Coalition Leaders Raise Alarm Over Expanding Statewide School Book Bans

Coalition partners PEN America, ACLU of South Carolina, EveryLibrary, and others have expressed alarm as the South Carolina Board of Education moves forward with additional statewide school book bans.

Source: PEN America Press Release (March 28, 2025; updated May 7)
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On May 6, the Board voted to ban 10 more books in public schools across the state, bringing the total number of state-mandated bans to 22. According to PEN America, this now makes South Carolina the leading state in the nation for statewide book bans affecting every K–12 public school.

The bans stem from Regulation 43-170, which prohibits books containing descriptions of “sexual conduct,” regardless of literary merit or educational value. Critics argue the regulation is overly broad and allows a single complaint to trigger statewide removal, effectively giving one individual outsized influence over what nearly 800,000 public school students can access.

“These bans aren’t protecting young people - they’re doing the opposite,” said Madison Markham of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. Josh Malkin of the ACLU of South Carolina added that the regulation has created “the dangerous outcome of a bad policy,” urging the Board to revisit the rule before further damage is done.

The titles recommended for statewide bans include works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sarah J. Maas, Malinda Lo, Alice Sebold, and Ellen Hopkins, many of which are written for young adult readers and address complex real-world issues such as identity, grief, consent, and trauma.

Freedom to Read SC stands with coalition partners in calling for thoughtful review, respect for professional standards, and the protection of students’ First Amendment rights in South Carolina schools.