Timeline
Events are grouped by the first year in each stated date range. Open an entry for its explanation and sources; overlapping ranges keep their original wording.
2016
- 2016–2019
The Colorado dispute
In October 2018, Pornography Is Not Education (PINE) sued EBSCO and the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) in Arapahoe County District Court. The plaintiffs accused them of deceptive marketing of school databases. The content allegations are the plaintiffs’ claims.
- 2016–2026; dated role changes
Organizations and named responsibilities
Registry filings and announcements record Brooke Stephens's dated roles at Empowered Parents, Moms for America and RatedBooks.org.
- 2016–2026; formations 2018/2020/2021
Tools and workflow infrastructure
S&S Apps, the company behind StoryLabs and later the National Book Rating Index, incorporated in California on January 24, 2018. Aaron Stephens had released The Resource Queue, a tool for organizing teaching resources, on November 14, 2017.
2017
- 2017–2021; 2019 deck
The Colorado dispute
The campaign accounts below describe Colorado’s role in the Utah effort. They reflect the campaign’s own explanations.
- March 2017; September–October 2018
Utah restricts access and tests the complaints
By March 7, 2017, the Utah State Library and the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) had acknowledged concerns about content in an online library database.
2018
- October 2018–February 2022
Utah restricts access and tests the complaints
On October 12, 2018, UETN staff reported the results of 12 days of testing. They searched terms from public complaints, media reports and the Colorado parents' action against EBSCO, and could not reproduce those results in Utah's filtered K–12 service.
2019
- 2019–2026; August/September 2022 review
Approval claims and the state review
On May 24, 2022, a saved Utah-edition StoryLabs page marketed HEART as "USBE approved" at a price of $100, reduced to $50. The August 5, 2022 state instructional-materials report lists HEART as "Reviewed–Not Recommended" and also labels it "Rejected," recommending that the denial be upheld and HEART removed as a teacher resource.
2020
- September 2020–May 2021
Provider safeguards become law
On September 16, 2020, Nicholeen Peck spoke about EBSCO to the Judiciary Interim Committee. She was identified as president of the Worldwide Organization for Women and Utah Empowered Families Coalition. The committee voted 15–0, with one member absent, to open a bill file on access to pornography in schools. That allowed drafting; it did not change the law.
2021
- October–November 2021; later March 2022 reporting
Outside candidates enter a Utah working sheet
On November 11, 2021, a working spreadsheet titled "Working List of Potentially Obscene Books To Review 2021" was created. It tracks titles, source links, posts from the LaVerna and Mary pages, grade levels and school districts. Records dated November 12 cite PCHC, Protect Student Health Georgia, No Left Turn, Goodreads and other lists as sources for candidate titles.
- November 22–30, 2021; July 5, 2023 account
Outside candidates enter a Utah working sheet
Entries added to the working sheet from November 22 to 30, 2021 include a 40-title block labeled Indiana "Mary" and titles from a Kansas controversy.
- November 2021–May 2022; March 2026 snapshot
From working sheets to a rating website
Some source links from the November 2021 working list appear again in the April 2022 RatedBooks master sheet. A saved Utah Parents United LaVerna page dated November 25, 2021 also gives the contact address RatedBooks later used. That was months before its 2022 domain registration.
- November 2021; July–August 2026 checks
Institutional references and use claims
Records dated November 12, 2021 cite Protect Student Health Georgia, among other lists, as sources for candidate titles in the Utah working list. Entries added from November 22 to 30, 2021 include titles from a Kansas controversy.
2022
- April 2022–September 2026
Finding titles and assessing content
On April 3, 2022, Google Drive file details date a "Rated Book Reviews for Google My Maps" template to that day. It is still linked from RatedBooks' Advocate page.
- 2022–2026; rubric PDF creation dates 2025–2026
Finding titles and assessing content
RatedBooks’ scale PDFs credit Pavement Education Project and RatedBooks.org. File creation dates are July 16, 2025 for version 1, October 20, 2025 for version 2.0 and April 16, 2026 for version 2.1. These do not establish publication dates.
- 2022–2026; March 2025 tutorial
Preparing a challenge
On March 1, 2025, in "Time to Speak Up," Stephens showed parents how to find books by district on RatedBooks and submit a challenge. The video's description asks parents in named Utah districts to challenge Water for Elephants.
- 2022–2026 recorded/upload dates
Separate meetings/interviews; editorial compilation layer
Recordings show what speakers said and where. Check the speaker’s claim separately from the event itself. Reusing a clip adds no independent source, and automatic captions or compilation labels may carry uncertain or corrected names.
