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Monroe County Schools

564 titles banned · Tennessee

Banned Books

33 Snowfish 33 Snowfish A Certain Slant of Light A Certain Slant of Light A Clash of Kings A Clash of Kings A Dance with Dragons A Dance with Dragons A Feast for Crows A Feast for Crows A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones A Moment Comes A Moment Comes A Raisin in the Sun A Raisin in the Sun A Storm of Swords A Storm of Swords Abortion Violence & Extremism (Ideas in Conflict Series.) Abortion Violence & Extremism (Ideas in Conflict Series.) Alice the Fairy Alice the Fairy Alien Abductions Alien Abductions All American Boys All American Boys And Tango Makes Three And Tango Makes Three Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Art and Culture of the Medieval World Art and Culture of the Medieval World Ask the Passengers Ask the Passengers At First Sight At First Sight Autumn's Kiss Autumn's Kiss Aztec, Inca & Maya Aztec, Inca & Maya Before I Fall Before I Fall Between Shades of Gray Between Shades of Gray Born Confused Born Confused Bound Bound Brave New World Brave New World Breaking Dawn Breaking Dawn Bridge to Terabithia Bridge to Terabithia Brown Girl Dreaming Brown Girl Dreaming Caesar and Rome Caesar and Rome Case histories Case histories Cerberus Cerberus Charcoal & pastel Charcoal & pastel Columbine Columbine Coping with weapons and violence in school and on your streets Coping with weapons and violence in school and on your streets Crank Crank Crimes and Criminals of the Holocaust (Holocaust in History) Crimes and Criminals of the Holocaust (Holocaust in History) Crisis in black and white Crisis in black and white Crown of Midnight Crown of Midnight Cryptid Hunters Cryptid Hunters Cursed Cursed Cut Cut Darkness Before Dawn Darkness Before Dawn Date violence Date violence Debating Darcy Debating Darcy Divergent Divergent Doctor assisted suicide and the euthanasia movement Doctor assisted suicide and the euthanasia movement

About Monroe County Schools

Monroe County Schools is the public school system serving Monroe County, Tennessee, a rural county tucked against the Great Smoky Mountains and bordered by North Carolina to the east. The county seat is Madisonville, and the district also serves the towns of Sweetwater, Tellico Plains, and Vonore. Enrollment is approximately 7,500 students across a modest number of elementary, middle, and high school campuses. The district’s landscape is defined by Appalachian terrain, the Hiwassee River, and Tellico Lake—the reservoir created by the Tellico Dam, completed in 1979.

Monroe County is a small but tight-knit community where many families have lived for generations. The area is predominantly rural, politically conservative, and heavily evangelical Protestant in religious character—demographics that shaped the community’s response to state and national debates about school library content.

Books in Schools

Monroe County Schools emerged as one of the most active districts for book restrictions in Tennessee, recording a high number of removed or restricted titles relative to its enrollment. The district acted in response to Tennessee’s House Bill 843, signed into law by Governor Bill Lee in April 2022. The law created a new formal process for parents to challenge books in school libraries and classrooms, requiring school boards to remove books deemed “obscene” or containing “patently offensive” material, with a new appeals pathway to the state.

In Monroe County, parent complaints targeted books addressing sexuality, gender identity, racial justice, and mature themes in young adult fiction. The school board responded with a pattern of removals that went beyond the books individually challenged, resulting in a broad reduction in the range of titles available in school libraries. The district’s high ban count relative to its small size made it one of the most statistically notable cases in the state.

This district's book removals have drawn news coverage — see reporting from Straight Arrow News for more.