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Neil Gaiman blasts ‘Maus’ ban, says “only one kind of people” would do this

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Neil Gaiman blasts ‘Maus’ ban, says “only one kind of people” would do this

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Neil Gaiman blasts ‘Maus’ ban, says “only one kind of people” would do this

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Cartoonist Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel was unanimously banned by a Tennessee school board over nudity and language concerns.

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On Tuesday this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed legislation that strengthens the protection from frivolous lawsuits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suits, are a strategic form of litigation that is used by wealthy plaintiffs...

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On Tuesday this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed legislation that strengthens the protection from frivolous lawsuits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suits, are a strategic form of litigation that is used by wealthy plaintiffs...

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Banned Books Week is an annual event that highlights the value of free and open access to information.

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Book banning, the most widespread form of censorship, occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes. Those advocating a ban complain typically that the book in question contains graphic violence, expresses disrespect for parents and family, is sexually explicit, exalts evil, lacks literary merit, is unsuitable for a particular age group, or includes offensive language. In this photo, Gail Sheehy, author of "Passages," at podium, right, reads during the "First Banned Books Read Out" in New York, April 1, 1982. The rally protested censorship by school and public libraries of certain books under pressure from right wing religious groups. (AP Photo/Carlos Rene Perez, used with permission from the Associated Press)

Book banning, a form of censorship, occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes. Those advocating a ban complain typically that the book in question contains graphic violence, expresses disrespect for parents and family, is sexually explicit, exalts evil, lacks literary merit, is unsuitable for a particular age group, or includes offensive language.

Book banning is the most widespread form of censorship in the United States

Book banning is the most widespread form of censorship in the United States, with children's literature being the primary target. Advocates for banning a book or certain books fear that children will be swayed by its contents, which they regard as potentially dangerous. They commonly fear that these publications will present ideas, raise questions, and incite critical inquiry among children that parents, political groups, or religious organizations are not ready to address or that they find inappropriate.

Most challenges and bans prior to the 1970s focused primarily on obscenity and explicit sexuality. Common targets included D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover and James Joyce's . In the late 1970s, attacks were launched on ideologies expressed in books.

To counter charges of censorship, opponents of publications sometimes use the tactic of restricting access rather than calling for the physical removal of books. Opponents of bans argue that by restricting information and discouraging freedom of thought, censors undermine one of the primary functions of education: teaching students how to think for themselves. Such actions, assert free speech proponents, endanger tolerance, free expression, and democracy. In this photo, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., speaks to reporters on a federal court ruling calling for a trial to determine if a Long Island school board can ban a number of books, including his "Slaughterhouse Five," at New York Civil Liberty offices in 1980. (AP Photo-File, used with permission from the Associated Press)

In September 1990, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression declared the First Amendment to be "in perilous condition across the nation" based on the results of a comprehensive survey on free expression. Even literary classics, including Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, were targeted. Often, the complaints arose from individual parents or school board members. At other times, however, the pressure to censor came from such public interest groups as the Moral Majority.

Censorship - the suppression of ideas and information - can occur at any stage or level of publication, distribution, or institutional control. Some pressure groups claim that the public funding of most schools and libraries makes community censorship of their holdings legitimate.

To counter charges of censorship, opponents of publications sometimes use the tactic of restricting access rather than calling for the physical removal of books. Opponents of bans argue that by restricting information and discouraging freedom of thought, censors undermine one of the primary functions of education: teaching students how to think for themselves. Such actions, assert free speech proponents, endanger tolerance, free expression, and democracy.

Community standards may be taken into account when deciding if materials are subject to censor

Although censorship violates the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, some limitations are constitutionally permissible. The courts have told public officials at all levels that they may take community standards into account when deciding whether materials are obscene or pornographic and thus subject to censor.

They cannot, however, censor publications by generally accepted authors - such as Mark Twain, for example, J. K. Rowling, R. L. Stine, Judy Blume, or Robert Cormier - in order to placate a small segment of the community. Cormier's Chocolate War was one of the American Library Association's Top 10 Banned Books for 2005 and 2006.

