Reference page
TIMELINE
How Utah’s book restrictions took shape
Follow the people, complaints and official decisions behind Utah’s book-review system. Each event links the evidence available for that step.
Selected events from the records already published on this site. Read down for the chronology; open an event for its evidence.
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2022
State Board adopts the school-library rule
The Utah State Board of Education approves R277-628, Draft 3, on second and final reading.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The minutes record that the motion carried, with Member Cline opposed.
Sources
Ivory presents H.B. 374 with Stephens
Rep. Ken Ivory presents Sensitive Materials in Schools to the House Education Committee, assisted by Brooke Stephens of Utah Parents United and a district superintendent.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Minutes name the presenters and record their handouts and answers. This date marks the hearing. The later enacted law bans materials meeting its sensitive-material definition, requires parent participation and calls for State Board guidance with the Attorney General.
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RatedBooks is named in a legislative hearing
During an update on H.B. 374, Ivory introduces Brooke Stephens and names RatedBooks.org as a website showing material in school libraries.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The recording captures Ivory naming the site and introducing Stephens. The committee minutes identify her with Utah Parents United.
Sources
Follow this thread
Follow Stephens’ appearances and the records naming RatedBooks in the Ken Ivory timeline.
Davis receives a challenge to the Bible
Davis School District receives a request to review the King James Bible. Its policy keeps access unchanged while the review is underway.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The district appeal exhibit records the request date. The policy in effect required access to remain the same during review.
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2023
Davis limits the Bible to high school libraries
The review committee finds no bright-line violation but decides the Bible is not age appropriate for elementary or junior high libraries.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Davis used two separate checks: the sexual-content threshold and age appropriateness. The restriction followed the second check, weighing content against the book’s serious value for minors.
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Appeals challenge the Bible restriction
Davis receives appeals. Three school board members are assigned to reconsider the review and recommend an outcome to the full board.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The appeal committee later recommends restoring access at every grade level. It concludes that the Bible’s significant, serious value for minors, assessed against community standards, outweighs its violent or vulgar content.
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Davis Board restores Bible access at every grade level
The board unanimously accepts the appeal committee’s recommendation to keep the Bible in elementary, junior high, and high school libraries.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Both committees found no bright-line violation. Their disagreement concerned age appropriateness; the appeal committee weighed the book’s serious value differently.
Sources
Follow this thread
Follow the challenge, the two committee decisions, and the Board vote in the Davis Bible appeal.
2024
House committee considers H.B. 29
Ivory presents H.B. 29 with assistance from Stephens and Gloria Vindas. Stephens argues for statewide removals and names her RatedBooks lists.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
After one amendment, the committee recommends the bill favorably, 10–2, with three members absent. This is a committee recommendation, before enactment.
Sources
Green asks who selects and orders library books
During a discussion of book-review committee membership, Emily Green asks whether staff select books or vendors send preselected orders.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Davina S., USBE’s library media specialist, answers that librarians, educators, and district staff normally select books using local policies. She distinguishes occasional donations from purchases and says routine unsolicited shipments were not her experience.
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A draft rule addresses review-committee conflicts
The Board packet contains draft conflict-of-interest language for local book-review committees. It names book purchasers and the person bringing a challenge as examples.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Draft 3, dated April 22, appears in the May 2 packet. It concerns review-committee membership, not the final rule.
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H.B. 29’s statewide removal provisions take effect
Local decisions can now require the same title to be removed from student access in public schools across Utah.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The threshold is removal as objective sensitive material by at least three school districts, or at least two districts and five charter schools. The law requires state notice and permits the State Board to vote to overturn the statewide requirement within its specified review period.
Sources
- Follow the official bill history, versions, and floor votes
- Read the threshold in H.B. 29 (PDF, page 6, lines 162–169)
- See the state’s threshold explanation
Follow this thread
Follow the hearing, enacted law, and first listed titles in the H.B. 29 page.
First 13 titles have a statewide threshold date
The state spreadsheet lists August 2, 2024 as the statewide threshold date for its first 13 titles.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
This date comes from the state spreadsheet copy saved July 6, 2026. The linked table preserves those title rows.
