Oklahoma Teacher Loses License After Book-Ban Protest Ignites Fight

In Oklahoma, a high school English teacher who spent nearly a decade building a 500-book classroom library now may never teach again — because she tried to help students keep reading banned books.

Summer Boismier, 37, had her teaching license revoked after clashing with state officials over Oklahoma’s sweeping classroom restrictions and a wave of book bans. Her case, first detailed in a new New York Times profile, has turned a single protest into a national test of how far states can go in policing what students read.

From covered shelves to a missing license

Boismier’s battle dates back to 2022, when Oklahoma implemented HB 1775, a law that restricts how teachers discuss race and gender. In protest, she covered her classroom library with paper and posted a QR code giving students access to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned project, a digital lifeline to titles challenged across the country.

Among the e-books available through that code were graphic memoirs and YA novels at the center of the U.S. censorship wave, including Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, and Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. The move drew swift backlash from conservative activists and Oklahoma officials, and Boismier resigned in protest rather than strip her library down. (Washington Post)

But the fight didn’t end with her resignation. The Oklahoma State Board of Education pursued disciplinary action, accusing her of violating HB 1775 and exposing students to inappropriate material. Twice, judges reviewing the case found that Boismier had not broken the law and recommended that she keep her credentials. Twice, the state board rejected those findings and pressed ahead toward revoking her license. (Oklahoma Voice)

Libraries, lawsuits, and the next phase of the book wars

Boismier is now asking the courts to restore her license, arguing that the board acted arbitrarily and in retaliation for her speech and her support of students’ right to read. In new filings, her legal team notes that Books Unbanned is a public library program — not a secret back channel — and that access to contested titles like Gender Queer is part of a broader, constitutional debate over what young people are allowed to read. (Oklahoma Voice)

Her case lands as book bans and challenges hit historic highs. PEN America and other watchdogs have tracked tens of thousands of removals from school and public libraries nationwide, prompting counter-moves such as states that are now trying to outlaw school book bans altogether. We’ve seen school boards and judges wrestle over titles from Flamer to memoirs like Jesus Land, and even entire districts using their removal lists as political weapons. (For more on that national picture, see our coverage of nearly 23,000 school book bans and the new push as states move to outlaw bans.)

For readers, Boismier’s story is about much more than one teacher and one QR code. It’s about whether a classroom library can still be a place where teens find themselves on the page — including queer teens, kids of color, and anyone whose story makes adults uncomfortable. As lawsuits over HB 1775 and similar laws move forward, the outcome of her fight could signal whether defending inclusive literature is now a firing offense, or a right the courts are willing to protect.