Bill Would Allow Banning of Books in Indiana K-12 Schools

The legislation has passed the General Assembly and heads to the governor's desk for consideration.

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INDIANAPOLIS – A bill that would allow banning books in Indiana schools is one step away from becoming law.

Senate Bill 1447, which has language from Senate Bill 12, was passed on Thursday.

Under the legislation, a parent or guardian of a child enrolled in a school could submit a complaint that a book in the school library is inappropriate.

Ultimately, a school board would review each complaint at a public meeting and decide if the book should be taken off the library shelf.

If a school board decides to keep the book, parents and guardians could appeal the decision.

The bill becomes law with Governor Holcomb's signature. 

Sen. James Tomes (R-Wadesville), one of the authors of Senate Bill 12, issued the following statement regarding the legislation:

“About four years ago, I was approached by concerned parents who showed me a series of books they discovered were readily available to their children in school and public libraries. These books contain obscene, pornographic material no child should be exposed to.

"Senate Bill 12 is a bill that addresses this issue in a simple way, striking the word 'educational' out of our current statute and taking away the excuse that these books hold any educational value if a school decides to make them available in their library.

"It is important to understand that this bill does not ban or censor any books - only removes the 'educational' defense a library can use if the presence of an inappropriate book accessible to children comes into question. Legitimate literary works, books and novels are not affected.

"This legislation also only applies to K-12 libraries, and doesn't include colleges or universities.

"It is stunning to me that anyone wouldn't want to protect our children from the harmful material I saw within these books. This bill is important, and I will continue to advocate for its passage into law."

ACLU of Indiana advocacy and public policy director, Katie Blair, issued this statement: 

“Just because one person does not want their child to read a book does not give them the right to ban that book for everyone’s children. Schools should be a thriving ground for freedom of speech and freedom of thought. They should not be turned into a space of control to support a political agenda. As we have seen across the country, when books are censored, it is mostly books by and about LGBTQ people, people of color, and other marginalized groups that are the first to be banned. Students have a right to learn about all types of people and histories. This bill will have a chilling effect on the availability of books for students to read and explore.”