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Although 71% of voters oppose book banning, we’ve seen a sharp increase in banned books over the past couple of years. Shockingly, only 11 people were responsible for 60% of the book bans in the 2021-22 school year. The uptick in book bans makes sense when considering that many of the book bans come from groups like Moms for Liberty, which was founded in 2021 to protest the mask mandates and quarantines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the most common reasons for a book being banned are sexual content, offensive language, unsuitability to the age group, LGBTQ+ content, and racism. In the 2021-22 school year, 41% of the books banned involved LGBTQ+ themes while 40% of banned titles involved protagonists of color or major secondary characters of color. These efforts are not subtle – their clear goal is to censor the experiences of people of color and LGBTQ+ experiences. The ability of students to read a book acknowledging the hardships surrounding racism or sexual orientation is vital.
On the surface, the information is already deeply concerning, but the details show just how serious an attack book bans are. For instance, a far-right group in Houston, Mama Bears Rising, has been fueling many of the book bans in the area. A parent in the group was upset by the poster depicting people of different races holding hands, so they had their student transfer classrooms. At the school board meeting, this Mama Bears Rising member spoke out against the “displays of personal ideologies in classrooms,” and they were backed up by another member. When the member was asked if she objected to cross-racial friendship, she explained that she tries to avoid “situations like that.” Groups like Moms for Liberty and Mamas Bears Rising hide behind the idea of “parental rights,” but have obvious deeper discriminatory motives.
The discrimination and censorship has spiraled into a serious attack on libraries and a damaging overreach of parental rights. In Citrus County, Florida, the school district created an “opt-in” access plan, where parents have to fill out a form giving permission to their students to use the libraries. Around 4,000 students were unable to use their school library because of “parent error or lack of engagement.” This policy is still in place, meaning that more students will likely lose access to their school library in the upcoming school year. Policies like these are due to groups like Moms for Liberty claiming extreme numbers of books are inappropriate. While groups shouting “parental rights” are quick to label anything that doesn’t align with their heteronormative and white-washed standards as “pornographic,” a volunteer on a nearby county’s book review panel states, “You have to consider context. And if you don’t do that there are not going to be libraries left.”
Libraries Fight Back (and win!)
South Carolina: When Jamie Gregory became a school librarian in South Carolina she thought she was taking a job involving organizing and managing journals, books, and magazines as well as assisting students in learning the importance of reading. She certainly didn’t sign up for receiving threats of harm, being called names like “pedophile” and “groomer,” and having her home address published online. Nonetheless, Gregory has fought against challenges to literature, winning several awards such as South Carolina librarian of the year, and teaching other librarians how to advocate against book bans. She spoke out at the American Library Association’s annual meeting in Chicago, where thousands of people came together and learned more about book bans and how to fight them. “I don’t impose my own personal moral system on students or patrons,” Gregory told the assembly. “They have to have their own, that’s not my job.”
Nationwide: The Digital Public Library of America is working to ensure students have access to banned books. The library functions through GPS-based geo-targeting, where users enter their address and are shown the list of books banned in the area. Users are then able to download these books, free of charge. Similar programs have been extremely successful – the Brooklyn Public Library in New York launched “Books Unbanned,” which gave users between the ages of 13-21 a free library card to download books. Over 6,000 youth signed up, checking out around 100,000 books.
Events & Resources for Action
The National Coalition Against Censorship offers a book censorship action kit that includes a variety of resources and advocacy tools such as sample letters for both parents and students fighting book bans in their local schools.
The American Library Association has a webpage explaining how to respond to challenges and concerns about library resources. The organization also maintains a “Report Censorship” toolkit, where you can share confidential information about which sources are being challenged or censored. This information will assist in ensuring library workers can stay on top of trends.