Book bans in American schools are nothing new, but the American Library Association (ALA) released a report on Monday finding that library staff in at least every state have faced “an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books” since 2000. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom counted at least 729 challenges to materials and services in schools, libraries, and even universities in the year of 2021.
“The 729 challenges tracked by ALA represent the highest number of attempted book bans since we began compiling these lists 20 years ago,” said ALA President Patricia Wong.
“We support individual parents' choices concerning their child's reading and believe that parents should not have those choices dictated by others. Young people need to have access to a variety of books from which they can learn about different perspectives. So, despite this organized effort to ban books, libraries remain ready to do what we always have: make knowledge and ideas available so people are free to choose what to read.”
At least 1,597 individual books were targeted for censorship. According to the ALA, most of the books attacked were those that centered around the subjects of Black persons and LGBTQIA+ persons.
Of the books targeted, the top 10 most challenged literary works included “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, which was the most challenged and banned book by far and was targeted for its “sexually explicit images” as well as its queer themes. For similar reasons, the second most challenged book was “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison.
The ALA reported the fifth-most targeted book to be “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, a novel inspired by themes of Black identity, poverty and the Black Lives Matter movement which conservatives challenged for “profanity, violence, and promoting an anti-police message.”
Tara Huizenga, a part-time art teacher and parent of three who attend ROWVA in Illinois where “The Hate U Give” was challenged in mid-January, started an online petition to stop the book’s ban. Huizenga says she was taking action not because of the particular book in question, but because she opposes the idea of book-banning overall.
"It could open the door to further censoring," Huzienga said. "They say it's got language that's 'inappropriate.' I feel that's a cover for their real fears that it's racially sensitive."
Jesse Andrews, author of one of the top ten most banned books, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” said that he initially found it “funny” when he saw his book being banned. Andrews says his book is “potty-mouthed” but that it also focuses on central themes such as pain, grief, while being a coming-of-age story.
He argued that librarians have repeatedly told him the same story: “A kid thought he hated books, then they gave him my book. He liked it. Now he’s reading more books.” Andrews contends that this is why libraries need to stock as many books as they can, so as “to get kids reading.”
“Anyway, I’m not laughing anymore. These book bans are picking up momentum,” Andrews wrote in a tweet. “All around the country, fearful purity-obsessed parents and opportunistic politicians are making kids’ lives worse.”
Regarding his book as “obscene,” Andrews tweeted: “that’s a value judgment. I myself think American gun culture is obscene. But you don’t see me campaigning to have ‘John Wick’ removed from the internet.”
ALA has stated that “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” was challenged by book-banners for being sexually explicit as well as “degrading to women.”
“You’re seeing really powerful movements under way to constrain expression. It’s not about discussing ideas objectively. It’s about not discussing them at all,” says Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Acadia University who tracks free speech in education.
States Take Fight Against Books With Legislation
Efforts to control what teachers say or do in the classroom go beyond simply banning books, though, and efforts to censor and control teachers and educational materials are ramping up in conservative states.
Between January and September of 2021, 24 legislatures across the US introduced 54 separate bills intended to restrict teachers in K-12 schools, higher education, and state agencies and institutions. These bills targeted discussions on race, racism, gender, and American history.
While only 26% of these gag orders were aimed at higher education, for the year 2022 politicians are increasing efforts to censor classrooms for adults in higher education. Sachs says that 46% of all educational gag orders filed this year so far are directed solely at higher education, with 38 higher education-focused bills being pushed in 20 states as of January 24 of this year.
But rather than working to address the unaffordable cost of college tuition, politicians are instead getting crafty in their efforts to dictate educators on what they can and cannot teach.
For example, Mississippi’s proposed HB 437 bill would prohibit professors from teaching materials that include the idea that “the state of Mississippi is fundamentally, institutionally, or systematically racist” or that “racial equity… should be given preference in education and advocacy over racial equality.” The bill would apply to all public and private colleges, including Mississippi’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Teachers who go against the bill would result in a college losing all state funding.
Meanwhile in Missouri, politicians are attempting to restrict professors at public colleges from teaching voting patterns at different income levels, as well as assigning students to read from The Giving Pledge, a movement started by Warren Buffet, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates in an effort to encourage the world’s wealthiest to donate a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
Additionally, in October 2021, a Southlake school administrator from Texas advised teachers that if they have books about the Holocaust in their classom, they should also offer students books from the point of view of Nazis. This motive came some months after the state’s ban on teaching “critical race theory” in K-12 public classrooms was signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
While some parents and politicians are proponents of book-banning and educational gag orders in schools, the ALA pointed out that a survey they conducted in early March of 2022 found that a majority of voters, both liberal and coservative, were actually opposed to any efforts of having books removed from public libraries. In fact, 71% of those said they opposed efforts to have books banned in their local public libraries, and 79% of respondents said they believe public libraries “do a good job of offering books with a variety of viewpoints.”
"This poll demonstrates that, in fact, we are hearing from a loud local minority," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. She explains that the increase in book banning is a result of organized political campaigns, noting elected officials banning books is a relatively new issue faced by the ALA.
Caldwell-Stone further noted that to combat these book bans, the ALA is launching the Unite Against Book Bans campaign, which will organize those who oppose the censorship of free speech and education.