In 2022, a historic number of book challenges were made across the country, targeting school, community and university libraries. In Florida alone, where over 500 books have been banned or challenged since 2021, authors ranging from inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to contemporary novelist Kurt Vonnegut have been the subject of targeted removal from classrooms and libraries. Yet according to the Washington Post, most book challenges are made by only a handful of individuals, often bonding together via social media. That means a very small number of people have attempted to create an outsized impact on the reading material allowed to a significant portion of the country.
Libraries maintain collections for the benefit of heir communities, and communities are comprised of people from all backgrounds, interests and informational and literary needs. Book challenges prevent people from accessing the books that they seek. This is particularly true for sexual and racial minorities. According to PEN America, 81% of all book challenges target books featuring LGBTQ characters or subjects, or people of color as main or supporting characters. Finding books representing people of color is already challenging enough; the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin reports that, in 2021, only 30% of all children’s books featured characters of color. To restrict the number of books with diverse characters even further denies young readers the opportunity to identify with books and to see themselves in the stories they read. As the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books notes in their mission statement, diverse books “reflect(s) and honor(s) the lives of all young people,” ensuring that readers can find books that can inform, entertain and guide them in a meaningful manner.
The IU East Campus Library maintains a large number of books that have been banned or challenged in other parts of the country. From classically banned titles such as Ulysses by James Joyce andHowl by Allen Ginsberg to books on the most recent ALA Top 10 Most Challenged Books List, the library provides materials for all members of the IU East community. By offering banned and challenged titles, the library is responding to the beliefs of most people. According to a CBS poll, roughly 8 out of 10 Americans are not in favor of book bans. There are even benefits to reading banned books. According to Stetson University psychology professor Chris Ferguson, reading these books heightens civic engagement by young people. And the Supreme Court decided in 1986 that the First Amendment extended to school libraries, permitting the inclusion of challenged materials.
Thankfully, national attention has spotlighted a handful of these challenges. When the McMinn, Tennessee, school district banned the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, virtually every major news outlet covered the story. As a result, comic book stores in California and Tennessee shipped copies of Maus to McMinn, ensuring that the book remained available for those who wanted to read it. In response to her school proposing a book ban, 14-year old Josyln Diffenbaugh, a student at Kutztown Middle School in Pennsylvania, started her own banned books club. In the end, her school chose not to ban any titles. However, another Pennsylvania school district opted to ban two LGBTQ themed books. These stories only cover a handful of the book challenges made in numerous communities throughout the US.
There are also resources available to help fight against book bans. The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom maintains a website with state, local, legal and financial resources for librarians involved in book challenges. Books Unbanned, a project of the Brooklyn Public Library, allows young adults to access digital copies of banned books from anywhere in the US. PEN America has created a quick guide for fighting local book bans. The Authors Guild, a special interest group representing authors from around the world, has created a toolkit for combating book challenges. The LGBTQ support organization PFLAG has put together a site full of resources for parents, teens, educators and citizens to fight against book bans. And in June 2023, Illinois became the first state to ban book bans.
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