Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) believes that books save lives—and she’s introducing legislation to prove it.
The Democratic congresswoman introduced the Books Save Lives Act, aimed at fighting the rise in conservative book bans, on the House floor on Thursday. “Let me make it plain,” she said, “book bans are discriminatory and harmful, and Congress might unite against them.”
As a child who endured sexual abuse, Pressley said, the experience of reading Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was revelatory. “It was the first time in my life I knew I was not alone,” she said in her floor speech. “And it helped me move forward. So when I say that books save lives, I mean that.”
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The bill would require public and school libraries to maintain a diverse assortment of books written by a variety of voices, and would classify discriminatory book bans as violations of federal civil rights law. It would also ensure that primary and secondary schools have a library with a trained librarian, according to a press release from the lawmaker’s office.
Finally, the legislation requires the Government Accountability Office to study the effect of book bans on underrepresented and minority communities.
In an interview with The Advocate, Pressley added, “There are draconian forces using very hateful rhetoric and then codifying that rhetoric into laws. They are anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ, anti-woman. So I think this fight really sits at the intersection of all of their efforts, both in hate speech and hateful and harmful policies.”
Spurred on by right-wing activists and legislators, book bans have been on the rise, with more than 3,300 bans targeting more than 1,500 books reported during the last school year alone, according to PEN America. The nonprofit has said that, although Florida and Texas continue to lead the nation in banning books, “the crisis has spread,” proliferating across at least 41 states.
“Every reader deserves to see themselves reflected in our literature – and our bill would help make that a reality for all,” Pressley told HuffPost.