Those who oppose book banning emphasize that the First Amendment protects students' rights to receive and express ideas. The Supreme Court in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982) ruled 5-4 that public schools can bar books that are "pervasively vulgar" or not right for the curriculum, but they cannot remove books "simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books." The Court's decision was, however, narrow, applying only to the removal of books from school library shelves. In this photo, Makenzie Hatfield a student at George Washington high school, holds banned books by author Pat Conroy in West Virginia in 2007. The Pat Conroy books "Beach Music" and "The Prince of Tides" were suspended from nearby Nitro High School English classes after parents of two students complained about depictions of violence, suicide and sexual assault. Conroy defended the books in an e-mail reply last month to Hatfield, who teamed with classmates and Nitro students to form a coalition against censorship. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, used with permission from the Associated Press)

Opponents of book banning emphasize the First Amendment rights of students

Those who oppose book banning emphasize that the First Amendment protects students' rights to receive and express ideas. The Supreme Court in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982) ruled 5-4 that public schools can bar books that are "pervasively vulgar" or not right for the curriculum, but they cannot remove books "simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books." The Court's decision was, however, narrow, applying only to the removal of books from school library shelves.

The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom documents censorship incidents around the country and suggests strategies for dealing with them. Each September, the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers, and the National Association of College Stores sponsor Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read.

Designed to "emphasize that imposing information restraints on a free people is far more dangerous than any ideas that may be expressed in that information," the week highlights banned works, encourages citizens to explore new ideas, and provides a variety of materials to promote free speech events.

The American Library Association publishes the bimonthly Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, which provides information on censorship, as well as an annual annotated list of books and other materials that have been censored.
This article was originally published in 2009. Susan Webb is an Adjunct Librarian at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
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Book banning, the most widespread form of censorship, occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes.

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Opinion | The Rise in Book Bans and Censorship (Published 2022)

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Readers discuss complaints against “Maus,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Beloved” and other books.

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Book Bans and their Impact on Young People and Society

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Book Bans and their Impact on Young People and Society

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Librarians Grapple With Conservatives’ Latest Efforts to Ban Books

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Librarians Grapple With Conservatives’ Latest Efforts to Ban Books

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Librarians Grapple With Conservatives' Latest Efforts to Ban Books

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Only a few months into the school year, librarians say efforts to ban books are on the rise, marking a new chapter in the history of censorship

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This wave of book bans is different from earlier ones

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This wave of book bans is different from earlier ones

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Attacking books has been an American tradition since 1650, when Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony seized William Pynchon's "The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption," labeling it blasphemous for saying obedience, and not suffering, led to atonement. In 1885, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was banned for "coarse language" (and much later for the use of the n-word). "On the Origin of Species," probably the most influential book ever banned, was censored in 1895 for violating Christian beliefs. From 2000-2009, the Harry Potter books were the most challenged, accused of promoting the occult and Satanism. From 2010-2019, it was Sherman Alexi's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." A key objection: The main character, Junior, masturbates.

Now we are seeing a new wave of book bans, marked by an unprecedented number of challenges and intense polarization. Its focus: narrowing the universe of information in schools and public libraries that might challenge young people on race and gender - the same issues at the center of the political and cultural wars ripping through the country. Glenn Youngkin (R), for instance, won the governorship of Virginia in November after highlighting concerns about the teaching of Toni Morrison's "Beloved"; some parents held that the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel portrayed the horrors of slavery with overly explicit depictions of sex, violence and bestiality.

"This is certainly a reflection of what is going on right now in this country," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, which monitors book bans and issues annual lists of the most challenged. "There is dispute and debate over what kind of government and society we want to be. Book bannings are part of that."

Advocacy groups are working to nationalize book challenges, this time with the help of conservative TV and talk shows, that for the past few decades have been mostly local events. Some state legislators are threatening punitive action against anyone in schools or libraries who spreads material deemed obscene or harmful to minors. And now students, parents, librarians and school boards are fighting back, calling the push censorship.

The current book banning crusade has its roots in the social justice movement that arose after the 2020 murder by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Caldwell-Stone said. The "rising awareness of racism in society" sparked pushback. President Donald Trump's October 2020 executive order banning diversity training in federally funded agencies - to stop, he said, "efforts to indoctrinate government employees with divisive and harmful sex- and race-based ideologies" - ignited assaults on the teaching of systemic racism in U.S. history and society, as well as portrayals of the lives of members of the LGBTQ community.

