Kentucky School Library Checkouts Double After District-Wide Cellphone Ban

Key facts

• Pleasure Ridge Park High School in Louisville, Kentucky, checked out 4,200 books in the first three months of the 2025 school year.
• The 4,200 checkouts are twice the number for all of the previous school year, according to librarian Erin Reed.
• Jefferson County Public Schools implemented a cellphone ban at the start of the 2025 school year, requiring phones to be off and put away 'bell to bell.'
• Kentucky prohibits student device use during instructional time, but the district ban is stricter.
• Superintendent Brian Yearwood said the ban has led to 'full engagement' and more student participation in classroom and group activities.
• Senior Noah Berry, initially opposed to the policy, said he had never checked out a book before this year and now reads more.
• Psychotherapist Tom Kersting linked the reading increase to the phone ban and said restrictions can strain parents, calling the phone an 'umbilical cord.'
• Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, said students should have phone access during the school day, rejecting the idea of calling the school secretary as a solution.
• More than 30 states, including Kentucky, now have some form of restriction on student cellphone use in schools.
• Yearwood said the district will monitor the ban's long-term impact, with library trends as one indicator.