June 11, 2025, 1:13pm
Another win for freedom to read legislation on the West Coast this week, as Oregon’s state House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1098 on Monday, a bill that will protect access to books in school libraries. It’s great news: books can no longer be banned solely because they discuss sexuality, religion, or other topics, nor can books be removed because they are written by someone from a protected class. SB 1098 now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it into law.
The successful legislative effort got a big lift from a coalition of advocates and citizens, including the ACLU of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, and Authors Against Book Bans, a organization with a great track record in fights like these.
Cat Winters, an author and the co-leader of the Oregon chapter of Authors Against Book Bans, told me that the bill will “give school librarians and teachers a much-needed tool to protect the freedom to read.”
“When this bill becomes a law,” Winters added, “it will prohibit individuals and groups from removing books from classrooms and school libraries simply because they don’t want students reading about the existence of LGBTQIA+ people or people from different races, religions, etc.”
The bill passed along party lines, with one Republican, Cyrus Javadi, voting in for the bill. Javani broke from the dominant right-wing obsessions and spoke out against the culture of book banning that’s become all too prevalent in his party. “Let’s not flatten our libraries out of fear, let’s not confuse discomfort with danger, and let’s not teach our kids that their stories are too controversial to belong on the shelf,” he said.
The bill’s supporters emphasize that this doesn’t mandate that any particular books must be included in libraries, nor that the libraries can’t be curated to be age appropriate. Instead, SB 1098 makes it clear that you can’t remove books just because you don’t like what’s in it or who wrote it. This is important, because as Winters pointed out, in Oregon and elsewhere “challenged books have been disproportionately by and/or about people from protected classes.”
The ALA has been tracking similar Right to Read bills, and Oregon now joins Colorado, Washington, California, Vermont, Minnesota, Illinois, Maryland, Washington, and others in protecting libraries and library workers.
It’s an exciting win, and a glimmer of hope. “I am proud of our Oregon AABB members for providing moving, personal testimony, both in person and in writing, to convey the importance of books in the lives of our young readers,” Winters told me. “Diverse books show kids they’re not alone and that their lives have value.”
The work of advocating for books and reading is also a demonstration of a community’s principles, Winters said, and a project that is looking to the future of Oregon and beyond: “We have a strong, compassionate community of readers, writers, educators, and activists here in Oregon—a community that understands that giving kids the freedom to read better prepares them for the world.”