Restore the Right to Read at DoDEA Schools

EveryLibrary strongly supports the introduction of H.R.5527, new legislation by Congressman Jamie Raskin (Ranking Member, House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government) and Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (Ranking Member, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and Readiness). This bill aims to end the Defense Department’s draconian and unconstitutional censorship campaign in Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) K-12 schools on military bases in the United States and around the world.

This urgently needed legislation requires the Secretary of Defense to immediately restore access to every book available in DoDEA schools and libraries as of January 20, 2025. It requires the end of all actions to remove or restrict books and curriculum, or to silence educators, through the end of the 2026–2027 school year. The bill imposes necessary oversight and reporting requirements on the DoDEA, reinstates proper notification and advisory processes for military-connected school communities, and prohibits the implementation of recent Trump-era Executive Orders that have been used to justify book bans and policy rollbacks.

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Under the Trump Administration's directives, DoDEA schools have experienced a massive rise in censorship and book bans. Over 600 titles have been removed from circulation, many of which focus on themes of racial and LGBTQ+ identities, gender equality, civil rights history, and anti-authoritarian literature. This includes classics like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and The Bluest Eye. This systematic erasure has also resulted in the closing of clubs, Black student unions, and cultural heritage celebrations across multiple military base schools.

What began as politically motivated book bans has rapidly escalated into a full-blown attack on the educational rights of military-connected children and the professional autonomy of DoDEA educators and school librarians. These actions have not only undermined the mission of DoDEA schools to prepare students for college, careers, and citizenship but have also violated fundamental First Amendment protections and jeopardized the academic readiness of students throughout the global military education system.

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At the heart of this crisis are the school libraries that serve nearly 70,000 children of active-duty service members. Both physical and digital libraries have been systematically cleared of award-winning, age-appropriate, and diverse literature by DoD officials, without transparency, professional review, or meaningful local engagement. In many cases, school librarians have been compelled to shut down entire collections, suspend student access, or eliminate long-standing programs such as Banned Books Week and inclusive book displays.

As shown in the Blue Star Families 2023 Military Family Lifestyle Survey, today’s military families are among the most racially, culturally, and socially diverse in American society. With nearly 40% of active-duty families identifying as non-white and a growing number of LGBTQ+ households, the censorship of inclusive materials directly undermines morale, cohesion, and retention within the military. Policies that disregard the lived experiences of these families jeopardize not only education but also military readiness and national security.

While the Raskin-Houlahan bill focuses on the DoDEA system, EveryLibrary recognizes that similar threats have begun to extend to our nation’s military academies, where faculty have been sidelined, DEI offices closed, and curricular independence curtailed. DoDEA schools and our nation's military academies are testing grounds for broader censorship in America’s public schools, libraries, and higher education institutions.

We are proud to support this legislation and call on Congress to act quickly to pass it.