"We see these efforts to narrow what is available to young people in an effect to preserve a status quo that valorizes the Founding Fathers and that is theoretically colorblind, but that seems not to include the actual voices of the people who have been impacted by racism or discrimination in our society," Caldwell-Stone said.

What is critical race theory, and why do Republicans want to ban it in schools?

George M. Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue," a memoir-manifesto that follows the author's path as a queer Black man in New Jersey and Virginia, is one of the many LGBTQ books being challenged in school districts and libraries, this one in more than a dozen states, for sexually explicit material. The fight over teaching systemic racism has seen bans of tomes such as Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America," as well as a version for young people co-authored with Jason Reynolds. The complaints include Kendi's public statements about racism and accusations that the book does not discuss racism against all people.

The books that are often the first to come off bookshelves after challenges are those involving sexual material and gender issues. Those calling for their removal say explicit sexual material is inappropriate for children and can leave them confused about their gender.

At an Oct. 21 school board meeting in Pennsylvania's North Penn School District, for example, Vicki Flannery, a member of the conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty, read a scene from Johnson's book, which includes two detailed sex scenes and a rape. She said to the school board members: "Do any of you - any of you - find this book that depicts a sexual encounter and rape acceptable for any minor regardless of gender or sexual orientation? Because I do not find this at all acceptable. A child is a child and if you do you belong on a national registry and not a school board."

Authors and educators say it is important for young people to have books that introduce them to sexual, gender and racial issues that many confront daily. "Books and media are essential portals that enable kids to learn about people beyond themselves," said Schuyler Bailar, an author who, while attending Harvard University, became the first openly transgender NCAA Men's Division 1 swimmer. "Books and media also provide easy access for minority and marginalized children to connect with people like themselves, allowing them to feel like they to belong in the world."

According to the American Library Association, the most challenged books of 2020 - the last year for which there are definitive numbers - was "George," by Alex Gino, about a transgender girl in fourth grade who everybody sees as a boy named George. The 2015 book was renamed this year and is now titled "Melissa," because the heroine is a trans girl, not a boy. (Gino announced that he had "made a mistake" with the original title and said it is not "okay" to ever use the old name of someone who has transitioned.)

Caldwell-Stone said that in terms of numbers, book challenges/bans in the past six months have been at their highest since the American Library Association began collecting information in 1990. More than 330 unique cases were reported from Sept. 1 to Nov. 20 more than in any other three-month period. They have continued at a strong pace so far this year, too, she said, but the numbers represent only a fraction of what is really happening. The ALA estimates that between 82 percent and 97 percent of these challenges goes unreported - or, in some cases, she said, are covered up by schools when some information about them becomes known. (About a dozen years ago, a student in Missouri sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every school district in the state and unearthed 83 challenges that year. The ALA had heard about only 12 percent of those, she said.)

This isn't the first time America has seen large-scale efforts to keep books from the hands of young people. In the early 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president, advocacy groups such as the Moral Majority, which was founded by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and had ties to the Republican Party, made lists of books it found objectionable, many with sexual themes, and prompted local challenges and book bans. The country was less polarized, the battles unfolded more slowly and the messaging was analog; Fox News hadn't even been founded. But like today, conservatives also pushed for the removal of books about abortion, evolution and politics. A big target at the time was "Forever," a Judy Blume novel about teenage sexuality. The American Library Association reported that in 1981 saw nearly 1,000 book challenges - with most, but not all, coming from conservative groups.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1982 delivered its decision in the most important case involving school libraries and the First Amendment, ruling in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School v. Pico that "[l]ocal school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books."

People trying to ban books say they aren't trying to censor material but rather to protect children from seeing things they can't handle. Although judges have largely ruled against them, the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, has become more conservative in recent years. Meanwhile, Republicans may see the issue as a winner in the midterm elections after Youngkin spent the last part of his campaign talking about parental opposition to "Beloved."

In fall 2021, as the "parental rights" movement in public schools gained steam and Republican-led states were passing legislation to limit what teachers could introduce about systemic racism, conservative advocacy groups began nationally circulating lists of books they deemed dangerous to young people, Caldwell-Stone said. The group No Left Turn in Education's bad books list is divided into three sections: critical race theory, anti-police and comprehensive sexuality education. The list includes a book titled "Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea," which, among other behaviors, describes their mating dance and explains how the male sea horses give birth.

