Gov. Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 1098 into law earlier this week, and it will now be harder to remove books from school libraries on the basis of discrimination.

The legislation takes effect immediately.

The new law prohibits removing and banning books from school libraries for reasons exclusively based on the fact that their content includes a protected class.

Protected classes are groups protected by law from illegal discrimination that is rooted in a characteristic of that group. As defined by Oregon law, that includes race, national origin, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical or mental disability, military status, or marital or family status. 

The law applies not only to books in a school library, but also to textbooks and instructional and program materials.  

The law does not make it impossible to remove books from a school. People can file a complaint arguing that a book is not appropriate for the student’s age and/or the book’s educational value.

But the only people who can file such complaints are those directly connected to the school — such as a parent or guardian of an enrolled student. A committee in the school district will make the final determination regarding the book’s removal.

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Oregon is not alone nationally when it comes to legislation regarding book bans. In state legislatures across the country, laws regarding public and school libraries, intellectual freedom, and book bans are being considered in record numbers. At the same time,  books are being banned from public and school libraries in record numbers.

According to the American Library Association and the advocacy group EveryLibrary, some legislation would expose librarians to criminal prosecution or civil penalties, change obscenity laws and the definition of “harmful to minors,” restrict collection development policies or create parental notification requirements, and defund libraries.

Another bill introduced in the Oregon Legislature, Senate Bill 212, would create a rating system that would determine whether books should be made available to children based on the book’s content and the child’s age. No action has been taken on the bill since it was assigned to a Senate subcommittee in mid-January, and it is likely to die.  

Oregon’s new law is relatively unique compared to other laws resisting book bans, which often rely on the First Amendment’s provisions of free speech and expression. Oregon’s law is rooted in law related to discrimination and protected classes.

It responds directly to a clear pattern seen around the country and in Oregon, in which a disproportionate number of books targeted for banning involve marginalized, ethnically diverse, and minority groups. 

In Oregon, data collected by the State Library of Oregon show that 87 percent of the 63 books challenged in the fiscal year between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, were about one or more under-represented groups. And, 93 percent of books banned in Oregon in that year — mostly in school libraries — are books about people belonging to a protected class.

Two-thirds of books, about 66 percent, concerned LGBTQ people and content. The year before, that number was 41 percent, showing steep increases.   

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In Oregon, the three most challenged books were Beyond Magenta, Flamer, and Heartstopper Volume 1 — all of which are LGBTQ content. 

“No matter the stated reason for a challenge,” the report reads, “one pattern is clear: challenged materials are disproportionately about, by, or center the stories of individuals who belong to a protected class under Oregon law.”