- November 2022; April 2024; September 2026 views
Organizations and named responsibilities
Stephens presented RatedBooks and BookLooks as school-book review tools on November 11, 2022, at the November 11–12 Protect Child Health Coalition summit in Texas.
- February–October 2022; later rule versions through 2026
Rules, statutes and local responsibilities
On February 3, 2022, the Utah State Board of Education approved rule R277-628, Draft 3, on second and final reading. The minutes record that the motion carried, with Member Cline opposed.
- October 19, 2022; later toolkit view August 2026
The list enters a legislative record
On October 19, 2022, during an Education Interim Committee update on H.B. 374, Ken Ivory introduced Stephens and named RatedBooks.org as the website she and other mothers put together to show material in school libraries.
- December 11, 2022–June 20, 2023
Standards applied in a local case
On December 11, 2022, Davis School District received a request to review the King James Bible. The policy in effect required access to remain the same during review.
- 2022–2026; older decisions versus post-July 2024 system
Tracing reports and receipts
The state's removal list, as saved on July 6, 2026, has 36 titles. Its columns are Title, Author, Removed in the following Districts, Removed in the following Charters, Title was located in the following grade levels, and Date threshold met.
- October 2022–August 2026; January 10, 2024 post
Tools and workflow infrastructure
Amplify USA launched on iOS on October 25, 2022 under Aaron Stephens. Early version notes add organization contact sharing, school-board lookup and precinct lookup. The Android version names S&S Apps as developer.
- 2022 toolkit; April–August 2026 recordings
School boards as speaker account; Llano public-library litigation as account; lieutenant governor media
Wallace describes school-board visits and strategy. Patrick credits legislative work without identifying drafts. Customer and visit counts remain the speakers’ claims, and the toolkit cites a Texas example. These accounts do not establish national direction.
2023
- March 2023–March 2024
Appeals produce different outcomes
Davis’s Sensitive Materials Appeal Committee prepared recommendations for six board meetings between March 2023 and March 2024. Each exhibit names the book, the initial review decision and the appeal recommendation.
- 2023–2026
When the outcome or record changes
The Davis records distinguish a recommendation to keep a book, a delayed board vote and referral for another review. The March 18, 2025 exhibit recommends keeping Drama and sending Twisted and The Hate U Give for subjective review. The January 21, 2025 minutes record a vote to delay the appeal item until February.
- 2023–2026
Preparing a challenge
The clips section has three Vicki Baggett CleanBooks-vb clips: two on When You Reach Me and one on Death and Fame: Poems, 1993–1997. One automatic transcript says the speaker calls the book concerning for elementary students but not graphic pornography. Those words have not been checked against the recording.
2024
- 2024–2026
Digital-policy proposals and response
On January 22, 2024, Brooke Stephens supported HB261 at Senate Education, where the minutes identify her as Utah Parents United's education director. On January 31, 2025, she supported HB281 at House Education, speaking for Utah Moms for America.
- April 2024–July 2026
Where the audit appears next
On April 16, 2024, Emily Green asked whether staff choose library books or vendors send preselected orders. Davina S., USBE’s library media specialist, said librarians, educators and district staff normally choose books under local policies. Donations sometimes arrive, but she had not experienced routine unsolicited shipments.
- 2024–March 2025; later archive status
Report transfer and verification
BookLooks stopped publishing on March 23, 2025 and freely gave RatedBooks its review repository, according to its About page and an archived page. BookLooks.org LLC, the Florida company, remained active.
- 2024–2026; uncertain/future dates labeled
Campaign-finance/registry records; political commentary
These records date donations, roles and opinions. Some donor matches remain uncertain, and one screenshot lacks a year. The records do not establish a legislative exchange or funding for a specific product.
- January–August 2024; saved workbook July 6, 2026
The statewide threshold
H.B. 29 requires statewide removal after final objective sensitive material findings by at least three school districts, or at least two districts and five charter schools. Enacted in 2024, its statewide removal provisions took effect July 1, 2024.
- August 2024–March 2026 recordings; December 2025–February 2026 policies
Institutional references and use claims
A York County Library System collection-development policy names RatedBooks as a review source for teen and children's collections. The site dates the change December 11, 2025.
2025
- June 18, 2025
The scope of the follow-up
The June 2025 audit covered 15 districts and two charters. On June 18, 2025, Senate President Stuart Adams moved for a limited follow-up on content flagged by parents and legislators.
