Banning book bans: Walz visits high school to discuss proposed bill
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ST. PAUL — Thursday, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan were joined by library professionals, students and legislators at Como Park Senior High School in St. Paul to highlight legislation that would prohibit the banning of books in public schools.
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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States saw a significant increase in the number of challenges and restrictions on books.
"The idea of a book ban is basically the antithesis of everything we believe in education and in this country," Walz said during the event.
Here's what you need to know about Minnesota's progressive effort to prohibit censorship in public school libraries.
More: Banned Books Week: A visual dive into an alarming increase in attempts to restrict books
Banning a ban
In 2023, 17 states moved to restrict access to over 100 titles according to the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom, and Minnesota was one of them.
Most books facing challenges to be removed from public libraries and schools center on gender, sexuality, race and mental illness. All topics Walz said need to have a presence in schools.
"There's an effort to demonize and marginalize our transgender or LGBTQ students at a time when they need to find their identity more than ever," the former teacher said.
Bill author Democratic Rep. Cedric Frazier of New Hope joined Walz and highlighted Minnesota public schools' literacy gap.
"If you have a citizenry that is not educated, they are less likely to challenge, they're less likely to be vocal about things," he said to the crowd.
The bill would ensure the responsibility of library materials is solely on licensed library media specialists that have a master's degree in library sciences or information sciences, are a professional librarian or have experience with library collection management.
Current Minnesota law allows parents and guardians to make this decision on a personal level. Under the proposed bill, parents would retain this power to opt their child out of being exposed to materials they deem unfit while protecting books from being removed from schools entirely.
The bill was advanced out of the House education committee earlier this month.
State of the libraries
The shelves of the high school library were lined with books that have been banned around the country. Books like "Looking for Alaska," "The Bluest Eye," and "1984."
Walz said he knows that all books aren't good books - but just because some people don't like them, doesn't mean they should be banned.
"Don't read the damn thing, but don't tell me what I'm going to read."
— Sam Woodward is the Minnesota elections reporting fellow for USA Today. You can reach her at swoodward@gannett.com or on X @woodyreports.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Gov. Walz backs proposal to bar book bans: What to know