Attempts to ban books in public schools are still prevalent—and efforts are still growing, according to findings from two organizations that track the number of book challenges and restrictions.
The data, compiled by the American Library Association and PEN America, were both released Sept. 23 as part of Banned Books Week, an annual week-long event highlighting censorship that runs from Sept. 22 to 28.
While the ALA found that challenges shrunk from the first eight months of this year compared to the same time period last year, PEN America found that bans surged last school year—roughly tripling in number from the year before. The organizations define bans and challenges differently, capture different time periods, and look at different pockets where bans might occur (PEN America tracks schools, while ALA looks at libraries and schools).
Still, both reports find that the numbers of bans and challenges are much higher than they were before the first wave of opposition to titles related to race and LGBTQ+ issues began several years ago.
ALA found that book challenges are still significantly higher than pre-2020 levels, reporting that there were 414 attempts to censor library materials between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 this year. There were challenges to 1,128 titles, with a majority targeting books on race and gender and sexuality, particularly by or about people of color or LGBTQ+ people. There were fewer attempts this year compared to last year, according to ALA’s data, which found 695 attempts with 1,915 unique titles challenged during the same time period in 2023.
Though it’s encouraging to see fewer bans and challenges, it’s not surprising to see them persist, said ALA President Cindy Hohl.
“We understand that the current status of this campaign has continued to move forward in different states across the country as you see legislation being drafted to limit readers’ access to materials,” she said. “While we don’t see an increase in legislation being drafted, we continue to see states that hold strong opposition continue to share rhetoric within the community.”
Meanwhile, PEN America’s preliminary report found that more than 10,000 books were removed, at least temporarily, from public schools during the 2023-24 academic year, calling it a “dramatic increase”—roughly triple the number of books from the previous year. PEN counts any book that has been removed from students’ access as a ban, even if it is ultimately returned to the shelves.
“For it to have tripled, I will say even took me, as a researcher, by surprise,” said Sabrina Baeta, who worked on PEN America’s report and is a program manager for the organization.
Both organizations cautioned underreporting, noting that censorship can take shape in other ways: hesitancy in book selection, restrictions on school book purchases, removal from classroom collections, and cancellations of author visits and book fairs. Books can also be kept in restricted areas, not used in library displays, or kept “off limits.”
ALA tracks challenges from reports submitted by library professionals and news stories published nationally. PEN America uses public records and media reports to track their data.
Book bans happen at the state and local levels
Book bans skyrocketed in 2022 as statewide legislation took shape across the country, restricting what materials could be taught, or what books could be accessed in schools. The bans have continued to escalate, with state laws being the main driver of restricted access.
PEN estimates that about 8,000 of the bans last school year came from Florida and Iowa, two states with recently enacted laws restricting books that contain sexual content from schools.
But bans occur at the local level, too, with challenges to titles and materials playing out in school board meetings across the country. Restrictions have been met with lawsuits nationally, with rulings varying court to court. Research has found parents trust librarians to pick age-appropriate books, though they think certain books should have more oversight.
Opponents of restrictions on books say the challenges and bans largely target stories about people of color and LGBTQ+ people, denying young readers access to stories that reflect their experiences, and learning about others. In some districts, students have fought to reverse policy and have titles reinstated. Baeta called it a “manufactured moral panic,” noting that many of the books that are the subject of the restrictions are classics.
“We have to ask ourselves: Why is this happening now? Why is Dracula being banned? Why is James Baldwin being banned?” Baeta said.
Hohl said that librarians will get removal requests for books they don’t even have in their libraries, because lists circulate and are distributed by advocates online.
“Americans have freedoms, and those freedoms need to be upheld,” she said. “What Americans cannot do is make those choices for their neighbors. It’s important we continue to uphold everyone’s equal access, and that’s through First Amendment rights.”
Research finds trends in the types and locations of book bans
Katie Spoon, a doctoral candidate in computer science at the University of Colorado Boulder, studied the first wave of recent book challenges and bans in the 2021-22 school year, finding that many of the titles banned were children’s books and nonfiction books about historical figures and social issues—not the books she was accustomed to seeing on banned book displays in bookstores or libraries. They were disproportionately written by women and women of color, she said.
Spoon and fellow researchers found in their work that book bans took place in majority Republican counties where GOP margins had been shrinking over the past two decades, suggesting the book bans may act as a way to galvanize voters in those districts.
“It’s a combination of top-down and bottom-up actions,” she said. “You do have the larger political messaging from the Republican party, but then there’s organizations like Moms for Liberty, where individuals within the organization will go request that books be removed.”
Both librarians and teachers are stuck in a precarious place when it comes to book selection, experts say.
“Teachers are caught, because they want to be able to pick books that will engage their students,” said Ann David, who chairs the National Council of Teachers of English committee against censorship. “Either they can’t pick [certain books] or they could but they worry that a principal will come in and have a conversation, they’ll be named at a school board meeting, or attacked on social media. All of these things have happened. Their fear is well founded.”
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