TILLAMOOK, Ore. — In the Tillamook School District, there's a new book ban debate playing out — all centered around a book published more than 30 years ago.
"How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" was part of the 10th grade English curriculum until this past summer. According to the Tillamook Headlight Herald, students and parents started complaining about sexual content, and a district committee recommended the school board remove it from the curriculum — which they did, though the book is still available in the district's library.
But hundreds of people have shown up to school board meetings and written to the paper opposing the book's removal, including the author herself, Julia Alvarez.
She wrote, "Having come from a dictatorship where books were censored and discussions were discouraged, I know how important it is that we protect not just our homes, communities, and borders but also our bookshelves."
A survey from Pen America, an anti-censorship organization, found that from 2023 to 2024, book bans across the country nearly tripled, to more than 10,000 titles all together.
This is playing out during Banned Books Week, an annual campaign by the American Library Association (ALA) to raise awareness about censorship. Powell's Books is highlighting the week, donating a portion of its sales to the American Booksellers for Free Expression to help fund ongoing lawsuits against book ban laws.
Bry Hoeg, a store manager at Powell's Books, said they have had customers come to them, complaining about some of the books they carry.
"There are a lot of books out there that people disagree with, and we support your right to disagree with the material that's in these books, but it's important that everyone has access to them, so they can make those decisions for themselves," Hoeg said.
Hoeg added that it's important to keep the books available for kids whose schools have banned them and because data from the ALA shows that the majority of challenges are for books either by or about people of color or LGBTQIA+ people.
"We believe that open mindedness is the most important part of reading, that you should read everything and trust yourself, trust what you're reading and make your own decisions," Hoeg said. "If you're reading something that you disagree with, you can stop reading it. You can put it down. But when you suppress other people's ability to access that information, that's what's dangerous."
Powell's is also holding an event this weekend with Dr. Philomena Polefrone, an author who teaches people how to fight book bans in their own community.