Book Bans
The American Library Association (ALA) has tracked book challenges, which are attempts to remove or restrict materials, since 1990. In 2020, the ALA recorded 156 reported book challenges in the United States, a significant decrease from the 377 reported challenges in 2019, perhaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, attempts to ban books doubled from 2021 with 1,269 attempts to ban 2,571 unique titles, according to the ALA. The numbers also reflect a trend in which one complaint includes challenges to multiple books, whereas in the past most complaints only included one book. By 2023, the number of books challenged had skyrocketed: there were 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources that year, involving 4,240 unique book titles in schools and libraries. [22][27][28][31][40]
The ALA also sited the following trends:
- Pressure groups in 2023 focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92 percent over the previous year; school libraries saw an 11 percent increase.
- Groups and individuals demanding the censorship of multiple titles, often dozens or hundreds at a time, drove this surge.
- Titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47% of those targeted in censorship attempts.
In most years, about 10% of the reported challenges resulted in removal or ban from the school or library. However, in 2016, five of the top ten most challenged books were removed, beginning a trend of school boards allowing more book removals. The ALA estimates that only about 3% to 18% of challenges are reported to its Office for Intellectual Freedom, meaning that the actual number of attempts to ban books is likely much higher.[1][24]
In 2021, challenges were most frequently brought by parents (39%), followed by patrons (24%), a board or administration (18%), librarians or teachers (6%), elected officials (2%), and students (1%). Books were most often challenged at school libraries (44%), followed by public libraries (37%), schools (18%), and academic libraries (1%). However, by 2022, book challenges were being lodged by at least 50 organized groups and state legislatures were taking action to remove books from public schools and libraries, strategies that continued and escalated through 2023 and into 2024. [30][41][42]
Sexually explicit content, offensive language, and “unsuited to any age group” are the top three reasons cited for requesting a book be removed. The percentage of Americans who thought any books should be banned increased from 18% in 2011 to 28% in 2015, and 60% of people surveyed believed that children should not have access to books containing explicit language in school libraries, according to The Harris Poll. A 2022 poll found 71% disagreed with efforts to have books removed, including 75% of Democrats, 58% of independents, and 70% of Republicans. [1][3][28]
As the wave of book bans increased nationwide, 2023 brought bans on book bans themselves from two states: Illinois and California. The Illinois law is focused on libraries and “protects the freedom of libraries to acquire materials without external limitations.” California’s law focuses on school administration and “prohibit[s] the governing board of a school district or a county board of education from prohibiting the continued use of an appropriately adopted textbook, instructional material, or curriculum on the basis that it contains inclusive and diverse perspectives.” [33][34][35]
As reported in a 2023 story titled, "Most Parents Want School Libraries for Their Children—but with Restrictions," a survey of parents by Book Riot and the EveryLibrary Institute revealed that:
- 95% of parents believe every school should have a school library.
- 93% of parents believe their child is safe using the school library.
- 80% of parents trust school librarians to select age-appropriate material for the school library, while 82% trust school librarians to recommend age-appropriate material to students.
- 60% of parents believe school libraries should restrict access to books by age or require parental permission to check out a book.
- 57% believe that parents should receive notifications when a child checks out a book.
- 53% of parents believe they should be able to opt their children out of access to the school library, while 38% believe they should have to opt their children into access. [36]
So. should parents or other adults be able to ban books from schools and libraries?
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Pro 1: Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when. Read More. | Con 1: Parents may control what their own children read but don’t have a right to restrict what books are available to other people. Read More. |
| Pro 2: Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries. Read More. | Con 2: Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it. Read More. |
| Pro 3: Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids but doesn’t stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them. Read More. | Con 3: Books are a portal to different life experiences, and reading encourages empathy and social-emotional development. Read More. |
Pro Arguments
(Go to Con Arguments)Pro 1: Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when.
Having books with adult topics available in libraries limits parents’ ability to choose when their children are mature enough to read specific material. “Literary works containing explicit [scenes, as well as] vulgar and obscene language” were on the approved reading list for grades 7–12, according to Speak up for Standards, a group seeking age-appropriate reading materials for students in Dallas, Texas. [4]
If books with inappropriate material are available in libraries, children or teens can be exposed to books their parents wouldn’t approve of before the parents even find out what their children are reading. [16]
Bans are necessary because “opting your child out of reading [a certain] book doesn’t protect him or her. They are still surrounded by the other students who are going to be saturated with this book,” said writer Macey France. [17]
Pro 2: Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries.
