US Public Schools Banned Over 10,000 Books Within The Past Academic Year
From the 2023 to 2024 academic year, the US banned more than 10,000 books in public schools, according to a survey report from PEN America, an organization that “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world.”
As Republican-led states pass new censorship laws, more book bans in public schools have been taking place. PEN America’s survey reported that this year three times the amount of books were banned, from 3,362 books in the previous academic year.
Reports state that of the books banned, at least 13 titles have been banned for the first time in history. PEN America stated that around 8,000 of the book bans took place in Florida and Iowa. Both states have enforced laws that target classroom materials in general.
PEN America stated:
“State legislation was also particularly critical in accelerating book bans, making it easier to remove books from schools without due process, or in some cases, without any formal process whatsoever.”
In 2023, Iowa signed a law that banned any material in schools regarding sexual orientation and gender identity before seventh grade. The specific legislation also explicitly banned all books that depict sexual acts for all grade school (K-12) libraries and classrooms.
PEN America reported that in Florida, any book that potentially includes sexual conduct has been pulled from schools while they go under review. Both Florida and Iowa have faced lawsuits over their controversial book banning laws.
LGBTQ+ identifying teachers, students, parents, and major publishers are suing for the law in Iowa to be overturned.
Six prominent book publishers are also suing Florida over their book bans, calling it “unconstitutional,” as hundreds of books under those publishers were pulled from school libraries.
Other states that enacted book bans this year include Utah, South Carolina, and Tennessee. PEN America stated that Utah specifically has enacted some of the “most extreme” bills. Utah passed law HB 29, which stated that books must be pulled from schools if at least three districts have found the content to be “objectively sensitive material,” according to reports.
“In part due to the targeting of sexual content, the stark increase includes books featuring romance, books about women’s sexual experiences, and books about rape or sexual abuse as well as continued attacks on books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes, or books about race or racism and featuring characters of color,” PEN America said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
