Are Wisconsin schools banning books? Here's what we know.

Since 2021, Wisconsin schools have fielded requests to restrict over 200 books from their collections, and they’ve made decisions to restrict over 100, school district records show.

Book bans have surged across the country in the last few years, and Wisconsin is no exception. Two major pushes have made news in just the past month: 33 books banned at Menomonee Falls High School, and 12 books under consideration in Kenosha schools.

The trend in recent years is something the ACLU of Wisconsin is "monitoring with concern," said interim director Tim Muth, noting that many of the restricted books feature characters of color and LGBTQ+ characters, suggesting the restrictions are politically motivated and could violate students' rights to access information.

"When you put all in one place their titles and their subject matters, I think it makes it clear that the reasons for pulling these books have to do with the school board’s disagreements with the ideas, with the content, which is an illegal and unconstitutional reason to remove books from a library," Muth said.

Here's what to know about about book bans in Wisconsin.

What is considered a book ban?

PEN America, a nonprofit that has done the most comprehensive tracking of book bans, counts a ban whenever an objection to the content of a book results in removal or restricted access, overriding initial decisions by librarians or educators who had selected the materials.

The organization does not count decisions made by educators to weed out materials during regular curriculum reviews and updates.

Organizations that have pushed for removals have disagreed with that definition. Suzanne Gallagher, the director of Parents Rights in Education, argued there's no "ban" if a book is still available via booksellers. Wisconsin parents have justified demands for removals by arguing that students can find the books other places.

But in court cases involving materials removed from school libraries, judges have rejected such arguments. A federal judge in New Hampshire noted: "Restraint on expression may not generally be justified by the fact that there may be other times, places, or circumstances available for such expression."

Have book bans become more common in schools?

Yes. In recent decades before 2021, PEN America noted the organization encountered a "handful" of book bans each year. In the 2021-22 school year, it counted 2,532 instances of book titles being banned in schools, including 29 in Wisconsin. In the last school year, it counted 3,362, including 43 in Wisconsin.

PEN America tracked book bans based on media reports, school district websites, school district minutes and reports sent directly to it, which are counted only if the organization can independently confirm it using publicly recorded information. It notes that it has likely counted only a portion of book bans.

Have book bans become more common in public libraries?

Likely, yes. The American Library Association tracks attempts to ban books in both school and public libraries, though it doesn't track the outcomes. It has found that about half of recent challenges were against books in public libraries, and half against books in schools.

Are book bans targeting authors of color and LGBTQ+ authors?

Both PEN America and the American Library Association have found that the vast majority of challenges and bans in recent years were against books written by or about people of color and LGBTQ+ people.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, wrote that the new mass challenges are "evidence of a growing, well-organized" movement to ban books "addressing history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health."

Gallagher, of Parents Rights in Education, one of the most prominent organizations seeking to remove books, has said the uptick in challenges is in response to books under three main themes: "Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Social Justice and Race Theory, and Gender Identity."

Many of the commonly targeted books — including all 33 of the books banned in Menomonee Falls — appear on the website BookLooks.org, which helps parents find books that include content related to sexual activity, commentary on racism, and LGBTQ+ characters. Many book challenges in Wisconsin have cited the website's book reviews.

A USA Today analysis found about 40% of the entries on BookLooks include concerns about "alternate gender ideologies" or "alternate sexualities." The site was founded by Emily Maikisch, who told USA Today she left Moms for Liberty in 2022 to launch it.

More: What's behind the national surge in book bans? A low-tech website tied to Moms for Liberty

What organizations are trying to ban books in Wisconsin?

At least four national organizations have local chapters that have sought book removals from Wisconsin school libraries: Moms for Liberty, MassResistance, Parents' Rights in Education, No Left Turn in Education.

One of the largest removal requests, which ultimately failed, came from Danielle Erickson, chair of the St. Croix County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an extremist antigovernment organization. She and other parents in February sent the Somerset School District a list of 32 books to review, which she argued "do not encourage our students to follow moral strength and virtue."

The parents' list used the some of the same terms found in BookLooks reviews, complaining of "inflammatory racial and religious commentary" in Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," and "alternate gender ideologies" in George Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue." Ultimately, Somerset School Board members stood behind staff decisions to keep the books.

