Emma Hulse is education counsel in the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Education Policy Center.

It’s Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate that, in America, we have the right to read what we want. But across the state — including in the Syracuse area — a legion of far-right activists is dead set on purging school libraries of books they don’t like. Many of the books they have in their sights are about race or racism, feature people of color or include LGBTQ characters. If these activists have their way, they will deny New York students their right to read stories that reflect their lives and give them a window into other worlds.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has a golden opportunity to help prevent this by signing the Freedom to Read Act . This legislation — which the state legislature passed

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