A cascade of activity aimed at limiting book selections in schools and libraries followed. Prosecutors in Campbell County, Wyo., last October weighed - but decided not to file - obscenity charges against librarians who allowed books about LGBTQ people on the shelves. The next month, the library voted to keep three challenged books on the shelves, including "This Book Is Gay" for teens.

Also last October, a key Republican state legislator in Texas called for school districts to review whether they held any of some 850 books he listed as making kids uncomfortable or guilty. Hundreds of titles have been removed since then.

This month in Iowa, legislators went further; some Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal for anyone connected to a K-12 public school or library to spread "material the person knows or reasonably should know, is obscene or harmful to minors." The penalty could be up to two years in jail and a fine. And in Florida, the state Senate education committee has approved legislation that critics say is aimed at keeping LGBTQ resources off school shelves and supporters say is about providing transparency to parents about what their children are reading.

"It is unusual for legislators to threaten direct action," said Ada Palmer, associate professor of history at the University of Chicago.

Why 'parental rights' in schools is untenable

Banning books from libraries and schools can't prevent children from finding them. That's why some see the new book banning wave as being aimed not so much at children but at punishing teachers and librarians - and at trying to narrow curriculum and classroom debates about controversial topics. Some also see it as part of a movement by some school reformers to delegitimize public schools.

"The more we look at censorship regimes in the past - from the Inquisition to the USSR [the former Soviet Union] - the clearer it is that the main goal isn't to silence or destroy books or works that already exist," Palmer said. "It's to frighten people and discourage them from reading, buying and creating similar works in future," she argues, pointing out that Galileo's trial "frightened Descartes into withdrawing a radical treatise he was about to publish and editing it to make it much more orthodox."

In late January, a Tennessee school board voted to ban "Maus," a graphic novel in which the author relates how his father survived the Holocaust. The board's discussion mentioned, among other things, rough language and a nude drawing of a woman, according to a meeting transcript. One board member, Tony Allman, said: "It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy."

James Blasingame, an expert on young adult literature at Arizona State University, said that the disturbing nature of "Maus" is exactly what students should learn about the Holocaust - and that students are cheated from learning about the world when books like this are banned.

"It is a disturbing and shameful event in the history of the human race, and any book that purports to tell accurately what happened must also be disturbing," he said.

As the number of challenges and bans rises, so, too, does resistance from parents and students and school board members.

Black students in Texas and other states are forming groups to read books on racism that others seek to ban. An organization of suburban mothers who partnered with other groups launched a campaign called " Book Ban Busters," offering resources and support to fight books bans. Its website includes a map of places where book challenges have occurred, showing them in most states.

In January, an effort in the Kutztown Area School District in Pennsylvania to keep a book called "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe out of the high school library was defeated when the school board voted 5-4 in favor of including it.

In her speech to the North Penn school board, Flannery referenced - and rejected - criticism that book banners were "snowflakes," people who have a hard time dealing with opinions they don't agree with. But proponents may open themselves up to charges of hypocrisy. Moms for Liberty favors "parental choice," but not for parents who want to expose children to the ideas in these books.

More broadly, conservatives have lamented what they see as "cancel culture" on the left, such as in March , when the publisher of the famed Dr. Seuss books announced that six titles with racist imagery would stop being printed. "The cancel culture is canceling Dr. Seuss," Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said. Fox News's Tucker Carlson went further, saying that "if we lose this battle" to preserve the Seuss books, "America is lost." But conservatives don't seem to mind other books being canceled from schools and libraries.

Recruited by Harvard for the women's swim team, he'll jump into the pool as a man

Meanwhile, the argument is playing out in classrooms. In November, eighth-grade reading teacher Alecia Feckers resigned from the Charles City Community Schools district after being put on administrative leave for reading Bailar's short story "Catch, Pull, Drive" from the "Fresh Ink" anthology to her students.

The short story - not on the approved list of resources for the subject, social issues - reflects experiences of its author, who was recruited at Harvard to play on the women's swim team but transitioned and swam on the men's team.