Most recently, a Wisconsin chapter of MassResistance, a group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ group, has sought the removal of books in the Kenosha Unified School District it calls "pornographic." At an Oct. 24 meeting, Kenosha Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss said he was assembling committees to consider 12 requests related to library books.

More: What groups have sought book bans in Wisconsin schools? Here are four to know.

Is it legal for school districts to ban books?

Judges have ruled that while school officials have some authority to remove books from libraries, they can't remove books just because they disagree with ideas presented in the books. That could violate students' freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

Supreme Court justices have interpreted the First Amendment to extend beyond self-expression and include "public access to discussion, debate, and the dissemination of information and ideas" — including in school libraries.

A key U.S. Supreme Court decision came in 1982, after school board members in the Island Trees School District of Long Island ordered the removal of books they said posed a "moral danger," calling them "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy."

Stephen Pico and other students, represented by the ACLU, argued it was a violation of the First Amendment. Justices agreed, with a plurality signing on to an opinion that school boards cannot remove books "simply because they dislike the ideas contained" and seek to "prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion."

On the other hand, justices noted the board members could remove books for more limited reasons, including "educational suitability" and "pervasive vulgarity."

In recent book debates, those seeking to remove books have leaned heavily on arguments about vulgarity, but many have also brought up points regarding politics, religion, race, gender and sexual orientation. Decisions based on such points could open school districts to lawsuits.

In 1995, a school superintendent in Kansas ordered the removal of a book that depicted a romantic relationship between two teenage girls, and the local school board voted to affirm his decision. Board members claimed their objections to the book were based on "educational suitability" — a term they were advised to use by legal counsel. The judge determined their "actual motivation" was discriminatory: All board members voting for the removal had taken issue with the book "glorifying homosexuality." The judge found the district had violated the First Amendment.

Can books be banned for obscenity in Wisconsin?

Those challenging books in Wisconsin have cited state statutes limiting “obscene material” and material “harmful to children.”

The statute regarding obscenity notes that the statute should never be used to censor materials with “serious artistic, literary, political, educational or scientific value.”

Similarly, the other statute notes that material may only be considered harmful to children if it lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, scientific or educational value for children, when taken as a whole.”

Have Wisconsin school boards faced legal challenges?

In June 2022, the ACLU of Wisconsin warned a Wisconsin school board that its decision to remove books from its libraries demonstrated "strikingly similar" circumstances to the Pico case.

In a small village outside Eau Claire, the Cadott School Board had reviewed six library books at the request of a district parent, Casey Yeager. Four of the six books included LGBTQ+ characters. Yeager spoke specifically about LGBTQ+ themes, taking issue with the book "Melissa" discussing "details about gender transition."

Board member Alan Sonnentag, when arguing the book should be restricted, said he didn't like that he "felt that we lost George." The book follows a child named George, who is transgender and knows herself as Melissa. Other board members disagreed and that book stayed in the library.

Board members voted to remove another book, "Protest Movements: Then and Now," by Eric Braun.

Yeager had complained the book was "clouded with bias," noting that it didn't feature the March for Life and that it included the Black Lives Matter movement, which she called "controversial."

Board member Cory LaNou said he liked most of the book, except a short section with "highly controversial issues." He added, "In the current political climate, it creates divide and I see no reason for that."

Board members also voted to remove "The Baby Tree," by Sophie Blackall, because of its last page, which is meant to help parents explain conception and pregnancy to young children. They voted to restrict "Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag" to only be available to students in fourth grade and above, although the book is marketed for ages 5 to 8.

In a letter to the district, the ACLU of Wisconsin outlined First Amendment rights and urged the district to "end policies and practices that suppress the free exchange of ideas and discriminate against viewpoints and representation of marginalized communities."

The ACLU also noted that statutes require public schools to provide “an appreciation and understanding of different value systems and cultures,” and that state administrative code requires school libraries to offer a “current, balanced collection of books” that “depicts in an accurate and unbiased way the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of American society.”

After receiving the letter from the ACLU, the board reversed its decision and put the books back. District Administrator Josh Spaeth told the Journal Sentinel there haven't been any requests for removals since then.

What books have been banned in Wisconsin?

See a list of all books that have been removed or restricted from Wisconsin libraries here.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What we know about book bans in Wisconsin schools