3000 Tennessee library books pulled: topics of slavery, the Holocaust, menstruation, ancient history, unclothed animals
Library books on slavery, Holocaust pulled in Rutherford County
Books featuring topics of slavery, the Holocaust, menstruation, ancient history, unclothed animals were flagged as potential violations of state and federal legal standards.
Books were flagged by librarians for possible violations such as:
“unclothed anthropomorphic animals, violence”
“Adam and Eve nude in the Garden of Eden; Violence”
“underpants shown during cartwheel”
“An image capturing an affectionate gesture where a girl gives a boy a kiss on the cheek on the school bus during Valentine’s Day.”
“Fictional male rabbits get married”
“Civil War Hero, Mary, dresses in pants, history of undergarments present and modeled by chickens”
“Kissing”
“Words “ass” appears for donkey and “cock” for rooster”
“2 male neighbors speaking to one another, one has a rainbow and his produce bag**”**
“LGBTQIA+ rights”
“implied breastfeeding”
“nude mummified body”
“classroom discussion of book bans and censorship”
“discussion of teen getting period”
“woke”
Popular titles flagged and pulled include Aesop’s Fables, two Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne, multiple Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling, and a Charlie Brown book by Charles Schultz.
Key Points
A letter from Secretary of State Tre Hargett prompting public libraries across the state to submit a review of their collections has led to the removal of nearly 3,000 books in one county.
The letter asked public libraries to complete a review of their entire juvenile collections within 60 days and provide a report to Hargett’s office to avoid the risk of losing funding.
The letter sent libraries across the state scrambling over the holiday season, even as state officials deny it was ever an order.
Books on slavery, racism and the Holocaust are among the nearly 3,000 pulled from public library shelves across Rutherford County following a letter from State Secretary Tre Hargett prompting a review of juvenile collections across nearly all state public libraries.
Four Anne Frank biographies, more than 30 books focused on the Bible, five books on women’s history and suffrage and numerous books on ancient civilizations were among those removed for review.