Statement in Support of Plaintiffs in St. Francis (MN) Area Schools Lawsuits

The EveryLibrary Institute supports the students, families, and educators bringing forward two lawsuits against St. Francis Area Schools (ISD 15) over its restrictive and unconstitutional book banning policy.

The district’s current policy violates established First Amendment principles and undermines students' rights as readers in K-12 education. We urge the court to affirm the right to read in school libraries and educational settings.

The district's policy explicitly discriminates based on viewpoint, imposing censorship that restricts student access to diverse perspectives. By outsourcing book review decisions to a partisan group ("Book Looks"), the district removes local professional judgment and silences essential educational dialogue, directly contravening the Minnesota Constitution’s protection of free expression. The books that have been targeted, including literature like The Bluest Eye, The Kite Runner, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Handmaid’s Tale, and even Elie Wiesel's Holocaust memoir, Night have been removed solely due to the ideas and experiences they convey. Minnesota state law explicitly forbids banning materials based on viewpoint, yet the school’s policy mandates exactly that.

Removing those books from the St. Francis Area Schools diminishes students' independent inquiry and educational preparedness. It deprives them of challenging, enriching, and culturally significant literature, undermining the very mission of public education to develop informed, thoughtful, and empathetic citizens. By enforcing an automatic removal of challenged books with no opportunity for appeal or professional evaluation, the district undermines educators' professional judgment, expertise, and ability to fulfill educational standards. Teachers and school librarians must be trusted to select and provide materials that reflect diverse experiences and support rigorous educational objectives.

We encourage the Court to affirm students' fundamental right to read, explore, and understand diverse perspectives free from ideologically motivated censorship. Upholding these core constitutional principles is crucial for the future of the right to read in our schools and for the integrity of our democracy.