- Book bans and challenges doubled from 2020 to 2021, according to the American Library Association.
- Lgbtq books account for a third of all attempted bans.
- Some conservative politicians are leading the charge.
- Libraries are fighting back and expanding access to books.
Banned books are not new, but they have taken on a new relevance in a growing culture war that puts books that focus on racism, sexuality, and gender identity at risk in schools and public libraries.
A dramatic increase in challenged books over the past year and an escalation in censorship tactics have regularly put book ban efforts in the news headlines. In July, a small Iowa town library briefly closed its doors and has no director after a series of resignations and criticisms over the hiring of LGBTQ staff and certain books at the library. In June, a Wisconsin English class became a national talking point after Muskego-Norway school district leaders said staff had to reconsider their selection of Julie Otsuka’s “When the Emperor Was Divine.” A book that delves into the United States. incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
You are reading: Most recent banned books
Potential book banners argue that readers can still buy books they can no longer access through public libraries, but that’s only true for those with the financial resources to do so. For many, especially children and young adults, schools and public libraries are the only means of accessing literature.
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What is a book ban?
When a book is successfully “banned”, that means a book has been removed from school curricula and/or public libraries because a person or group has objected to its content.
An attempt to remove a book is called a challenge. Most schools and public libraries have boards made up of elected officials (or appointees of elected officials) who have the power to remove books from the schools and libraries they oversee.
Why It Matters: Banning a book is significant because it restricts others’ access to books and the ideas contained in those books, based on someone else’s objection, often ideologically or politically motivated.
are book bans increasing in the us? uh?
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yes. The American Library Association (ALA) tracks challenges and bans across the country, and the latest data is alarming. in 2021, the wing recorded 729 book challenges targeting 1,597 titles. that’s more than double the numbers from 2020 and the highest number since the organization began tracking data in 2000.
The true numbers are likely to be much higher: some challenges are never reported by libraries, and books that librarians pre-emptively withdraw for fear of losing their jobs are not included.
what are the most banned books?
A recent analysis by PEN America found that many challenged books focus on communities of color, the history of racism in America and LGBTQ characters. In fact, one in three books restricted by school districts in the past year featured LGBTQ themes or characters.
here are the 10 most challenged books of 2021, by wing:
- “gender queer” by maia kobabe
- “kid from the garden” by jonathan evison
- “not all kids are blue” by george m. johnson
- “out of the dark”, by ashley esperanza perez
- “the hate you give”, by angie thomas
- “the absolutely true diary of a part -time indian”, by sherman alexie
- “me, earl and the dying girl”, by jesse andrews
- “the bluest eye”, by toni morrison
- “this book is gay”, by juno dawson
- “beyond magenta”, by susan kuklin
many books that were historically banned ended up becoming literary classics that are still taught in modern classrooms. according to the wing, frequently banned classics include:
- “to kill a mockingbird” by harper lee
- “catcher in the rye” by jd salinger
- “grapes of wrath” by john steinbeck
- “the color purple”, by alice walker
- “1984”, by george orwell
- “brave new world”, by aldous huxley
- “native son” by richard wright
- “slaughterhouse-five” by kurt vonnegut
- “a separate peace” by john knowles
- “lord of the flies” by william golding
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who bans books in usa? uh?
The book ban made headlines this year when the mcminn county school board in tennessee voted 10-0 to remove art spiegelman’s pulitzer prize-winning graphic memoir “maus” from its curriculum. the experience of their parents in the holocaust.
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Since then, there has been a largely conservative push to remove certain titles from schools and libraries, in some cases with politicians at the helm, including:
glenn youngkin: During his successful run for governor of Virginia last fall, the Republican candidate ran a controversial ad featuring a mother who opposed her teenage son being assigned Toni Morrison’s “beloved” in English class. In April, Gov. Youngkin signed a bill into law that requires Virginia schools to notify parents when their children are assigned books that contain sexually explicit content.
henry mcmaster: the republican governor of south carolina supported a school board’s decision to eliminate “gender queer” and called the book “obscene”.
ron desantis: the republican governor of florida also criticized the “gender queer” and this year enacted a law that requires schools to make all books and materials more transparent for parents can “raise the alarm”.
what is being done to combat the ban on books?
American Library Association: Each year, the Wing and libraries across the country celebrate Banned Books Week in late September. this year’s banned book week takes place in september. 26 to Oct 2, with the theme “books unite us. censorship divides us.”
brooklyn public library: earlier this year, the brooklyn public library gave teens anywhere in the u.s. uu. access to your collection of hundreds of thousands of e-books with a special “books not banned” e-card. At the end of June, more than 4,000 cards were given to young people between the ages of 13 and 21.
Nashville Public Library: This Southern library protested banned books this year with a limited edition library card with the special message: “I read banned books.” The bright yellow cards are part of the library’s Freedom to Read campaign celebrating the “right to read.”
Margaret Atwood: Author of the oft-banned dystopian feminist novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” promoted the auction of a specially commissioned fireproof edition of her book made from cinefoil by unsuccessfully attempting to incinerate a prototype with a flamethrower the stunt raised $130,000, with proceeds going to pen america.