by Dr. Anne Mulhern

It’s been six months since I launched the “Make Every Week Freedom to Read Week” project (https://insidelowell.com/make-every-week-freedom-to-read-week/) and three months since the last report on its progress (https://insidelowell.com/books-actually-banned-in-massachusetts/).

While the ultimate goal of the project, as I explained in my article (https://insidelowell.com/make-every-week-freedom-to-read-week/) is to enlist the public, i.e., you, dear reader,  in efforts to counter censorship in Massachusetts libraries,  this project also helps to identify the books that are actually banned in Massachusetts. These are the books that clearly should be available in Massachusetts, but that libraries will not buy, even when a patron requests the purchase.

This list of banned books has nothing in common with the list of so-called banned books that the ALA (American Library Association) publishes (https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10). The books that the ALA calls “most challenged” are ubiquitous in public libraries; you can check this easily. The items on my list of books, could not be obtained from any library in Massachusetts when they were placed on the list.

Now, the results!

The Most Banned Book:

“Defend the Border and Save Lives” by Tom Homan, published in 2020.

As many of you are aware, Tom Homan is the person who was put in charge of the border by President Trump. The book is not too new to have been purchased and not too old to purchase. Yet, even now, there is only one library in Massachusetts that lists the book and that library will not service a Commonwealth Catalog loan request. Contrariwise, “Government Gangsters” by Kash Patel, President Trump’s FBI director is not banned. Before last November, there was only one copy in the MVLC (Merrimack Valley Library Consortium of which Lowell, Tewksbury, Chelmsford, Westford, and Billerica are all members). Clearly, for whatever reason, the libraries are willing to cater to the public interest with regard to “Government Gangsters” as there are now about six copies in the MVLC alone, and only four people waiting for a copy. It’s Tom Homan’s book specifically that seems to be a bridge too far for Massachusetts libraries.

The Runners-Up:

• “Gay Shame: The Rise of Gender Identity and the New Homophobia” by Gareth Roberts. This book was favorably reviewed in “The Times” (https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/gay-shame-gareth-roberts-review-lrtg8jq76) and has been available for months. I’ve requested it twice and I’ve had no success.
• “Clarence Thomas: A Justice for All” by Larry Elder. This is a book for children about a well-known black conservative, by a black conservative. I’ve requested the book twice, without persuading any library to make the purchase. I’ve written about the bias in children’s biographies of Supreme Court Justices in a separate article (https://hxlibraries.substack.com/p/unconscious-bias-or-deliberate-censorship). To sum up, there are approximately 200 books for children about Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the libraries of the MVLC, which is about seven for every library, but there is not one about Clarence Thomas in any MVLC library. Contrariwise, another book from the same series “Thomas Sowell: A Self-Made Man” also about a black conservative, is one of this program’s several successes as there is now one available in a Massachusetts library.
• “The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism is Tearing America Apart” by Jeremy Carl. Published last year, so not too late and not too early for a library to pick it up. As with “Defend the Border and Save Lives” it is listed by one library in Massachusetts, but that library will not make it available via a Commonwealth Catalog request. I’ve requested that it be purchased multiple times. The publisher, Regnery, is well-established; the book is very much available for purchase.
• “Beneath Sheep’s Clothing” by Julie Behling. This book draws parallels between the Communist takeover in the USSR and current cultural trends in the United States. There is an accompanying movie or vice-versa, but the movie is not available in Massachusetts libraries either. Curiously, a book with the same theme, Xi Van Fleet’s “Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning”, is available in Massachusetts libraries, although not in the MVLC. I’ve requested this book just once.
• “Tough Crowd: How I Made and Lost a Career in Comedy” by Graham Linehan. A cancelled artist tells his story. Oddly, “The Cost of My Faith: How a Decision in My Cake Shop Took Me to the Supreme Court” by Jack Philips is not entirely missing from Massachusetts libraries, there is even a copy in the MVLC. I’ve requested this book just once.
  • Why is it the case that one book seems forbidden, but what seems to me like a fairly similar book is “allowed”? The “rules” are hard to infer.

Let’s Make “Freedom to Read Week” Real this Year!

In October, the ALA will put on a great celebration of Banned Books Week (https://www.ala.org/news/2025/04/ala-announces-banned-books-week-2025-theme). The MBLC (Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners) and the Massachusetts public libraries will follow suit, congratulating themselves vociferously on their commitment to our “freedom to read” regardless of the true state of affairs.

Let’s make the freedom real this year. If library patrons all work together we can get every one of these banned books into Massachusetts libraries by October. If we do, this will be an historic 1^st Amendment victory.

Don’t be too cast down by the long list of cancelled books above. The list of un-cancelled books below is long also and demonstrates that making a purchase request of your library can work, if you are persistent.

Un-cancelled Books:

These are the books that were known to be unavailable in Massachusetts libraries when they were featured by the “Make Every Week Freedom to Read Week” project, but that have become available since in the last three months. This is the good news.

• “Illusion of Control” by Ian Miller. This is a companion to “Unmasked” by the same author. Both are about the lack of connection between COVID-19 pandemic control measures and COVID-19 public heath statistical analyses during the pandemic shutdown.
• “Life after Lockdown” by Jeffrey A. Tucker. This author started “The Brownstone Institute” which provided a space for Jay Battacharya, now director of the NIH (National Institute of Health), to publish his articles questioning lockdowns while he was being censored on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. None of the author’s previous books are available in MA libraries.
• “Broken and Betrayed: The true story of the Rotherham abuse scandal by the woman who fought to expose it” by Jayne Senior. Subtitle tells it all.
• “The Case for Colonialism” by Bruce Gilley. I’m not sure what the book is about, but when the author, a serious historian, published an essay of the same name, the cancellation attempt was intense. The book was published in 2023. Clearly some library in Massachusetts should have purchased it by now, and now one has!
• “A Practical Response to Gender Distress: Tips and Tools for Families” by Pamela Garfield-Jaeger. I have this in my possession at this very moment, I’m delighted to say.
• “Thomas Sowell: A Self-Made Man” by Sean B. Dickson. My review is posted here: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0tP2Gq557MeRV8drr8TpV6YrqVRGjxbMyPsZmLfQpCe4faURxwLRUVy3fZgrr4oWVl&id=61556735437296 .
• “Fear of a Microbial Planet” by Steve Templeton. I’ve been told that this one is on order, very excited indeed!