After some parents complained, Feckers was investigated by the district. She decided to resign because, she said in an email, she felt it was her only option: "I didn't think I could stay there when they didn't support me or have my back."

correction

A previous version of this story misspelled Deborah Caldwell-Stone's name.

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Analysis | This wave of book bans is different from earlier ones

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Attacking books has been an American tradition since 1650, when Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony seized William Pynchon's "The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption," labeling it blasphemous for saying obedience, and not suffering, led to atonement. In 1885, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was banned for "coarse language" (and much later for the use of the n-word).

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Banning Books is Not About Protecting Children. It's About Discrimination Against Others

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Banning Books is Not About Protecting Children. It's About Discrimination Against Others

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In a recent article focusing on collaboration and developing collective efficacy, Katz and Donohoo write,

Katz and Donohoo's questions are important ones. Our collaborative work should add value. Unfortunately, in conversations with teachers and school building and district leaders, it is apparent that there are numerous conflicts they are experiencing which prevent deep collaboration , and it's not just due to COVID. It's actually due to politics and the infiltration of right-wing conservative thinking in our public school system.

Lately, there have been numerous news stories about parents who want to ban books. In a recent story on NBC News, they reported more than 50 percent of the books being banned center around an LGBTQ character and children of color. Coincidence that book-banning is around LGBTQ characters or characters of color? Probably not.

In fact, Harris and Alter write,

Isn't it interesting, or rather infuriating, that in the very place that students should be engaged in challenges to their own thinking in order to grow as learners, these people are actively making sure that schools are not able to create opportunities for that thinking? Isn't it interesting that some of the very groups who yell so loudly about cancel culture are the same people trying to cancel discussions about ideas that come to us through books? If Katz and Donohoo are correct about collaboration and conversation, which they are, where is the added value in banning books?
Pornography Is an Intentional Word
The dumbing down of America isn't due to watered-down curriculum as much as it is the direct result of parents, leaders, and teachers who choose to ban books because, somehow, they don't agree with what is written within those books.

In an effort to undermine the quality of the books, governors like Greg Abbot of Texas calls them pornographic. Although I would love to say that Abbott chose his words incorrectly, the reality is that he intentionally chose that word to get parents in his state up in arms. I wonder how many of the books being banned have actually been read by the parents trying to ban them.

Sure, they can read a passage at a board meeting, but have they actually read the whole book?

The interesting thing about reading is that it is supposed to expand our ideas and thoughts, not coincide with our confirmation bias. Books are supposed to inspire us to engage in debate and an exchange of ideas, but too many of these states that are banning books would rather censor the freedom of thought. What are they so afraid of? Isn't it funny that so many of these parents want to unmask their children at the same time they force a mask on their child's ability to choose a book for themselves? And they certainly seem to mask what this banning is all about, which is pushing institutional racism in their schools.
This Is Not New
The reality is that this issue is not new. People have been trying to ban books for as long as we have been a country. The sad, and often hidden side of all this is when librarians feel the pressure to self-censor the books made available in a library. They do not feel they will be supported by their principals, so they choose to not purchase books for their libraries that may make waves.

In fact, in this article published by the American Library Association (ALA), Asheim writes,

As you can see, censorship has many forms, and it's not just about the seedy instances you hear while watching the nightly news.
Representation Matters ... Even If It Makes You Uncomfortable
Many years ago, Albert Bandura began researching self-efficacy, which is the belief we feel in our own abilities. Self-efficacy is context specific, which means we all have areas where we feel confident and areas where we don't.

What Bandura found in 2000 is that leaders who feel efficacious double their efforts, but those who do not feel efficacious slacken their efforts. What this means is that when leaders, and in this case parents, feel uncomfortable, they will try to stay away from the conversation as much as possible. This is unfortunate, because the only way to become more comfortable is to engage in conversations that help build understanding.

So many people seem to be running away from the very conversations that we should be running toward. But they probably know that already. They don't want to understand it, nor do they want their children to understand it, which is why they want to ban it. Whether we are conservative, liberal or somewhere in between, we should see representation in the books offered at school. If we are Black, brown or gay, we should see ourselves represented in books. It's our choice whether we want to check them out or not.
In the End
Book banning is a weak response to ideas that scare us. Are the people banning books the same ones that yell from the rooftops that there should be less government involvement in decision making, and yet they want to ban books for others without giving those people a chance to choose for themselves? In states where books are being banned, there should be more and more people who are speaking up against censorship. Kats and Donohoo are right that collaboration within schools is difficult and sometimes complicated. It seems that collaboration within school communities is probably even more complicated.

