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Iowa

1127 distinct titles banned across 119 districts

Districts

Adel DeSoto Minburn Community School District 71 titles AGWSR Community School District 13 titles Albia Community School District 14 titles Alburnett Community School District 8 titles Alta-Aurelia Community Schools 56 titles Ankeny Community School District 42 titles Aplington-Parkersburg Community School District 11 titles Bondurant-Farrar Community School District 88 titles Boone Community School District 55 titles CAM Community School District 23 titles Cardinal Community School District 19 titles Carlisle Community School District 19 titles Cedar Falls Community School District 80 titles Central Lyon Community School District 66 titles Central Springs School District 23 titles Chariton Community School District 41 titles Clarinda Community School District 22 titles Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Community School District 34 titles Clayton Ridge Community School District 11 titles Clear Creek-Amana Community School District 226 titles Clear Lake Community School District 131 titles Council Bluffs Community School District 57 titles Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District 73 titles Davenport Community Schools 9 titles Decorah Community School District 35 titles Denver Community School District 7 titles Dike-New Hartford Community School District 5 titles Dubuque Community School District 50 titles East Union Community School District 19 titles Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Community School District 13 titles Edgewood-Colesburg Community School District 7 titles Estherville Lincoln Central Community School District 6 titles Forest City Community School District 11 titles Gilbert Community School District 26 titles Glenwood Community School District 11 titles Griswold Community Schools 1 title Grundy Center Community School District 50 titles Highland Community School District 20 titles Hudson Community School District 6 titles Indianola Community School District 38 titles Interstate 35 Community School District 31 titles Iowa City Community School District 66 titles Keota Community School District 21 titles Knoxville Community School District 28 titles Lake Mills Community School District 43 titles Lewis Central Community School District 47 titles Linn-Mar Community School District 57 titles Lisbon Community School District 19 titles Louisa-Muscatine Community School District 30 titles Madrid Community School District 8 titles Maquoketa Valley Community School District 8 titles Marion Independent School District 6 titles Marshalltown Community School District 20 titles Martensdale-St. Marys Community School District 14 titles Mason City Community Schools 23 titles Mediapolis Community School District 21 titles Melcher-Dallas Community School District 30 titles Mid-Prairie Community School District 35 titles Midland Community School District 6 titles Missouri Valley Community School District 11 titles Montezuma School District 9 titles Murray Community School District 1 title Muscatine Community School District 26 titles Nevada Community School District 242 titles New Hampton Community Schools 12 titles Nodaway Valley Community School District 12 titles North Polk Community School District 4 titles Northeast Community School District 38 titles Northwood Kensett Community School District 19 titles Norwalk Community School District 65 titles Ogden Community Schools 8 titles Okoboji Community School District 13 titles Oskaloosa Community School District 27 titles Ottumwa Community School District 30 titles Perry Community School District 3 titles Pocahontas Area Community School District 33 titles Red Oak School District 27 titles Riceville Community School District 9 titles Ridge View Community School District 62 titles River Valley Community School District 12 titles Riverside Community School District 1 title Roland-Story Community School District 23 titles Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School District 11 titles Saydel Community School District 21 titles Shenandoah Community School District 80 titles Sigourney Community School District 21 titles Sioux Center Community School District 40 titles Solon Community School District 20 titles South Central Calhoun Community School District 6 titles South Hamilton Community School District 9 titles South Tama County Community School District 49 titles Southeast Polk Community School District 35 titles Southeast Warren Community School District 9 titles Spencer Community School District 53 titles Spirit Lake Community School District 24 titles Springville Community School District 12 titles St. Ansgar Community School District 9 titles Starmont Community School District 1 title Tripoli Community School District 15 titles Turkey Valley Community School District 9 titles Twin Cedars Community School District 10 titles Union Community School District 41 titles United Community School District 6 titles Urbandale Community School District 71 titles Van Buren County Community School District 14 titles Van Meter Community School District 15 titles WACO Community School District 27 titles Washington Community School District 4 titles Waterloo Community School District 60 titles Waukee Community School District 21 titles Waverly-Shell Rock Community School District 15 titles Wayne Community School District 5 titles West Burlington Independent School District 141 titles West Central Community School District 1 title West Des Moines Community Schools 65 titles West Marshall Community School District 9 titles Western Dubuque Community School District 40 titles Winterset Community School District 90 titles Woodward-Granger Community School District 21 titles