Books in the young adult genre often contain adult themes that young people aren’t ready to experience. Of the top ten most challenged books in 2020, one had LGBTQ+ content, two were sexually explicit, five dealt with racism and anti-police opinions, and others had profanity and drug use.[18][27]
According to Jenni White, a former public school science teacher, “Numerous studies on the use of graphic material by students indicate negative psychological effects,” including having “more casual sex partners and [beginning] having sex at younger ages.” [19]
The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that exposure to violence in media, including in books, can impact kids by making them act aggressively and desensitizing them to violence.[17]
As Kim Heinecke, a mother of four, said to her local Superintendent of Public Schools, “It is not a matter of ‘sheltering’ kids. It is a matter of guiding them toward what is best. We are the adults. It is our job to protect them—no matter how unpopular that may seem.”[19]
Pro 3: Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids but doesn’t stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them.
Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council noted that removing certain books from libraries is about showing discretion and respecting a community’s values and doesn’t prevent people from getting those books elsewhere: “It’s an exaggeration to refer to this as book banning. There is nothing preventing books from being written or sold, nothing to prevent parents from buying it or children from reading it.” [20]
What some call “book banning,” many see as making responsible choices about what books are available in public and school libraries. “Is it censorship that you’re unable to go to your local taxpayer-funded branch and check out a copy of the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’? For better or for worse, these books are still widely available. Your local community has simply decided that finite public resources are not going to be spent disseminating them,” said Weekly Standard writer and school board member Mark Hemingway. [18]
Con Arguments
(Go to Pro Arguments)Con 1: Parents may control what their own children read but don’t have a right to restrict what books are available to other people.
Parents who don’t like specific books can have their kids opt out of an assignment without infringing on the rights of others.
The National Coalition against Censorship explained that, “Even books or materials that many find ‘objectionable’ may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences.” [6]
In the 1982 Supreme Court ruling on Board of Education v. Pico, Justice William Brennan wrote that taking books off of library shelves could violate students’ First Amendment rights, adding that, “Local school boards may not remove books from school libraries simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.” [21]
Con 2: Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it.
Robie H. Harris, author of frequently challenged children’s books including It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex, and Sexual Health, stated, “I think these books look at the topics, the concerns, the worry, the fascination that kids have today.…It’s the world in which they’re living.” [8]
Many books that have long been considered to be required reading to become educated about literature and American history are frequently challenged, such as: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.[9]
Forty-six of the Radcliffe Publishing Group’s “Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century” are frequently challenged. Banning these books would deprive students of essential cultural and historical knowledge, as well as differing points of view. [9]
Con 3: Books are a portal to different life experiences, and reading encourages empathy and social-emotional development.
One study found that reading J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which is frequently challenged for religious concerns about witchcraft, “improved attitudes” about immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees.[11]
Another study found that reading narrative fiction helped readers understand their peers and raised social abilities.[12][13]
A study published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology found that people who read a story about a Muslim woman were less likely to make broad judgments based on race.[14]
Neil Gaiman, author of the frequently challenged novel Neverwhere, among other books, stated that fiction “build[s] empathy….You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals.”[15]
Discussion Questions
- Should parents or other adults be able to ban books from schools or libraries? Why or why not?
- Have you read any of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023? Should those books be banned or restricted? Explain your answers.
- Is book banning censorship? Why or why not?
Take Action
- Evaluate the perspective of parents who would like to remove a book from a school library.
- Consider “11 Banned Books through Time” at Encyclopædia Britannica.
- Consider this pro–book ban argument, and its notion that not all literature is equal, from the Dordt University student newspaper in 2024.
- Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.
- Push for the position and policies you support by writing U.S. senators and representatives.
