Let Utah Read co-founder to lead Park City conversation on book bans, First Amendment

Rebekah Cummings, co-founder of Let Utah Read, will speak in Park City on Sept. 2 during a community conversation about book bans, parental rights, the First Amendment and the freedom to read. Photo: Rebekah Cummings

Community event will examine Utah’s book-access laws, parental rights and the freedom to read

PARK CITY, Utah — Rebekah Cummings, co-founder of Let Utah Read, will come to Park City in September for a community discussion about book bans, Utah’s evolving laws governing access to books in public schools, and the constitutional questions surrounding the freedom to read.

The Pro-Active Alliance, in partnership with the Banned Book Babes Book Club and Let Utah Read Park City, will host Cummings during its monthly meeting Wednesday, Sept. 2, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Park City Community Church, 4501 S.R. 224.

The event comes amid an ongoing statewide debate that TownLift has followed closely as Utah’s list of books removed from public school student access has steadily grown.

Utah’s first statewide removal list was released in August 2024, when 13 books were ordered removed from every public school under a newly enacted state law. At the time, Park City School District had not removed any of the titles independently. Still, district officials told TownLift the books would nevertheless be pulled locally to comply with state law.

The list has continued to expand.

TownLift reported in January that the addition of “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” “Nineteen Minutes” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” brought the statewide total to 22. By March, the list had grown to 28 with the addition of John Green’s “Looking for Alaska.”

By late April, 34 titles had met Utah’s statewide removal threshold. TownLift’s analysis of the state records found that the same relatively small group of school districts repeatedly appeared in the decisions triggering statewide removal, including Davis, Washington, Jordan, Tooele, Alpine, Nebo and Granite school districts.

Under Utah law, a book determined to contain what state code defines as “objective sensitive material” must be removed from student access statewide once at least three school districts, or two school districts and five charter schools, independently remove it on that basis.

The statewide system grew out of legislation enacted in 2024 that expanded Utah’s earlier sensitive-materials law and created a mechanism for local removal decisions to become mandatory statewide.

The law has also prompted a federal court challenge.

TownLift reported in January that three authors, the Kurt Vonnegut Estate and two Utah high school students, represented by the ACLU of Utah and other attorneys, sued the state, the Utah State Board of Education and several school districts. The lawsuit challenges portions of Utah’s sensitive-materials law on First Amendment grounds and frames the dispute around what plaintiffs describe as the “freedom to read.”

The debate has also generated a local response in Park City.

In February, TownLift reported that Park City residents launched the Banned Book Babes Book Club specifically to read and discuss titles removed from Utah public schools. Organizers said the group grew out of concern over the expanding statewide list and the ability of a small number of districts to affect student access throughout Utah.

The Banned Book Babes are now among the partners hosting Cummings’ Sept. 2 appearance.

Organizers said the discussion is intended for people across the political and ideological spectrum and will examine not only individual book challenges, but broader questions about who decides what students may access, the role of parents and local school districts, and where those decisions intersect with First Amendment protections.

Cummings co-founded Let Utah Read in 2022. The coalition advocates for access to books and against restrictions it views as censorship in Utah schools and libraries. She also works at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library.

According to the Pro-Active Alliance, Cummings will provide background on Utah’s evolving book-access laws and policies, the legal questions surrounding censorship and the First Amendment, and how book challenges and removals are playing out in communities across the state.

The discussion will also address parental rights and local decision-making, including how decisions about an individual child’s access to reading materials intersect with policies governing all students.

Supporters of Utah’s sensitive-materials laws have argued that parents and school officials should have greater authority to keep sexually explicit material out of public schools. Critics have argued that Utah’s statewide threshold allows decisions made by a small number of districts to determine access for students across the state.

Organizers said the purpose of the Park City event is not simply to debate whether particular books should remain available. Instead, the discussion is intended to help residents better understand the laws, ask questions, and consider their practical effects on students, parents, educators, schools, and libraries.

The Pro-Active Alliance meeting featuring Cummings will be held Wednesday, Sept. 2, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Park City Community Church, 4501 S.R. 224. An RSVP is required.