Former Oak Ridge literacy speaker, activists push back on book bans at state Capitol
Dozens of local students and literary activists — including author Ann Patchett and actor David Arquette — gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday for the inaugural Literary Day on the Hill, an event aimed at combating the rise in book bans across Tennessee.
The event, organized by Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, comes as the lawmaker introduced his "Freedom to Read" bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Sarah Kyle, D-Memphis. Jones announced the proposal standing before a crowd of students from schools such as Hume Fogg and Martin Luther King. Jr. Magnet high schools in Nashville and Fisk University.
The bill seeks to prohibit libraries — including public and public school libraries — from 'banning, removing, or otherwise restricting access to a book or other material based solely on its viewpoint or the messages ideas, or opinions it conveys, except as otherwise authorized.'
'This is a response to the books bans,' Jones said. 'The freedom to read is an American value — it is something we should defend with everything we have.'
Jones called the rising number of book bans an 'absurdity.'
'Tennessee is leading the way in all the wrong ways, especially when it comes to books being removed from our shelves,' he said. 'This bill gives us something to fight for, something proactive."
The event also featured Patchett, owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville and Arquette, the actor and community advocate. Patchett spoke in Oak Ridge in 2017 as the featured literacy luncheon speaker, an annual event sponsored by Altrusa International of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. This year's Lunch for Literacy event is March 18 at Oak Ridge High School. The speaker is Silas House, a bestselling author and Kentucky poet laureate. Proceeds provide grants for literacy projects for schools and organizations in Anderson and Roane counties.
Caroline Randall Williams, writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt University, was also a scheduled speaker on Tuesday.
'If you read, you can go anywhere in the world,' Patchett said. 'Reading is primarily a compassionate act. … If you are cut off from literature, you are just cut off from a huge part of what is available to you in the world.'
Later, Patchett said 'of all the things that there are to protect children from,' books were 'not one of them.'
Nearly 1,400 books, consisting of 1,155 unique titles, were either fully removed from school libraries or heavily age-restricted between December 2023 and January 2025, according to a Tennessean analysis.
Between 2021 and July 2023, only about 300 books faced similar challenges across the state. Now, in less than half that time, at least 1,389 books were removed or heavily age-restricted statewide over the past year.
More: 'Not enough kids in these meetings': Students weigh in as 1,100 books banned in Tennessee
Sitting among the throngs of kids and dressed in her 'I support public schools' shirt was Sandy Lewis, a retired teacher who is working locally to stop book removals.
'I am concerned with what is happening with books in this state,' she said. 'It seems like they're being chipped away at.'
Lewis, who formerly taught in Memphis public schools for 34 years, noted particular concern with the many books up for potential removal in Rutherford County Schools.
More: Rutherford schools book banning upsets free speech advocates: 'We are banished'
Rutherford County has been under fire for recent book removals, after pulling 160 books from school shelves in the county in November.
So far, 51 of those books have been permanently banned.
The USA TODAY Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@gannett.com, by phone at 931-623-9485, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham. The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee books: Ann Patchett, others push against bans
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