A new PEN America report shows that there are no signs of decreasing school book bans
The Challenge of Library Books Censorship between Jan. 1-Feb. 31, 2022: A Study of the American Library Association
The American Library Association released data on the number of attempts to ban library books over the course of 8 months.
From Jan. 1 to Aug 31, the attempts sought to challenge or censor 1,915 titles, a 20% increase compared to the same months in 2022, the organization said. Since the ALA started tracking book censorship more than two decades ago, last year saw the most challenges.
The data set doesn’t offer any information on the people who want books to speak to their lived experience and librarians who want books accessible to people who find them relevant. Both are under attack,” ALA President Emily Drabinski said.
The director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom said that the attacks on our freedom to read should trouble everybody who values liberty. “To allow a group of people or any individual, no matter how powerful or loud, to become the decision-maker about what books we can read or whether libraries exist, is to place all of our rights and liberties in jeopardy.”
In one instance, a local group called Clean Up Samuels hosted barbecues to pass out “Request for Reconsideration” forms at the Samuels Public Library in Front Royal, Va. More than 500 forms were filled out regarding about 150 titles. The library director resigned after the county board of supervisors denied 75% of their funding, according to the ALA.
How Many Books are in School Libraries? A NPR/Ipsos Study of Iowa’s Urbandale School District Against Book Bans
In July, the Urbandale Community School District in Iowa listed 374 books that it took issue with, but was unsure if many of the books were available in the schools’ libraries. All Boys aren’t Blue, Beloved, and The Kite Runner were all removed from the libraries because they were on the list.
Recent NPR/Ipsos polling found that 64% of Americans oppose book bans by school boards, and 69% oppose book bans by state lawmakers. PEN says that local and national coordinated pressure campaigns have been charged with “supercharging” book banning efforts, which is having a chilling effect on teachers and librarians.
If you only include the books that have been removed from classrooms and libraries, the report’s lead author says it’s even worse. The number jumped to 1,263 books in the last school year from 333 the year before.
“We keep wondering if we’ve reached the peak yet,” Meehan says. “All signals indicate that there is still growing, and it is against kind of public opinion.”
Just under half the books involved deal with violence or physical abuse, including sexual assault; a little less than a third focus on LGBTQ+ identities; and nearly a third include characters of color and themes of race or racism.
“Of course, it’s going to explode,” says Michelle Beavers, a member of a local Moms for Liberty chapter in Florida. “Once you show people what’s in their kids’ schools, their mouths drop … and they feel compelled to do something.”
The US’ American Library Association (ALA) released data on the number of attempts to ban library books over the course of eight months. “To allow a group of people or any individual, no matter how powerful or loud, to become the decision-maker about what books we can read or whether libraries exist, is to place all of our rights and liberties in jeopardy,” it said.