In the battle for books, the Nashville Library’s answer? “I read forbidden books.”

As efforts to control books continue in Tennessee, the Nashville Library is abandoning a new bold campaign: “I Read Forbidden Books” cards.

For almost a month, the Nashville Public Library has been issuing 5,000 limited-edition cards in bright yellow to readers in Davidson County.

The book clamp in the state is coming An “unprecedented” year for banning books in 2021, according to a report by the American Association of Librarians. Gov. Bill Lee recently signed a law requiring Tennessee school libraries to view materials age appropriate content, Chalkbeat reports. Another bill passed by Tennessee House criminalizes school librarians for failing to remove books considered by the school board. “IndecentAccording to the Associated Press.

This year, Mouse – Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about the Holocaust was removed from the curriculum in McMinn County, northeast of Chattanooga. In Williamson County, south of Nashville, the school board voted in February to remove Sharon Creech Walk Too Moons, about a teenage girl experiencing the loss of a mother.

“This campaign is our way of uniting our community in our shared freedom of reading, which is very important for maintaining our democracy,” Kash Oliver, director of the Nashville Public Library, said in a press release.