Report: Book bans, restrictions rising in US schools
In November angry citizens accused Downers Grove school officials of allowing pornography on library shelves.
Members of the far-right nationalist group the Proud Boys descended on the normally sleepy suburb for a school board meeting.
And the other side fired back, lobbing accusations of homophobia and hypocrisy.
But after all the voices were heard, “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a critically acclaimed graphic novel about a nonbinary person’s rocky journey through adolescence, remained on Downers Grove high school library shelves.
That outcome is fairly typical in Illinois, a state that has experienced few successful book bans in recent months, according to a new report by PEN America that found 1,586 fully or partially successful challenges nationwide between July 1, 2021, and March 31. (A challenged book was considered banned if access was diminished, for example, by removing it from library shelves but keeping it available for checkout at the circulation desk.)
PEN America has not issued a count of this kind before, but lead author Jonathan Friedman said that he’s convinced that the 1,586 bans and restrictions represent an increase.
“The issue has just exploded in the last nine months,” said Friedman, director of PEN America’s Free Expression and Education program.
He pointed to conservative politicians’ efforts to restrict access to books they view as objectionable, as well as some school officials’ willingness to remove challenged books from shelves during the review process, which he said is not in keeping with best practices set forth by groups such as the American Library Association.
He also expressed concern about the types of books that are being challenged.
“These aren’t just random books,” he said. “You can see targeting of books about race and racism, or (books) with protagonists of color, or with LGBTQ characters or themes.”
Of the books that were fully or partially banned in the report by PEN, a nonprofit that advocates for free expression, 467 (41%) include protagonists or prominent secondary characters who were people of color; 247 (22%) directly address issues of race and racism; and 379 (33%) explicitly address LGBTQ themes, or had protagonists or prominent secondary characters who were LGBTQ.
The most banned book was “Gender Queer,” author Maia Kobabe’s own story of adolescent crushes, coming out, and forging an authentic gender identity. A 2020 American Library Association Alex Award winner, the book received a starred review from the School Library Journal, which described it as “a great resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to better understand.”
Illinois saw only four bans or restrictions at three schools over nine months, according to the PEN study, which was based on news reports and information supplied by school districts and librarians. Downers Grove didn’t make the list, but Community High School District 117 in suburban Lake Villa and Antioch did, due to a dispute over “Gender Queer,” which includes two drawings of people engaged in sexual activity.
District Superintendent Jim McKay said that the book was removed from high school library shelves for about a month during a review of its appropriateness, but it remained freely available at the library checkout desk during that time. The book has been back on library shelves since about March 24.
“I think it’s important that people understand that our schools are responsive to all kids,” McKay said, and that means providing books that reflect students’ identities and experiences. “Our school enrollment is becoming more and more diverse over time, and so should our library collection,” he said.
The other districts where access to books was curtailed included ROWVA Community Unit School District 208 in Oneida, 175 miles southwest of Chicago. There, the novel “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas was temporarily suspended from use in high school classrooms but remained in the school library, according to a January article in the Galesburg Register-Mail.
The newspaper said that frequent use of profanity in the book was a major concern for those who wanted it removed from classrooms, while supporters said the book encouraged valuable classroom discussions about racial inequality. School district officials could not be reached for comment.
“The Hate U Give,” which was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, won a Coretta Scott King Book Award from the American Library Association.
At Lake Forest High School, two books were banned from the library, according to the PEN report: “Gender Queer” and “Saga, Volume 1,” the award-winning first installment of a graphic novel series that has periodically come under fire for issues such as nudity and a depiction of sexual activity.
Officials at the Lake Forest school district could not be reached for comment, but a February article in the high school newspaper, the Forest Scout, said that while both books would remain in the school library, students under 18 will need permission from a parent or guardian to check them out.
In Downers Grove, “Gender Queer” has remained on high school library shelves while a formal review process is underway, a district spokesperson said via email.
Friedman said the low number of successful book challenges in Illinois can be explained, in part, by regional politics.
“In places like Texas and then later Florida (and) South Carolina to a certain extent, there have been politicians who have clearly made this an election issue. They want to be seen as being ‘tough on books.’ And that’s put additional pressure on schools. You don’t normally see that in Illinois,” he said.