- October 14, 2025 report
From 186 candidates to 22 full readings
State auditors reported reading 22 school library books in full. They found sexual conduct, as Utah Code defines it, in 21 of the 22 (95 percent), and nudity, as Utah Code defines it, in 16 (73 percent). The site dates the Office of the Legislative Auditor General’s report October 14, 2025.
- January–March 2025
Appeals produce different outcomes
On January 21, 2025, Michelle Barber moved the Sensitive Materials Appeal Committee Recommendation from consent item 8 to a separate business item. All seven members present then voted to delay it until February’s business meeting.
- October 2025–September 2026
Tools and workflow infrastructure
In October 2025, RatedBooks announced BookLens, a barcode lookup drawing from BookLooks, RatedBooks and WeArethePeople2.
- December 2025–September 2026
Tools and workflow infrastructure
RatedBooks advertised $399, $999 and $2,999 institutional plans on December 28, 2025 and in a January 16, 2026 saved copy. These offered list analysis and links to library systems. Saved pages from April 17, 2026 on show only individual plans. On August 17, 2026, the same annual institutional prices reappeared alongside $100-per-school transparency packages. One 1,000-school price is inconsistent.
- 2025–August 2026
Institutional comparisons
On December 2, 2025, Queen Creek Unified in Arizona adopted a school-library review policy. The policy and supporting materials name no rating vendor.
2026
- September 10, 2026; stated 2027 intentions
Devices, software and privacy claims
On September 10, 2026, Davis County Conservatives hosted a "Tech in Public Schools" talk by Liz and Allie of G-Rated School. They called for limits on school-issued devices, closer review of school software and student data privacy, and more software legislation in 2027.
- August 4–September 2026
From draft to adopted packet
On August 4, 2026, Mike G. emailed Green a draft survey. Its table lists "Content-rating rubrics or sites (identify, e.g., RatedBooks.org)." Districts would mark regular, occasional or no use; the draft cells are blank. It did not direct districts to use RatedBooks.org.
- July–August 2026 analysis dates
Report transfer and verification
This finding covers analyses of URL-slug overlap, citation mismatches and searches of five districts listed on RatedBooks: Queen Creek, Arizona; Fulton County, Georgia; Alpine, Utah; Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; and West Ada, Idaho. The timeline describes them, but their original files are not linked yet, so this page does not state their results.
- September 2026 agenda; tutorial context includes 2023 notes/2024 webinar
BoardBook agenda records; research methodology
The guide explains how to find and save records. An agenda attachment does not show a vote or purchase. Real screenshots are labeled separately from teaching illustrations, and a historical book’s claims still need their own evidence.
- July–September 2026 source/view dates
Organizations and named responsibilities
On July 13, 2026, on Defending Freedom, Bonnie Wallace described supplying titles to Karen England's Take Back the Classroom and directing parents to RatedBooks when a report is missing.
- February–July 2026
Later determinations and the Fight Club procedure
February 3, 2026: 10 Things I Can See From Here, A Spark of Light, Bronxwood, Kendra and Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure each carry a plausibility review decision of "Removed from student access" and an initial objective committee decision to remove. The appeals committee recommended removing all five. For Romeo and/or Juliet, the rationale says the book directs readers to a website and that its printed text includes a description of sexual intercourse or sodomy that violates the objective criteria whether or not the website is counted.
- April 7–September 3, 2026; May 29 reporting notation
Later determinations and the Fight Club procedure
On April 7, 2026, the Davis appeals committee recommended removing Fight Club, which the initial subjective committee had removed, 7:0.
- February–June 2026
Institutional references and use claims
The Salt Lake Tribune reported on June 18, 2026 that Stephens volunteered at a Davis elementary library on February 20, 2026. A parent’s notes of a call with an assistant superintendent put the visit at about 90 minutes. Davis confirmed she was one of three volunteers helping catalog books and could enter "titles, authors, ISBN numbers, and the like." It did not confirm the duration or access level. This describes cataloging, not uploading ratings.
- June–September 2026
Institutional comparisons
Thirteen excerpts from four Community Library Network meetings, June through September 2026, follow an Idaho library dispute. Trustees debated mature-content placement, young-adult shelving and rules for new purchases.
- August–September 2026
Legal advice and public responses
On August 20, 2026, the Community Library Network board's counsel presented trustee training on Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the 2025 Supreme Court decision on Texas's HB 1181, an age-verification law for online pornography sites. Counsel said the court applied "intermediate scrutiny" and rested on the state's traditional power to protect children from content that adults have a right to access.
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