In Nashville, Texas, the headmaster of St. Edwards Catholic School banned all seven Harry Potter books, decreeing that no student could read them.

Why? Because he believed that they promoted witchcraft.

While this may seem odd, it is not the first time that a school or a district has opted to ban a book based on their beliefs.

Besides the Harry Potter novels, on the list of commonly banned books are The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Some places even ban religious texts, like the Bible.

Furthermore, AHS has a system and committee in place to deal with any books that are contested.
Students, parents, and other members of the community can file a claim about any book available in the library, and say that it should not be prohibited.

Then, the Materials Challenge Committee meets to discuss the book and whether or not it should be allowed.
“It requires a lot of paperwork,” Head of the Committee and Head Librarian Patricia Brown said. “All of us have to read the book to see what the person is trying to challenge.”

Though this may seem like a tedious task, it is a necessary one.

“A lot of times, when someone is challenging material, they are making an unnecessary decision for everyone, when they really just want to make it for their kids,” Brown said. “So we have to take that into account.”

However, these reports happens very rarely.

“It has not happened before in the two years that I have been here, but I have seen it happen in other counties,” Brown said.

Also, the few times that it has happened in the past, the reports did not succeed.

This is because all the books that are available in a school are there for a reason and pass strict guidelines created by the school district.