Sources
2025
RatedBooks.org files articles of incorporation
Utah’s formation filing names Brooke Stephens as incorporator, registered agent, and Director/President of the nonprofit RatedBooks.org.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The articles were filed May 16, 2025 and take effect upon filing. The linked public excerpt omits addresses and contact fields. These are the roles recorded at formation.
Sources
Legislative audit identifies RatedBooks as its list source
Audit report 2025-28 says auditors started with a concerned legislator’s list of 186 titles rated 4 or 5 and read 22 books in full.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Footnote 6 identifies RatedBooks.org as the source of that list and says its rating system was based on BookLooks. The 186 titles were a starting list, not 186 full-book reviews.
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2026
Green revises her proposal to request a review schedule
After members say a broad library review could not be ready by June or August, Earl reads a revised motion, which Green accepts, asking staff to bring back a timeline for the review. The committee approves unanimously.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The original proposal included purchasing, funding, vendors, librarian qualifications, and organizational influence. The approved motion asks staff to bring back the schedule rather than immediately carry out that full proposal.
Sources
Committee requests $60,000 for the review plan
Green asks Board leadership to send the timeline to July’s Law and Licensing meeting, request discretionary funding, and bring it to the full Board in August.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The motion passes 4–1, with Reale opposed. This is the committee’s funding request; the full Board vote follows in August.
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Brinton raises RatedBooks; staff question its standing
While discussing how long local book reviews should take, Joann Brinton raises RatedBooks.org as a publicly available resource.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Davina S., USBE’s library media specialist, says it is not an industry-standard website. Chair Jennie Earl separately says several sources could be used.
Sources
Follow this thread
RatedBooks is discussed in June, named in an August survey draft, and appears in the August meeting packet. Follow those separate records on the Emily Green page.
Committee advances the monitoring plan on first reading
Law and Licensing recommends the 2026 Timeline Policy and $60,000 in discretionary funds, forwarding it to the full Board.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Staff explain that this would be monitoring carried out by staff and local school systems, not an audit. The motion passes unanimously, with Longacre absent.
Sources
A survey draft names RatedBooks as an example
Mike G. emails Emily Green a survey draft. Its source-use table includes “Content-rating rubrics or sites (identify, e.g., RatedBooks.org).”Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
Respondents would mark sources as used regularly, used occasionally, or not used. Those response cells are blank in the draft.
Sources
State Board adopts the amended, funded review plan
The Board adopts the plan on second and final reading, appropriates $60,000, and includes Green’s addendum.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
An amendment to change "include" to "consider" for Green's addendum fails. The Board then votes to include the addendum. Before the final plan vote, it allows staff to adjust the timeline and includes a memo describing the survey as a starting point for refinement, not a final form.
Open question
The recording and draft minutes give different final vote tallies. The Emily Green page preserves both records and explains the separate amendment votes.
Sources
The Board packet includes the survey
The public meeting packet includes the August 4 survey. The RatedBooks example appears on packet page 1244.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The linked extract covers packet pages 1232–1254. The example is on page 13 of that extract.
Sources
Seven more titles meet Utah’s statewide threshold
The state spreadsheet captured October 7 lists seven titles with a September 28 threshold date, bringing the list to 44.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The spreadsheet lists 44 titles. Its “Date threshold met” field gives September 28 for House of Earth and Blood, Identical, Kingdom of the Cursed, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Perfect, Storm and Fury, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The spreadsheet was captured October 7, 2026.
Open question
The spreadsheet lists districts for each title, but does not give each district’s local decision date or review record.
Sources
Granite records release includes a Bag of Bones determination
A Granite School District records response includes an undated determination about Stephen King’s 1999 novel.Read the evidenceWhat the record shows
The undated determination says Bag of Bones passed plausibility review, was pulled from all shelves and received a unanimous objective-sensitive-material finding after members read excerpts. February 11, 2026 appears in the filename and properties. Those fields do not date the vote or notice.
Open question
The packet does not give the committee decision date or the outcome of the later appeal.
Sources
- Granite determination: text, source file and record details
- Download the original determination (Word document)
Follow this thread
Read the local and statewide records on Bag of Bones.