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Bucks County in Pennsylvania has seen an increase in book challenges mostly led by a group called “Woke Pennsylvania”. In response, the school board has drafted a new Library Materials policy, one that specifically prohibits “explicit or implied written descriptions of sexual acts” and “visual depictions of nudity or implied nudity.” This would mean that a book like In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak or puberty books depicting bodies would be banned from elementary libraries.
The Bucks County Beacon ran this policy through a plagiarism checker and found that 48% of the text was from the Texas Education Agency’s policy, much of it taken word-for-word.
Texas is the only state that has seen more book challenges than Pennsylvania this year, partly due to Matt Krause’s 16 page spreadsheet of books he wants removed from school libraries. This list has been used by conservative groups across the country to challenge books, despite its errors and questionable selection process.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
