In Texas this week, the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District quietly erased nearly 300 titles from its classrooms and libraries. Another 450 are now flagged as “do not purchase”, meaning entire swaths of literature may never reach young readers in this community.
The banned list includes classics, children’s stories, and contemporary works that touch on race, gender, or queer identity. Authors of color, queer authors, and books about gender fluidity were disproportionately targeted. It’s a pattern we’ve seen across the country: organized efforts to erase voices that challenge the dominant narrative.
Book banning isn’t just about keeping titles off shelves. It’s about shaping what young people are allowed to think about, question, and imagine. When stories are restricted, empathy shrinks. When perspectives are erased, history gets rewritten.
This move also comes just weeks before Banned Books Week (October 5–11, 2025), a nationwide event that celebrates the freedom to read. The timing is a reminder that censorship doesn’t happen in the abstract. It’s happening right now, in real schools, affecting real students.
At Civic Goods, we believe in a simple principle: Books Over Bans. Stories connect us. Silencing them divides us.
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