Banned Books

#famous #famous #MurderFunding #MurderFunding 101 Questions about Sex and Sexuality...With Answers for the Curious, Cautious, and Confused 101 Questions about Sex and Sexuality...With Answers for the Curious, Cautious, and Confused 10th Anniversary 10th Anniversary 1984 1984 2 Days 2 Days A Bend in the Road A Bend in the Road A Cave in the Clouds A Cave in the Clouds A Child Called "It" A Child Called "It" A Clash of Kings A Clash of Kings A Court of Frost and Starlight A Court of Frost and Starlight A Court of Mist and Fury A Court of Mist and Fury A Court of Silver Flames A Court of Silver Flames A Court of Thorns and Roses A Court of Thorns and Roses A Court of Wings and Ruin A Court of Wings and Ruin A Dance with Dragons A Dance with Dragons A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo A Family Is a Family Is a Family A Family Is a Family Is a Family A Feast for Crows A Feast for Crows A Flicker in the Dark A Flicker in the Dark A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones A Girl Like That A Girl Like That A Heart in a Body in the World A Heart in a Body in the World A High Five for Glenn Burke A High Five for Glenn Burke A Home for Goddesses and Dogs A Home for Goddesses and Dogs A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms A Long Walk to Water A Long Walk to Water A Million Junes A Million Junes A Million Suns A Million Suns A Northern Light A Northern Light A Painted House A Painted House A Queer History of the United States A Queer History of the United States A Queer History of the United States for Young People A Queer History of the United States for Young People A Reaper at the Gates A Reaper at the Gates A Scatter of Light A Scatter of Light A Separate Peace A Separate Peace A Sin Such as This A Sin Such as This A Sky Beyond the Storm A Sky Beyond the Storm A Stolen Life A Stolen Life A Storm of Swords A Storm of Swords A Tale of Magic... A Tale of Magic... A Tale of Sorcery... A Tale of Sorcery... A Tale of Witchcraft... A Tale of Witchcraft... A Taxonomy of Love A Taxonomy of Love A Thousand Splendid Suns A Thousand Splendid Suns A Torch Against the Night A Torch Against the Night A Very, Very Bad Thing A Very, Very Bad Thing A Visit from the Goon Squad A Visit from the Goon Squad

Book Bans in Iowa

Iowa's tracking data shows 1,127 distinct banned or challenged titles spread across 119 school districts that have recorded at least one removal. That is a large number of districts for a single state, suggesting the practice is not confined to a handful of isolated cases but has touched school libraries statewide.

At the same time, the volume of titles is not evenly distributed. Two districts stand out well above the rest: Nevada Community School District, with 242 tracked titles, and Clear Creek-Amana Community School District, with 226. Together these two districts account for roughly four in ten of all titles tracked statewide, despite being just two of the 119 districts with any recorded activity. A second tier of districts — including West Burlington, Clear Lake, Winterset, Bondurant-Farrar, Cedar Falls, and Shenandoah — each show meaningfully lower counts, ranging from roughly 80 to 141 titles. The overall pattern is one of broad geographic reach combined with a steep concentration at the top, where a small number of districts have removed or restricted titles at a pace far exceeding the statewide norm.

Context

Iowa has enacted state-level legislation directly bearing on school library holdings. Under Iowa Senate File 496 (2023) (bill text), districts must review instructional and library materials for age-appropriateness and remove those depicting certain sexual content, among other requirements affecting curriculum transparency and parental notification. Legislation of this kind provides a statewide framework that districts are expected to apply, though as the data above shows, individual districts appear to have implemented that framework with very different levels of intensity.

That gap between statewide policy and district-level outcomes is worth noting on its own terms. A law that applies uniformly across all public school districts might be expected to produce a more even distribution of removals if applied similarly everywhere. Instead, the concentration of activity in a small number of districts — most notably Nevada and Clear Creek-Amana — points to meaningful local variation in how reviews are conducted, how broadly "age-appropriate" or similar standards are interpreted, and how aggressively individual districts have acted relative to their peers. Readers interested in the underlying causes of that variation should consult local district records and board meeting minutes, since the tracking data here reflects outcomes rather than the specific rationale behind any single district's review process.