After 6 books banned in 10 days, here's some information as to what's going on behind the scenes.
We are still within the 30 day window to urge the USBE to vote and potentially overturn these bans, so contact the state school board members and tell them how these books contain serious value and should remain accessible to students!! Link in our bio for an easy email format :)
Thank you readers for all the work you're doing, more updates to come soon.
ALCU is hosting a training session on how to turn passion into organization and action. With the banning of 6 books in the past month, this training is more important than ever.
Hosted on Saturday, May 9th at 9 a.m.!! RSVP at the link in our bio, we hope to see you there.
Last week was National Library Week, but I celebrate our most democratic institution every day. 📚🫶🥳 #libraries #Utah #NoKings #librariesAreForEveryone @letutahread
Just a friendly reminder as four more books, including one from a Nobel Prize winner, are banned statewide in Utah. We do not need to keep kids safe from books. We need books to keep kids safe. #bookbans #censorship #NoKings #libraries #librarians @letutahread@educationcaucus@aclu_utah@penamerica
You don't wanna opt out of this event! Join us for an all-ages family event celebrating Opting Out, a new middle grade graphic novel about navigating puberty and a world of binaries when all you want is to create your own story 🏳️⚧️
✨ Maia Kobabe & Lucky Srikumar: Opting out
📅 Wednesday, May 13
🕖 6 pm
📍 Westminster University Vieve Gore Concert Hall
🎟️ Tickets Required
😷 Masks required
From the award-winning author/illustrator of GENDER QUEER and a bright new talent comes the story of a kid named Saachi, who is navigating friendship woes, sister issues, and a resistance to blue-and-pink binaries.
Look, the world is scary right now. Especially for trans youth, and especially for trans media. So yeah, this event means the world to us. Please share, attend, and order a copy Maia Kobabe and Swati "Lucky" Srikumar's new graphic novel, Opting Out—because we need stories like this! Help us support trans kid books 🩵🩷🤍
Image Description: 1- a graphic with a photo of the author/artist duo and the cover of the book with the event details included above. There is the Under the Umbrella logo. 2- a graphic with the book cover and attributes.
#UnderTheUmbrellaBookstore #bookstagram #ShopLocal #SupportSmallBusiness #Books #AuthorEvents #SLCEvents
"Libraries are democracies in action."
No Kings Protest 03.28.26 Thank you to our cofounder @rebekahcjmmings for highlighting that libraries, books, and public education have been under attack. Thank you all for taking the time to gather, to educate yourselves, and to protest with us 🙏🏼🙌🏼
...aaannnddd that's a wrap on the 2026 Utah Legislative Session!! Thank you all for putting in the work and writing your legislators, showing up to the read-in, and protesting censorship bills.
However, the work isn't over yet!! ACLU Utah is hosting a legislative wrap up to discuss this year's legislative session and talk more about the work that still needs to be done.
When: Tuesday, March 24
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Location sent upon RSVP
Hope to see you all there!!
As you may have heard, Utah banned 4 more books statewide.
Keep reading and talking about these books.
And join us tomorrow at Church & State for the Community Action Fair hosted by @elevate_utah@betterutah@betterutahinstitute to learn how you can help us fight back against book bans.
We had a wonderful time at the annual Read-In last Friday. Our legal director Jason Groth gave a speech and made it clear that one thing that you will learn from current and past cases is that when you champion the right to read, you win!
Keeping reading, reading is an act of protest.
A new bad bill has been introduced and assigned to a committee‼️
HB517 is a direct retaliation against the ACLU Vonnegut v. Utah lawsuit. It writes in retaliations against the ACLU and those involved, while also writing in protections from future lawsuits. Date effective is immediately, or May 6, 2026 at the latest, which one can assume is in case they lose the lawsuit.
‼️Write to your legislators!! Tell them to vote no on this bill!!
‼️Come to Hill Talk on Wednesday with @elevate_utah@betterutah and others at Church & State @6 :30 to talk about this bill, other bad bills, and what you can do about them.
On February 13, Utah banned another book statewide.
This will keep happening if more sensitive materials bills get passed. Write to your legislators, tell them to vote no on HB197 and SB72.
Write to the state school board members, tell them how these books contain serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value and should remain accessible to students.
Most importantly, keep showing up, sharing the info, and being loud about it. The more people that make their voice heard the more it shows that the community cares about and wants access to these books.
With just a few weeks left, it’s more critical than ever that we know exactly what’s going on at the Utah Legislative Session and how to get involved.
Join this week’s Hill Talk to learn from @stewardshiputah , @letutahread , and @disabilitylawcenter , meet new friends, and just maybe find some hope.
See you at 6 PM on Wednesday, 2/18, at @churchandstateevents in Salt Lake! RSVP at link in bio.
