Feb. 14 on The Story: In Oregon, there are laws in place that require public school textbooks and other instructional materials to cover diverse people and opinions that shaped the country and the state. Now a new bill, Senate Bill 1583, aims to push back against book bans by prohibiting discrimination. The proposal comes as librarians report a rise in efforts to ban books, both in Oregon and nationwide. "The bill is actually quite simple," said sponsor Sen. Lew Frederick. "It says that a school official cannot prohibit materials because the materials concern a class of people identified in our education anti-discrimination laws. In other words, you cannot ban a book because the book involves folks from marginalized communities." Although hundreds submitted testimony online, Tuesday's public hearing provided an opportunity to testify in person in Salem. Read more: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/oregon-bill-book-banning/283-79c5d259-c3a8-42cd-b78c-f76c4438920c Watch more The Story videos: http://bit.ly/watchTheStory Follow The Story on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheStoryKGW Follow The Story on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thestorykgw