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All but seven of the 56 books the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District removed from school libraries must be reshelved by next week, pending a trial next year, ruled U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on Tuesday.

The banned books, including well-known titles like Toni Morrison鈥檚 鈥淭he Bluest Eye,鈥� Kurt Vonnegut鈥檚 鈥淪laughterhouse-Five鈥� and Khaled Hosseini鈥檚 鈥淭he Kite Runner,鈥� were removed from schools last year without individual consideration of their content after parents and community members complained of 鈥淟GBTQ themes鈥� or sexually explicit content in district meetings.

Gleason鈥檚 order said the district鈥檚 action violated students鈥� constitutional rights and 鈥渞aises the specter of official suppression of ideas.鈥� That caused irreparable harm, and would continue to do so if they stayed off library shelves until trial, her order found. The order is a preliminary injunction; the books鈥� ultimate fate will be determined in a trial scheduled for April of next year.

The district released a statement on Thursday that said the order is in line with work the school board has undertaken in the last year, which includes reviewing the books and returning some to library shelves. 鈥淭he Court鈥檚 decision directs the District to report on what it has already done including the reshelving of books as directed by the Board,鈥� the statement said, in part.

Savannah Fletcher, the attorney for the plaintiffs with the Northern Justice Project, said the court鈥檚 ruling shows that the Constitution doesn鈥檛 allow the government to remove books without a compelling reason for an indefinite period of time.

鈥淭he Constitution doesn鈥檛 allow the government to remove ideas simply because some people disagree with them,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a really great reminder during this time of tension around our schools, around students rights and parents rights and the protection of teachers and educators, that there is a baseline we all have to follow, and our Constitution is going to protect that. It really reaffirms the rights of students to access ideas, to access information.鈥�

The case comes against the backdrop of a about which books and what kind of material should be available to students. Fletcher said the Alaska case is unique because the district removed such a large quantity of books without individual review.

鈥淭his has never been written about by a court before. It is kind of a novel spin on it,鈥� Fletcher said, adding that the lack of precedent presented a challenge when briefing the court.

Meanwhile, some books have already been approved to go back to library shelves by the community. After the district removed them, it established a library committee, a majority of whose members were selected by the school board. The committee was tasked with determining whether the books were 鈥渃riminally indecent鈥� and it allowed more than a dozen books to return to schools, according to court filings. Another 14 titles were referred to the district for a final decision; others were not reviewed or found to be out of circulation or missing entirely. The court鈥檚 decision overrides these determinations, unless the school administration or board provides the court with a compelling reason to remove a specific title.

Scott Adams and his wife Dawn were plaintiffs in the case with their middle school-aged daughter, who he said is an avid reader and fan of the Harry Potter series.

He said he joined the lawsuit because the family felt the district鈥檚 action was a violation of the First Amendment and he was 鈥渆cstatic鈥� with Tuesday鈥檚 order.

鈥淚 took an oath when I joined the military over 30 years ago. And the oath 鈥� to support and defend the Constitution 鈥� doesn鈥檛 end when you leave the military,鈥� he said.

He said he wants to see a better process for deciding which books should be in the library, and said teachers and librarians should be trusted with those decisions.

The seven books that will remain off the shelves for indecency in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough school district are 鈥淐all Me by Your Name,鈥� 鈥淰erity,鈥� 鈥淚t Ends with Us,鈥� 鈥淯gly Love,鈥� 鈥淎 Court of Mist and Fury,鈥� 鈥淎 Court of Silver Flames鈥� and 鈥淵ou鈥� Their removal will be reviewed with the others in the trial next year.

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