Like many communities across the US, St Tammany Parish has recently experienced challenges to specific books in our libraries.

Largely, the titles focus on LGBTQIA+ titles, subjects and authors. There are a handful of others - to include the Pulitzer prize-winning author Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, and Jonathan Safran Foer - but largely they are from the aforementioned group. The books are being 'challenged' by a local group as being pornographic, grooming or confusing children.

This is a moment for us all to stand up and protect our shared community. We hope that you will join us in celebrating diversity and the written word. Collectively, we celebrate the titles housed in our libraries for their inclusivity - for making the readers feel welcomed, appreciated, loved and seen.

To that end, we invite you to sponsor a leaf (which holds one book that has been 'challenged') on our Giving Tree. Any amount is welcomed.

Funds will go toward the St Tammany Library Alliance - An alliance of people and organizations defending the freedom of our parish libraries to continue to provide public neutral space with accessibility to a wide spectrum of materials for all citizens in the parish without censorship or interference by political groups according to our First Amendment Rights.

CHALLENGED TITLES: (please select one [or more] to sponsor for your 'leaf'):

Julian is a Mermaid - by Jessica Love

My Rainbow - by Trinity and DeShanna Neal

When Aidan Became a Brother - by Kyle Lukoff

Frankie and Bug - by Gayle Forman

I am Jazz - by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings

Sex: A Book for Teens: an uncensored guide to your body, sex and safety - by Nikol Hasler

Gender Queer - by Maia Kobabe

A Court of Frost and Starlight - by Sarah Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury - by Sarah Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses - by Sarah Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin - by Sarah Maas

All Boys Aren't Blue - by George M. Johnson

Blue is the Warmest Color - by Jul Maroh

Breathless - by Jennifer Niven

Closer - by Dennis Cooper

Confess - by Colleen Hoover

Empire of Storms - by Sarah Maas

Flamer - by Mike Curato

House of Earth and Blood - by Sarah Maas

Identical - by Ellen Hopkins

Infandous - by Elana Arnold

Jay's Gay Agenda - by Jason June

Last Night at the Telegraph Club - by Malinda Lo

Lawn Boy - by Jonathan Evison

Living Dead Girl - by Elizabeth Scott

Losing Hope - by Colleen Hoover

Maybe Not - by Colleen Hoover

Milk and Honey - by Rupi Kaur

Normal People - by Sally Rooney

Oryx and Crake - by Margaret Atwood

People Kill People - by Ellen Hopkins

Red, White and Royal Blue - by Casey McQuiston

Sex is a Funny Word - by Cory Silverberg

Shine - by Lauren Myracle

The Bluest Eye - by Toni Morrison

The Freedom Writer's Diary - by the Freedom Writers

The Nerdy and the Dirty - by B.T. Gottfried

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - by Stephen Chbosky

This Book is Gay - by Juno Dawson

Triangles - by Ellen Hopkins

Tricks - by Ellen Hopkins

Two Boys Kissing - by David Levithan

You - a Novel - by Caroline Kepnes

Neanderthal opens the Door to the Universe - by Preston Norton

Ramona Blue - Julie Murphy

Red to the Bone - by Jaqueline Woodson

Rumble - by Ellen Hopkins

Scars - by Cheryl Rainfield

Slammed - by Colleen Hoover

Speak - by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Truth About Alice - by Jennifer Mathieu

