This Pennsylvania graduate is lending a hand in the fight against book bans in her hometown school district

Sydney Vincent is a graduate of the Lehighton Area School District and a lover of books. So when she heard of a potential book ban in her community, she jumped into action.

Growing up in the Lehighton Area School District in Carbon County, Sydney Vincent was a voracious reader. 

The 2019 graduate said she found a lot of escapism in books. So when Vincent found out from her former English teacher that her alma mater’s school board was talking about a book ban, she knew she had to get involved.

“I want to make sure the kids are able to access all kinds of books,” Vincent said. “A book ban strips kids of their privacy and their own personal interests.”

In August, 33 books were removed from the Lehighton High School library for an “audit” to determine if the books were appropriate for students, if they should require parental permission to read, or, potentially, be banned.

Sean Gleaves, treasurer of the school board, originally proposed the idea of putting together a committee to conduct the audit, where members read the 33 books and evaluate the content.

“My entire intention is to protect the innocence of children, and I believe that some of the ideas that are in some of these books are dangerous to children,” Gleaves said during a recent school board meeting.

Some of the books include LGBTQ+ issues and African American history. Others provide facts  about sexual health and reproduction. According to Vincent, a complete list of the book titles in question has not been made public.

“This is the second time this has happened,” Vincent said. “The previous school board went through with it. Books about sexuality and race in middle school require a parental signature to take out. That flew under the noses of the people. I think a lot of local politicians hope these things do fly under the radar.”

Sydney Vincent

Book bans by the numbers

More than 10,000 books were banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year, according to PEN America. That’s almost triple the previous school year.

Pennsylvania saw the second-most individual attempts to limit access to certain books in 2023, according to the nonprofit American Library Association. The commonwealth was tied with California for book challenges at 52. Only Illinois had more, with 69, according to the ALA. In total, 218 book titles were challenged in Pennsylvania schools and libraries in those attempted bans. 

A local fight

During the September meeting of the Lehighton School District, parents and students alike spoke both in favor of, and against, the book audit and potential ban.

“I have a few friends who are part of the LGBTQ+ community in school and a lot of them are not supported by their parents and they don’t feel safe going to their parents,” said Natalie Blair, a Lehighton student.

Blair also pointed out that if she was old enough to get pregnant, she should be considered mature enough to read a book on birth control and how not to get pregnant.

While the audit did take place in mid-September, and most of the books are back on the shelf, Vincent said everything was done based on people’s opinions and personal bias. There is really no policy in place to deal with the issue, she said. It’s worth noting, too, that those books may not have been saved if people like Vincent didn’t show up to defend them.

Lehighton’s Policy 109 deals with resource materials in the district, which includes library books. It provides vague guidance for content guidelines and does not provide a procedure or process if content is challenged.

The policy does state that “no adoption or significant change of materials shall be made without the Superintendent’s recommendation, except by a two-thirds vote of the Board.”

“They need to establish policy,” Vincent said. “They jumped the gun when they took those books off the shelves. Unfortunately, the community and the board aren’t communicating. Local government relies on people not paying attention. To fight this, we just need to keep showing up.”