All in all, the sad reality of all this is that censorship and book banning will definitely work. Too many teachers and leaders do not feel efficacious enough to speak up against these loud censoring parents because they love their jobs and students too much to risk losing their job and students. At some point, though, oppression and ignorance should not be allowed to win this battle.

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Banning Books Is Not About Protecting Children. It's About Discrimination Against Others (Opinion)

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In a recent article focusing on collaboration and developing collective efficacy, Katz and Donohoo write, Katz and Donohoo's questions are important ones. Our collaborative work should add value. Unfortunately, in conversations with teachers and school building and district leaders, it is apparent that there are numerous conflicts they are experiencing which prevent deep collaboration , and it's not just due to COVID.

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Banned Books Week gives families a chance to celebrate reading, talk about censorship, and decide for themselves what's appropriate for kids to read. Advice from Common Sense Media editors.

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Quotes from 16 Famous Authors about Their Banned Books

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Quotes from 16 Famous Authors about Their Banned Books

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Here's what 16 authors had to say about their books being banned

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In honor of Banned Books Week, EW rounds up quotes from 16 famous authors made in response to censorship efforts of their own popular books

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All students have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others.

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Had enough of the BS? Get involved and use our map to find book bans near you.

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ADVOCACY TOOLKIT: CENSORSHIP AND BANNED BOOKS (Sample Letters)

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ADVOCACY TOOLKIT: CENSORSHIP AND BANNED BOOKS (Sample Letters)

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Advocacy Toolkit: Censorship and Banned Books

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Parents, school officials, and politicians often have tried to get rid of books from schools and libraries. This practice, called book banning, is the taking of books and materials from a classroom or library, it more difficult for students to read these materials which frequently are important works of literature.

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BOOK CHALLENGE RESOURCE CENTER (SAMPLE LETTERS)

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BOOK CHALLENGE RESOURCE CENTER (SAMPLE LETTERS)

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What is school book censorship? The books taught in schools, and available in school libraries, should be chosen by professionals based on criteria that are as objective as possible, including the books' educational, pedagogical, literary and artistic values.

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Shhhh! These Kid’s Books Have Been Banned (or Challenged)

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Shhhh! These Kid’s Books Have Been Banned (or Challenged)

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Shhhh! These Kid’s Books Have Been Banned (or Challenged) - Evanston Public Library

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Yes, we know what you’re thinking - even kids books get challenged, too. This is why every year, the American Library Association hosts a week-long event to celebrate the freedom to read and promotes all the books that have been challenged over the years.

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The American Library Association condemns censorship and works to defend each person’s right to read under the First Amendment and ensure free access to information. Every year, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the pub…

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One of the best ways to fight censorship is to call it out as it happens.

To report an incident, please fill out the form below. NCAC staff will be in contact if we are able to provide assistance or support. Please provide details of your situation and its context. Try to be as clear and factual as possible, as this will help us review your case quickly.
Your communication is private and confidential. We will not share your information with anyone or take any actions without your permission.

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Have you experienced censorship? Has your right to freedom of speech and expression been threatened? One of the best ways to fight censorship is to call it out as it happens. To report an incident, please fill out the form below. NCAC staff will be in contact if we are able to provide assistance or support.

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Report a Censorship Incident Form - NCTE

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INBOX is a biweekly email wrap-up of the most important stories in English language arts education, ideas for your classroom, and news from NCTE.

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Our founders recognized that public schools are a vital institution of American democracy. But education, they also knew, involved more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Education in a democratic society requires developing citizens who can adapt to changing times, make decisions about social issues, and effectively judge the performance of public officials. In fulfilling their responsibilities, public schools must not only provide knowledge of many subject areas and essential skills, but must also educate students on core American values such as fairness, equality, justice, respect for others, and the right to dissent.

ALA Statements and Policies on Schools and Minors' Rights

Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights(2019)
Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.