The Upside of Unrequited - by Becky Albertalli

The Year of the Flood - by Margaret Atwood

The You I've Never Known - by Ellen Hopkins

Thirteen Reasons Why - by Jay Asher

This One Summer - by Mariko Tamaki

Tower of Dawn - by Sarah Maas

Wait, What? - by Preston Norton

Where I End and You Begin - by Preston Norton

Wintergirls - by Laurie Halse Anderson

Without Merit - by Colleen Hoover

You Too? - by Janet Gurtler

A Lesson in Vengeance - by Victoria Lee

All The Things We Do in the Dark - by Saundra Mitchell

Allegedly - by Tiffany Jackson

America - by E.R. Frank

Clockwork Princess - by Cassandra Clare

Cool for the Summer - by Dahlia Adler

Eleanor and Park - by Rainbow Rowell

Emergency Contact - by Mary Choi

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer

Fade - by Lisa McMann

Fallout - by Ellen Hopkins

Felix Ever After - by Kacen Callender

Finding Cinderella - by Colleen Hoover

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces - by Isabel Quintero

Glass - by Ellen Hopkins

Go Ask Alice - by Beatrice Sparks

Grit - by Gillain French

Grown - by Tiffany Jackson

Breathless - by Jennifer Niven

Heartbreakers and Fakers - by Cameron Lund

Heroine - by Mindy McGuiness

I Am Margaret Moore - by Hannah Capin

I Am Now Your Perfect Mexican Daughter - by Erika Sanchez

I'll Give You The Sun - by Jandy Nelson

L8r G8r - by Lauren Myracle

Me, Earl and the Dying Girl - by Jesse Andrews

More Happy Than Not - by Adam Silvera

On The Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God - by Louise Rennison

Out of Darkness - by Ashley Hope Perez

The Fixer - by Bernard Malamud

The Hate You Give - by Angie Thomas

The Midnight Lie - by Marie Rutoski

The Opposite of Innocent - by Sonya Sones

Pink, Blue and You - by Elise Gravel with Mykaell Blais

A Costume for Charlie - by CK Malone

A Quick and Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities - by Mady Guiliana

Ana on the Edge - by AJ Sass

Beyond Magenta - by Susan Kuklin

Daughters Unto Devils - by Amy Lukavics

Dead End - by Jason Myers

Death Wind - by William Bell

Dress Code for Small Towns - by Courtney Stevens

Fine - by Rhea Equing

Fred Gets Dressed - by Peter Brown

Gender in the 21st Century - by MM Eboch

How to be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual - by Rebecca Burgess

I Wish You All The Best - by Mason Deaver

It Feels Good to be Yourself - by Theresa Thorn

Like Other Girls - by Britta Lundin

Pink is for Boys - by Robb Pearlman

Stone Fruit - by Lee Lai

Symptoms of Being Human - by Jeff Garvin

The Deep and Dark Blue - by Niki Smith

The Moon Within - by Aida Salazar

This Is How It Always Is - by Laurie Frankel

Tiger Honor - by Yoon Ha Lee

Tomboy - by French Audo

Too Bright to See - by Kyle Lukoff

Under Shining Stars - by Alexandra Latos

What Are Your Words - by Katherine Locke

It's Perfectly Normal - by Robie Harris

Almost Perfect - by Brian Katcher

Be Amazing: A History of Pride - by Desmond Napoles

Becoming Nicole - by Amy Ellis Nutt

Between Perfect and Real - by Ray Stoeve

Birthday - by Meredith Russo

Cemetary Boys - by Thomas Aiden

Feeling Wrong in Your Own Body - by Jaime Seba

Frankissstein - by Jeanette Winterson

Gender Failure - by Ray Spoon

Gender Issues - by Kenneth McIntosh

Her Majesty's Queen Coven - by Juno Dawson

How to be a Girl - by Mario Mack

I Hope We Choose Love - by Kai Cheng Thorn

I Was Born for This - by Alice Oseman

Jess, Chunk and the Road to Infinity - by Kristin Clark

Lake Lore - by Anna-Marie McLemore

LGBTQIA+ Books for Children and Teens - by Christina Dorr

Lily and Dunkin - by Donna Gephart

Love & Other Curses - by Michael Ford

Obie is Man Enough - by Schuyler Bailar

Pet - by Emezi Akwaeke

Sam is my Sister - by Ashley Rhodes Courter

Soar, Adam, Soar - by Rick Prashaw

The Civil War of Amos Abernathy - by Michael Leali

The Fighting Infantryman - by Rob Sanders

The Passing Playbook - by Laurie Frankel

The Sunbearer Trials - by Thomas Aiden

The Witch King - by Anna-Marie McLemore

Transgender Lives - by Kristin Cronn-Mils

Youth with Transgender Issues - by Kenneth McIntosh

Who Has That? - by Robbie H. Harris

Born on the Bayou - by Blaine Lourd

Push: A Novel - by Sapphire

Lullaby - by Chuck Palahniuk

Fight Club - by Chuck Palahniuk

Assassination Classroom 1: Time for Assassination - by Yüsei Matsui

Assassination Classroom 2: Time for Grown Ups - by Yüsei Matsui

Assassination Classroom 3: Time for a Transfer Student - by Yüsei Matsui

Assassination Classroom 4: Time to Face the Unbelievable - by Yüsei Matsui