This story was first published 19th.
The number of books banned in public schools has jumped to more than 10,000 in the past year, with two states, Iowa and Florida, responsible for most of them, according to preliminary findings released Monday by PEN America. It is said that there is
of report come inside Banned Books Weekfirst started in 1982 to raise awareness about the importance of free and openly accessible information.
The increase in banned books during the 2023-2024 school year (nearly tripling the 3,362 banned books Penn recorded the previous year) is due to the selection of books about romance and women’s sexual experiences. It may be partially the cause. rape or sexual abuseAccording to PEN America, a nonprofit organization that advocates for freedom of expression. Books with LGBTQ+ and racial themes and characters from marginalized groups also continue to be targeted.
PEN America’s report does not reflect bans on unique titles, so if 12 school districts all ban the same book, it would count as 12 bans, a PEN representative explained.
Over the past year, PEN America’s School Books Banned Index has included numerous books by women of color for the first time. They include Julia Alvarez’s 1991 novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent,” about four immigrant sisters from the Dominican Republic. Readers’ favorite products during Latino Heritage Month. Other recent entries into the index include Amy Tan’s novel The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991), about a Chinese-American daughter of an immigrant mother. Terry McMillan’s romance novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1996). and Ellen Oh’s novel Looking for Junie Kim (2021), inspired by her mother’s experiences during the Korean War.
Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” (1937), Betty Smith’s “A Tree That Grows in Brooklyn” (1943), Olive Ann Barnes’ “The Cold and Sassy Tree” (1984), Barbara Kingsolver “Debauched Summer” (2000), Julie Murphy’s “Death on the Nile” (1937) and “Puddin” (2018) also appear in the index for the first time.
Civil rights and gay rights advocate James Baldwin’s 1953 novel “Speaking on the Mountain” is indexed for the first time, as well as books on slavery such as “Roots: An American Story” by Alex Haley Related books were also included in the index. Family” (1976) and W.E.B. DuBois’s Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (1935). Philip K. Dick’s 1968 dystopian novel Blade Runner also debuted in the index.
Over the past year, more than a dozen new state and local policies have contributed to the expansion of book bans. They include: SF 496 of Iowa, This came into effect last year and has been interpreted to mean banning books with sexual or gender themes. The law resulted in thousands of books being banned in the 2023-2024 school year, compared to just 14 books banned in the state in the previous year, according to PEN America.
Florida’s HB 1069The law came into effect last year, and requires books that object to “sexual acts” to be removed during review. PEN America believes that the legal procedures established by this law for banning books and the “state guidance” based on it are Book bans skyrocket across the state. In Florida and Iowa combined, approximately 8,000 books were banned.
Elkhorn Area School District in Wisconsin has banned more than 300 books for months, PEN America has learned. The books were removed after one parent objected, but the school district reviewed the titles. It ended up being back on the shelf.Although there are restrictions such as Parental permission to check out specific titles. The organization expects new legislation to be enacted, including: Utah HB 29, South Carolina Rule 43-170 and Tennessee HB 843 This year will cause even more books to be banned.
Utah law requires all schools in the state to ban a book if three school districts find it offensive. South Carolina’s ordinance bans books containing sexual themes and gives the State Board of Education the power to censor works throughout the state. Tennessee law requires schools to remove books that contain gratuitous violence or sexual content.
In honor of Banned Books Week, the American Library Association (ALA) also releases preliminary data on censorship, focusing on book bans in public, school, and academic libraries from January 1st to August 31st. did. ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom announced that it had identified 414 attempts. Censoring works and having documented objections to 1,128 unique book titles.
According to ALA research, the number of attempts to censor books actually decreased this year compared to 695 last year. The group attributes this to extensive efforts to thwart censorship. librarianIn recent years, students and concerned community members have organized to oppose the banning of books, and disputes over the banning of books have been brought to court. This includes those in federal court preliminary injunction above Arkansas Statute 372This means that librarians and bookstore owners in the state will be subject to criminal prosecution if they fail to remove “inappropriate” works from their shelves.
Censorship is a hot topic among 2024 presidential candidates. former president Donald Trump’s campaign platform comes under fire President Joe Biden’s administration has a policy of “using the public school system to push perverse sexual, racial, and political content on young people.” In July, Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris Criticized the book ban in a speech to the American Federation of Teachers Texas labor unions.
“While you are teaching your students about our nation’s past, these extremists are attacking our freedom to learn and appreciate our nation’s true and complete history,” she said. “We want to ban assault weapons, but they want to ban books. Can you imagine?
This year’s Banned Book Week theme is “Liberation Between the Lines,” drawing attention to how liberating reading can be. At the end of the week, on Saturday, there will be a Let Freedom Read Day to encourage local communities to fight censorship. movie director Ava DuVernay to serve as chair emeritus in 2024 Meanwhile, Julia Garnett, an activist who fought against book bans in Tennessee, serves as youth honorary president.
