School library systems around the country are facing unprecedented challenges as states and local school districts introduce new rules and regulations for how the libraries operate and what they’re capable of helping students with, according to the Washington Post.

In Arizona, schools must send lists of books their child checked out of the school library to any parent who requests it.  A Nebraska school system requires parents to approve the books their child checks out.  Teachers and librarians in Florida are purging their spaces of any literature that covers subjects like LGBTQ issues, sexuality, racism or America’s racist past.  And six states have passed laws mandating school districts to set up parental boards to approve books that will go in school libraries.

In further efforts to squash dissent and hide topics state censors don’t want to be discussed, states like Florida will allow parents to sue teachers and school librarians who provide their children with material dealing with LGBTQ issues, Critical Race Theory, or even slavery in America.  Anything deemed inappropriate by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, his secretary of education, or a group of activist parents could end up costing a teacher her job and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

“This is a state-sponsored purging of ideas and identities that has no precedent in the United States of America,” said John Chrastka, EveryLibrary’s executive director. “We’re witnessing the silencing of stories and the suppressing of information [that will make] the next generation less able to function in society.”

Whereas communities would typically cede control of library contents to experienced and educated librarians, and contents of classroom shelves to the teachers, conservatives and Republicans now want to remove all that control.  Conservatives and the GOP have demonized teachers–claiming that they’re trying to undermine the US government or confirm that LBGTQ people exist–to energize their political base at the cost of stifling their children’s curiosity and growth.