Fighting back against book bans
(Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash)
Amidst an attack on truth across the United States, one state has become the first in the country to pass a law banning book bans.
On June 12, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the unprecedented legislation, saying in a statement that in his state, "We don’t hide from the truth, we embrace it."
"Young people shouldn't be kept from learning about the realities of our world," Pritzker said. "I want them to become critical thinkers, exposed to ideas that they disagree with, proud of what our nation has overcome, and thoughtful about what comes next."
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton also expressed support for the legislation.
"Now more than ever, efforts to censor educational and social reading materials are on the rise, and we cannot let extreme views harm LGBTQ+ communities or BIPOC authors and readers, simply because of who they are or who they love."
The law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024, will "protect the freedom of libraries to acquire materials without external limitations."
In 2022 alone, Illinois saw 67 attempts to ban books. With the passage of this law, libraries across the state will be required to adopt the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights, which prevents the removal or restriction of reading materials "because of partisan or personal disapproval," or create their own written statement outlawing book bans.
Libraries in violation of the new law risk losing eligibility for state-funded grants.
The White House has also taken a stance on addressing book bans this month, announcing the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will appoint a new coordinator "to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students."
"That coordinator will work to provide new trainings for schools nationwide on how book bans that target specific communities and create a hostile school environment may violate federal civil rights laws," a June 8 Briefing Room release said.
Tracking book bans
On May 17, PEN America teamed up with authors, parents, and publisher Penguin Random House to file a lawsuit against Florida’s Escambia County School District and School Board for unlawfully banning books in classrooms.
The suit called for books to be returned to school library shelves to ensure students have access to titles on wide-ranging topics that express diverse viewpoints that "prepare students to be thoughtful and engaged citizens."
The plaintiffs argue that the act of removing or restricting books by Escambia County represents a violation of the First Amendment.
That’s not all. The lawsuit also calls it a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution due to the disproportionate number of books by non-white and LGBTQ authors being banned.
"Children in a democracy must not be taught that books are dangerous. The freedom to read is guaranteed by the constitution," PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
PEN America first began tracking public school book bans in July 2021. Since then, the organization has seen more than 4,000 instances of banned books through December 2022, with 2,253 unique titles being removed from shelves.
Their April study found that book bans were most prevalent in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina during the 2022–23 school year.
The study looks at data between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2022, concluding that 30 per cent of titles banned focused on subjects of race, racism, or racialized characters. Not far behind, 26 per cent had LGBTQ characters or themes.
Of the books banned during that time period, nearly half (44 per cent) were titles exploring themes around violence and abuse; 38 per cent discussed health and wellbeing; and almost one-third (30 per cent) covered death and grief.
It’s not just school boards and municipalities trying to regulate what students can and can’t read; right-wing politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are ramping up rhetoric around censorship on the state level. DeSantis, who is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, has made it clear he would introduce similar legislation at a national level.
Banned book libraries
Last weekend, the American Library Association (ALA) held its annual conference in Chicago, with a focus on combating efforts to ban books while also promoting information access and the freedom to read.
Book bans reached a 20-year high in 2022, according to the ALA, with 1,269 demands to censor library books in the U.S.
Recently, Lush Cosmetics and PEN America teamed up to host pop-up Banned Book Libraries, an interactive art exhibit that showcases the rise in book bans across the country.
The exhibit, which appeared at SXSW in Austin, helps contextualize the education crisis around books and efforts to censor topics around race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Featuring more than 60 banned books, the art installation also includes a map highlighting the more than 2,500 book bans and legislation impacting educators in the last 18 months.
What sets the Banned Book Library apart from other initiatives is its solution-based objective — to educate students and teachers alike about the growing movement to teach truth in the classroom.
Along with educating visitors about censorship, the Banned Book Library also seeks to warn of attempts to sanitize history and the importance of free expression.
While the rise in efforts to ban books in classrooms and libraries has become a threat to American democracy, it’s not without growing opposition from communities, states, courtrooms, and even the White House.