Access to Resources and Services in the School Library: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2014)
The school library plays a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom. It serves as a point of voluntary access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in a pluralistic society. Although the educational level and program of the school necessarily shapes the resources and services of a school library, the principles of the Library Bill of Rights apply equally to all libraries, including school libraries.

Minors and Online Activity: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2019)
The digital environment offers opportunities both for accessing information created by others and for creating and sharing new information. The rights of minors to retrieve, interact with, and create information posted on the Internet in schools and libraries are extensions of their First Amendment rights.

Publications

Defending Frequently Challenged Young Adult Books: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators (2016)
By Pat R. Scales

Do Minors Have First Amendment Rights in Schools (2015)
By Theresa Chmara published in Knowledge Quest (American Association of School Libraries)

Intellectual Freedom for Teens: A Practical Guide for Young Adult and School Librarians (2014)
By Kristin Fletcher-Spear and Kelly Tyler

Protecting Intellectual Freedom and Privacy in Your School Library (2013)
By Helen R. Adams

The First Amendment in Schools: A Resource Guide (2013)
By National Coalition Against Censorship

Protecting Intellectual Freedom in Your School Library: Scenarios from the Front Lines (2009)
By Pat R. Scales and ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

Students' Right to Read (2009)
By National Council of Teachers of English

Censorship and Selection: Issues and Answers for Schools (2001)
By Henry Reichman

Webcasts

Student Rights, Protests and Free Speech (2016)
Featured Speaker: Emilio De Torre with the ACLU

Intellectual Freedom and Minors (2016)
Featured Speakers: Theresa Chmara and Chris Crutcher

Assistance and Consultation

The staff of the Office for Intellectual Freedom is available to answer questions or provide assistance to librarians, trustees, educators and the public about the schools and minors' rights. Areas of assistance include policy development, leveling, and professional ethics. Inquiries can be directed via email to oif@ala.org or via phone at (312) 280-4226.

Updated July 2019

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ALA Banned & Challenged Books: Get involved

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ALA Banned & Challenged Books: Get involved

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225 Michigan Ave, Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 280-4226
E-mail: oif@ala.org

Support

OIF provides confidential support to anyone undergoing a material or service challenge. You can report censorship using our updated form.

Our free consulting services help you prepare for censorship and implement vital intellectual freedom best practices within your library or school. We create and edit policies, strategize plans for working with communities and families, and provide workshops and programs about the First Amendment, privacy laws, internet filtering, and intellectual freedom.

Training

Subject matter experts from the Office for Intellectual Freedom are available to speak at workshops and professional development sessions on topics such as collection development, professional ethics, and law and policy concerning intellectual freedom, censorship, privacy, internet filtering, the First Amendment and more.

We host webinars to educate librarians and the public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom. Our webinars are recorded. After the live event, many of the recordings are accessible at the OIF YouTube channel.

Public Awareness

Banned Books Week in the fall draws attention to the harms of censorship and the benefits of unrestricted reading.

With a diverse group of librarians and writers, OIF publishes an engaging Intellectual Freedom Blog with a huge selection of topics and viewpoints. Every Friday, OIF News Editors, publish a free weekly compilation of news about censorship cases, and articles about privacy, internet filtering, academic freedom and the First Amendment. Anyone can subscribe to receive the Intellectual Freedom News in their email inbox on Fridays.

OIF releases an annual list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books during National Library Week in April using its censorship database.

We produce and market products in the ALA Store to create awareness of intellectual freedom and Banned Books Week.

Publications

We collaborate with intellectual freedom leaders to continually provide updated resources on a broad range of intellectual freedom issues, including censorship, material challenges, collection policies, privacy, internet filtering, academic freedom and equal access to information.

Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy (JIFP) includes substantive essays, peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, legal briefs, and opinion pieces. The $50 annual subscription allows readers to review the latest book banning incidents, court rulings, and legal controversies.

The 10th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual is more than just an invaluable compendium of guiding principles and policies; it’s also an indispensable resource for day-to-day guidance on maintaining free and equal access to information for all people, including

34 ALA policy statements and documents, 17 new or updated for this edition, addressing patron behavior, internet use, copyright, exhibits and use of meeting spaces

At-a-glance lists summarizing key issues such as access, challenges and censorship, access by minors to controversial materials, and advocacy

Explanations of legal points in clear, easy-to-understand language, alongside case citations

Numerous checklists to help readers stay organized

Our Community

ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC)
A committee of ALA’s Council responsible for safeguarding the rights of library users in accordance with the First Amendment. The IFC page includes its official charge, roster, current activities, and discussion of draft documents.

