disproportionately targeted.

“During these dangerous times for our community, we refuse to be silenced or erased,” said Tony Hoang, the director of Equality California Executive, in a news release. “AB 1825 will ensure that our public libraries remain committed to intellectual diversity and grant all Californians the ability to see their own stories and communities reflected in the books they read.”

If passed, local libraries would be required to create “collection development policies” which would provide an explanation on why a book is in its collection, Muratsuchi said. This legislation would also protect material about gender identity, religion, disability, political affiliation and social economic status.

Book challenges in California

A majority of Californians, around 69%, are against efforts to ban books from school boards, a study from the Public Policy Institute of California found. That number drops slightly to 55% from parents with students in public schools. School board book bans are opposed altogether on both sides of the political aisle, the study stated.

Yet, across the United States, public challenges to ban books have increased 65% from 2022 to 2023, according to the American Library Association. A challenge refers to public petitions to take books off library shelves, Muratsuchi said. This uptick is the highest increase documented by the association.

These efforts are prevalent in California as well, with a “vocal minority” fueling the outrage against books, said Muratsuchi. In communities like Huntington Beach and Fresno County, Muratsuchi said there have been 52 challenges of 98 books in public libraries in 2023.

In Fresno, the County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal to start a review process to remove books that contain “age-inappropriate content” from the children’s section, The Fresno Bee reported in November.

Fresno’s resolution states that a county library, or any county facility, is not allowed to provide access books classified as “age-inappropriate” to a child without a parent or guardian’s consent.

This proposal was led by county board supervisor Steve Brandau, who said this effort is not a ban, but removing “books with the sketchy material” out of the children’s section.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Northern California chapter spoke out against this proposal, saying it violates the free speech rights of Fresno residents.

“The Resolution is an invasive and unconstitutional form of censorship that targets books based on seemingly disfavored speech, namely references to bodily anatomy, ‘sexual content,’ and ‘gender identity,” the ACLU letter reads, as reported by The Fresno Bee.

Conservative organizations and right-wing activists have been fueling book bans across the country, said Muratsuchi. These groups specifically target material about LGBTQ+ and communities of color, arguing the material is inappropriate or a part of critical race theory.

Muratsuchi said these groups are trying to ban the perspectives, and histories of these communities.

“Unfortunately, it’s the culture wars that we’re seeing across the country and including right here in California,” Muratsuchi said.