Sources
- American Library Association, “Banned & Challenged Books,” ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2017)
- American Library Association, “Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2016,” ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2017)
- The Harris Poll, “Adults Are More Likely to Believe There Are Books That Should Be Banned Than Movies, Television Shows, or Video Games,” theharrispoll.com, July 8, 2015
- Speak up for Standards homepage, accessed via archive.org, Feb. 25, 2017
- Clare Trapasso, “Queens Sixth-Graders No Longer Must Read Racy ‘Diary of a Part-Time Indian,’ ” nydailynews.com, Aug. 1, 2013
- National Coalition against Censorship, “Censorship and the First Amendment in Schools: A Resource Guide,” webjunction.org, May 9, 2016
- Robert P. Doyle, “Books Challenged or Banned in 2015-2016,” ila.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2017)
- Jessica Gross, “Unsuited to Any Age Group,” lareviewofbooks, Sep. 26, 2014
- American Library Association, “Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century,” ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2017)
- Rick Abbott, “‘Where Is the Line?’ Book Pulled from Minnesota School Shelves after Superintendent Deems It ‘Vulgar,’” dglobe.com, May 18, 2017
- Loris Vezzali et al., “The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, July 23, 2014
- Raymond A. Mar et al., “Bookworms Versus Nerds: Exposure to Fiction Versus Non-Fiction, Divergent Associations with Social Ability, and the Simulation of Fictional Social Worlds,” Journal of Research in Personality, 2006
- David Comer Kidd et al., “Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind,” sciencemag.org, Oct. 18, 2013
- Dan R. Johnson, Brandie L. Huffman, and Danny M. Jasper, “Changing Race Boundary Perception by Reading Narrative Fiction,” Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Feb. 10, 2014
- Neil Gaiman, “Neil Gaiman: Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and Daydreaming,” theguardian.com, Oct. 15, 2013
- Kate Messner, “An Important Conversation about Elementary Library Book Selection & Omission,” katemessner.com, June 14, 2016
- Macey France, “THIS Is Common Core-Approved for Children?,” politichicks.com, July 30, 2015
- Mark Hemingway, “In Defense of Book Banning,” thefederalist.com, Mar. 11, 2014
- Jenni White, “Parents Shouldn’t Let Schools Force Kids To Read Smut,” thefederalist.com, Mar. 15, 2016
- Finlo Rohrer, “Why Are Parents Banning School Books?,” bbc.co.uk, Sep. 27, 2010
- US Supreme Court, “Island Trees Sch. Dist. v. Pico by Pico 457 U.S. 853 (1982),” supreme.justia.com, June 25, 1982
- ALA, “Censorship by the Numbers,” ala.org (accessed Aug. 31, 2018)
- ALA, “Top Ten Most Challenged Books List,” ala.org (accessed Aug. 31, 2018)
- ALA, “Censorship by the Numbers,” ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2019)
- ALA, “Top 11 Challenged Books of 2018,” ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2019)
- ALA, “Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists,” ala.org (accessed Apr. 21, 2020)
- ALA, “Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists,” ala.org (accessed Aug. 30, 2021)
- Miranda Mazariegos and Meghan Collins Sullivan, “Efforts to Ban Books Jumped an ‘Unprecedented’ Four-Fold in 2021, Ala Report Says,” npr.org Apr. 4, 2022
- American Library Association, “Voters Oppose Book Bans in Libraries,” ala.org (accessed Apr. 4, 2022)
- American Library Association, “Banned Books: Free Downloads,” ala.org (accessed Aug. 2, 2022)
- Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris, “Attempts to Ban Books Doubled in 2022,” nytimes.com, Mar. 23, 2023
- American Library Association, “Book Ban Data,” ala.org (accessed Sep. 28, 2023)
- Illinois.gov, “Gov. Pritzker Signs Bill Making Illinois First State in the Nation to Outlaw Book Bans,” illinois.gov, June 12, 2023
- Jonathan Franklin, “New California Law Bars Schoolbook Bans Based on Racial and LGBTQ Topics,” npr.org, Sep. 26, 2023
- California Legislative Information, “Assembly Bill No. 1078, CHAPTER 229,” leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, Sep. 26 2023
- Kelly Jensen, “Most Parents Want School Libraries for Their Children–but with Restrictions,” bookriot.com, Dec. 20, 2023
- American Library Association, “American Library Association Reports Record Number of Unique Book Titles Challenged in 2023,” ala.org, Mar. 14, 2024
- Kasey Meehan and Jonathan Friedman, “Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools,” pen.org, Apr. 30 2023
- American Library Association, “Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023,” ala.org (accessed July 11, 2024)
- American Library Association, “American Library Association Reports Record Number of Unique Book Titles Challenged in 2023,” ala.org, Mar. 14, 2024
- Jonathan Friedman and Nadine Farid Johnson, “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools,” pen.org, Sep. 19, 2022
- Kasey Meehan and Jonathan Friedman, “Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools,” pen.org, Apr. 20, 2023