State-Sanctioned Book Banning Continues in Utah

Utah has become the state with the highest total number of banned books in public school libraries as of February 2026. While the national discussion regarding book bans often centers on the South, one of the most concerning surges in censorship is occurring in a state north of the Mason-Dixon line and west of the Rocky Mountains.

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones was recently removed from Utah’s public school libraries, making it the twenty-third book removed under a “sensitive materials” law enacted in 2024. This addition to the state code allows students, parents, staff, and even board members to request the removal of any book from a collection. While the local education agency (LEA) can initially reject such a request through a formal review process, the individuals who submitted the challenge may appeal that rejection to the board of directors. 

This type of legislation has become all too common over the past decade, but Utah has taken further measures to normalize and institutionalize the practice. Under the current law, if a book is banned in three public school districts—or two districts and five charter schools—it is subsequently banned across the entire state. Additionally, the law’s implementation immediately triggered the statewide removal of thirteen books labeled as “objective sensitive material,” a decision made without input from library staff. Notably, the majority of authors affected by these bans are women.

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The primary purpose of these policies—at least according to those who support them—is to prevent children from encountering sexual content. While there is reason to be cautious about the materials accessible to children in public spaces, the uninformed, blanket approach seen here is flawed at best and bigoted at worst. 

Librarians are trained specifically in collection development; one of the most common topics is sensitive materials and how to assess them. This fact is apparently lost on most lawmakers, who appear to fear a hidden swarm of sexually charged books that has miraculously gone unnoticed by professional staff.

Furthermore, it is worth considering how older children could be given a respectful, light introduction to romance and physical intimacy through literature and other educational materials. Many are experiencing these feelings for the first time and will likely rely on the content around them for guidance, as they often do with other life transitions.

Finally, it can not be denied how marginalized communities are all too often targeted by the very language used in this law. Establishing a narrow morality through purposefully vague phrasing has been a tool of oppression for centuries, and this is its latest incarnation. 

This change to the Utah State Code has already had a drastic impact on every public school library in the state and will continue until there is sufficient political pressure to reverse it. Similar legislation continues to be proposed and even enacted across the entire country. EveryLibrary maintains lists of concerning bills and pro-library legislation to help individuals track what is happening in their own communities. 

Visit www.everylibrary.org to learn more about our work on behalf of libraries. 

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