Lawmakers across the United States have declared a war on LGBTQI+ and race-related books by attempting to erase them from libraries, in an effort to preserve oppressive systems of white supremacy and cisgender-heteronormitivity.

In response to a Texas lawmaker’s inquiry on 850 books related to gender, sexuality, and race, the Llano County Library will shut down for three days as six librarians comb through each book to censor shelves based on what is considered “appropriate” for children.

“Over the past few years, protests outside of children’s story hour events at libraries have become common as conservatives terrify children to own the libs. A Christian zealot checked out and burned four books on LGBTQ issues while Republicans have made it illegal to teach about racism honestly in several states,” LGBTQ Nation reports.

This month, over 600 writers, teachers, bookstores and sellers led by the National Coalition Against Censorship released a statement against the attacks by lawmakers targeting books on race and LGBTQ+ experiences in schools.

“Books help students connect with characters whose stories reflect their own lives. They also widen their view of a changing world that embraces diversity and multiculturalism. But there is always resistance to change. So it is not surprising that most of the books that are being attacked address concerns of groups previously underrepresented in libraries and school curriculums: books about lived experiences of racism or of growing up LGBTQIA and experiencing bias, discrimination, hate and even violence,” the statement read.

The statement comes in response to book bans instigated by governments and school officials, who are trying to erase LGBTQ+ and race-related books —like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue” —from school libraries in South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey.

“Libraries offer students the opportunity to encounter books and other material that they might otherwise never see and the freedom to make their own choices about what to read. Denying young people this freedom to explore–often on the basis of a single controversial passage cited out of context–will limit not only what they can learn but who they can become,” the statement reads.