IFC Privacy Subcommittee

ALA Committee on Professional Ethics (COPE)
A committee of ALA’s Council charged with augmenting the Code of Ethics through interpretations and guiding documents. The COPE page includes its official charge, roster with term dates, and current activities and reports.

Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT)
A grassroots membership group of more than 1,000 intellectual freedom advocates. The IFRT executive board organizes programs, events, and awards. For $15 per year, all IFRT members receive free intellectual freedom eLearning.

Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF)
FTRF was established in 1969 as a First Amendment legal defense organization affiliated with the American Library Association. FTRF is a separate corporation from the American Library Association, working in close liaison with the ALA.

State Intellectual Freedom Network (SIFnet)
OIF hosts a series of online “State of the States” virtual meetings for Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) chairs from ALA Chapters and AASL Affiliates. These meetings are an opportunity to promote communication and discuss state, local, and national intellectual freedom issues.

Staff

For First Amendment, policy, filtering, meeting rooms and privacy support:
Deborah Caldwell-Stone
Director
(312) 280-4224
dstone@ala.org

For challenge support:
Kristin Pekoll
Assistant Director
(312) 280-4221
kpekoll@ala.org

For Banned Books Week:
Vacant

For Freedom to Read Foundation and Merritt Fund Support:
Joyce McIntosh
(312) 280-4223
jmcintosh@ala.org

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From NCTE
The materials below can be used by educators as useful tools in preventing and combating censorship. All of these resources are free access and do not require permission for use. Additional support is available for current NCTE members.

These guidelines present criteria and procedures that ensure thoughtful teacher selection of novels and other materials.

Focusing on materials broadly defined in classrooms and schools today, a committee of English educators updated a 2004 position statement originally detailing censorship of "nonprint" materials. This new statement bridges censorship issues across varied modalities and texts.

During this era of high-stakes testing, technology-based instruction, and increased control over students' expression due to school violence, students' right to write must be protected.

The Literacy & NCTE blog maintains a repository of posts on intellectual freedom.

This position statement explains why rating books, or 'red-flagging," is a form of censorship that schools should not practice.

NCTE members can access over 600 book rationales on the first-ever online rationale database. A newly updated How to Write a Rationale document is also available. This database can be searched by title, author, and grade level to help educators find a rationale for a book to use in the classroom or that is being challenged. New pieces of literature can be found to incorporate into curriculums or classroom libraries to further enrich students' learning.

This updated statement supports the truth that it is an individual English educator's (teacher's, researcher's, and librarian's) right to translate, produce, and curate past and new knowledge and dispositions within broadly accepted disciplinary parameters in order to advance the common good.

This statement explains why classroom libraries play a key role in providing access to books and promoting literacy. It states NCTE's support for efforts to provide teachers with the ability to exercise their professional judgment in developing and maintaining classroom libraries.

This foundational NCTE position statement gives model procedures for responding to challenges, including a citizen's "Request for Reconsideration of a Work."
From NCAC
This is a collection of materials for parents, students, educators, and authors with information on how to effectively fight challenges to books in schools.

School officials have broad discretion to establish curricula and decide what materials to include in their classrooms and libraries. However, parents, special interest groups and others sometimes attempt to impose their personal beliefs on the public school system and demand the removal of educational materials. Follow the link for some general considerations school administrators should take into account when such challenges arise.

The freedom to read stories about people of diverse sexual and gender identities can validate and empower all youth, especially those who may identify as LGBTQ. LGBTQ representation in literature can also promote tolerance and acceptance of all human difference, including sexual and gender identities. This source offers an overview of common arguments made by would-be censors and techniques for advocating for LGBTQ stories in your schools and communities.

The Free Expression Educators Handbook contains practical tools and advice for managing book challenges and censorship controversies in schools and school libraries. The handbook, created by NCAC in collaboration with NCTE, is intended for teachers, librarians, and school administrators.