Yesterday, the Davis County, Utah, Public School system announced that it would be re-instating the book "In Our Mothers' House" to school library shelves. While a final settlement of the case brought by the ACLU of Utah has not been reached, it is a most welcome development!

Here is the Freedom to Read Foundation's official statement on the reinstatement and our role in the case:

The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) welcomes the news that author Patricia Polacco’s "In Our Mothers’ House” is back on the shelves of the Davis County Public School system libraries without restrictions.   As the only organization whose main purpose is to defend the freedom to access information in libraries, FTRF sees incidents such as this one – in which access to information is blocked due to viewpoints expressed therein – as particularly troublesome.  

While not directly involved in this suit, FTRF provided ACLU attorneys with expert advice and resources as they worked to develop the case.  FTRF appreciates the work of the ACLU of Utah and the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project on the case and we send particular thanks to the plaintiff who made the difficult decision to stand up for reading, the open exchange of ideas, and the First Amendment.  We strongly encourage the Davis County School Board to continue to make "In Our Mothers’ House” and similar works freely available to the students of the Davis County Schools. 

The Freedom to Read Foundation is a First Amendment legal defense and education organization affiliated with the American Library Association. For more on FTRF’s work on opposing efforts to restrict access to library materials, visit www.ftrf.org.