By Kate Nanavati

In recent years, calls for the removal of or restrictions on books in schools and libraries have increased throughout the US. This year, there has been an increase in censorship of books about race, violence or physical abuse, sexual orientation, and gender. School boards in certain districts and counties make decisions about book inclusion or exclusion. In some states, laws prohibit certain books from being in school libraries because of their deemed sensitive content. This has created tensions between schools, families, and certain activist groups. 

Controversies surrounding books being removed from classrooms and libraries have almost always been around in US history, but the past two years have had a significant surge of legislation, policy changes, and attention on books. During the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year, 1,477 books were banned nationwide. Texas, Florida, and Missouri led all states in the number of books banned in 2022, at 300-400 books, and that number is likely higher today. Generally, politically conservative states have restricted access to more books than others. 

Local public school boards and districts, libraries, or organizations are usually the source of a challenge or ban on a book. The process starts with a book challenge. This is an attempt to remove or restrict a book from a library or school district. These attempts can result in the book being banned, and completely removed from a location, restricted to people of a certain age, or the challenge does not pass, and the status of the book and its distribution remains the same. 

There have been organized efforts by parent and political groups to challenge books. In Front Royal, Virginia, a local group called “Clean Up Samuels” held two book-banning events aimed at Samuels Public Library, where attendees completed over 500 Request for Reconsideration forms for 150 different books. At Warren County Board of Supervisors meetings, group members raised their concerns, which resulted in the board voting to withhold 75% of the budget until the library took their suggestions and prohibited the books from the library that were requested. After controversy that attracted national attention, the board and the library came to an agreement in October that restored their funding. 

Some book challenges have been fueled by a website called BookLooks.org, which is run by Emily Maikisch, a mother in Florida. The homepage of the website says, “Find out what objectionable content may be in your child’s book before they do.” The website rates books and has been a source for parents, organizations, and lawmakers looking to find reasons for banning books. On the website, their rating system is described to be, “based solely on content that has been legally and statutorily categorized as explicit, offensive, or obscene.” A well-known activist group, Moms for Liberty, uses the site. USA Today found that over a dozen states recorded requests for book bans that directly cite the website. 

Teachers are also being affected by these movements. In South Carolina, at Chapin High School, an AP English class read the 2015 book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The book is about the author’s experiences, written as a letter to his son, about being a Black man in America and the violence and racism he has observed in our society. A student from the class wrote directly to the school board, saying that the lesson made him feel “uncomfortable” and “ashamed to be Caucasian.” The unit was immediately terminated. The student did not confer with his teacher, Mary Wood, before going to the board. Since then, the subject has been controversial. Many teachers and board members of the school have supported Wood, including Coates himself at a school meeting. However, Republican political figures in South Carolina have used this event to threaten other school districts to accept curriculum and book bans. Specifically, Republican State Rep. RJ May, said, “lessons need to represent a color-blind society that doesn’t discriminate against white people because of racism in the past,” according to the Associated Press.

Texas and Florida are censoring books in schools and libraries on a much larger scale than other states. In September, Texas passed a bill, House Bill 900, intending to ban sexually explicit books from school libraries and require ratings for books that have depictions or references to sex. Governor Greg Abbott (R) of Texas stated, “Some schools have books with sexually explicit and vulgar materials. I’m signing a law that gets that trash out of our schools.” However, many of these books include topics about identity and experiences that many kids can relate to. In Florida, a similar pattern is forming. Last year, three laws were passed that indirectly created book bans. Because of these laws, and more than 1200 objections raised by Florida residents and public school parents, over 300 books were banned last year from Florida schools. Many of these books have LGBTQ themes or characters. This pattern is mainly because of Florida’s law that limits lessons on LGBTQ issues in state schools. This law has been dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Virginia is starting to see an increase in conversation surrounding book bans. On November 17, the Hanover County School Board added 75 more titles that are to be removed from school library shelves by December 22. Throughout Virginia, there are a total of 23 school boards that have removed books from libraries. Jennifer Peterson, one parent in Spotsylvania, has challenged 73 school books in her district. She took it upon herself to read the 73 books in less than a year to underscore the sexually explicit content in each book and then present her objections during school meetings. In part, due to her efforts, 14 books were removed from the Spotsylvania library last spring. 

Featured image photo credit: San José Public Library.