One book, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, was ultimately banned permanently, and multiple books had bans placed on what content could be taught, including restrictions on showing students pages 1213 of Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworthpages that included an illustration of the sea creatures twisting tails, rubbing tummies, and mating. While it is unclear whether their list was solely from another group, the titles they challenged are the same ones seen over and over again amongst school libraries who have had to pull or otherwise eliminate access to them as a result. Another major factor driving this dramatic expansion of book banning has been the proliferation of organized efforts to advocate for book removals. Detailed definitions can be found in the first edition of Banned in the USA (April 2022). All rights reserved. Of those 50 groups, eight have local or regional chapters that, between them, number at least 300 in total; some of these operate predominantly through social media. While these cases are not included in the Index because they do not meet PEN Americas definition of school book bans, these types of actions could have a chilling effectapplying a stigma to the books in question and the topics they coverand they merit further study. In so doing, the district ran afoul of NCAC guidelines to ensure practices that advance fundamental pedagogical goals and not subjective interests.. In the 202122 school year, fewer than 4 percent of book bans tracked by PEN America were enacted pursuant to these established best practice guidelines aimed to safeguard students rights and protect against censorship. Nonfiction histories of civil rights movements and biographies of people of color have been swept up in these campaigns. , have issued calls to action for individuals to file criminal complaints about books. bullying prevention program created by the Human Rights Campaign Foundationincluding books designed to support LGBTQ+ studentsand added alarmist language about the books being in schools. Some contain nothing more obscene than the mere suggestion of a same-sex couple in an illustration, as in the board book Everywhere Babies, which was included on one list of books misleadingly labeled pornographic along with And Tango Makes Three, a story about two male penguins making a family together, based on the true story of two male penguins who formed a pair bond in New Yorks Central Park Zoo. More is the operative word for this report on school book bans, which offers the first comprehensive look at banned books throughout the 202122 school year. Some groups without significant national operations have also had far reach. For example, according to Texas media reports, bans in Katy ISD, Clear Creek ISD, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD were the result of administrators responding either to what was happening in other districts or to an 850-book list compiled and circulated to education officials by Texas state representative Matt Krause. and referencing groomer moms in the community who opposed the removal of the 22 books. For example, according to, , bans in Katy ISD, Clear Creek ISD, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD were the result of administrators responding either to what was happening in other districts or to an, 850-book list compiled and circulated to education officials by Texas state representative Matt Krause, Finally, PEN America has tracked other instances of books included in banned book displays, or other disputed materials, being quietly removed to avoid controversy. In August, some school districts in St. Louis, Missouri began to pull books from shelves in response to a law that made it a class A misdemeanor to provide visually explicit sexual material to students. The Supreme Court has sharply restricted viewpoint- and subject-matter-based restrictions on speech precisely because in addition to rendering certain ideas, stories, and opinions off-limits, such measures cast a wider chilling effect on expression. Even smaller, less formal groups have had an impact too. Why Are Schools Banning Books? | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine In April, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced new standards for how school districts should handle all content in their libraries. With a mailing of their Porn in Schools report and follow-up via their legal representative, the Pacific Justice Institute, the FLCA pushed for bans across the state. Some of the groups espouse Christian nationalist political views, while many have mission statements oriented toward reforming public schools, in some cases to offer more religious education. Use the opportunity to conduct outreach and learn more about what these communities want or need from the university. Singling out school library acquisitions for intensive review, more so even than the review process for curricular materials. The Supreme Court has sharply restricted viewpoint- and subject-matter-based restrictions on speech precisely because in addition to rendering certain ideas, stories, and opinions off-limits, such measures cast a wider chilling effect on expression. These range from local Facebook groups to the nonprofit organization Moms for Liberty, a national-level organization that now has over 200 chapters. are two fronts in an all-out war on education and the open discussion and debate of ideas in America. This campaign is in part driven by politics, with state lawmakers and executive branch officials pushing for bans in some cases. And it is having multifaceted, harmful impacts: on students who have a right to access a diverse range of stories and perspectives, and especially on those from historically marginalized backgrounds who are watching their library shelves emptied of books that reflect and speak to them; on educators and librarians who are operating in some states in an increasingly punitive and surveillance-oriented environment with a chilling effect on teaching and learning; on the authors whose works are being targeted; and on parents who want to raise students in schools that remain open to curiosity, discovery, and the freedom to read. By Brian Goodman. (It is worth noting that TASB has no power to change or even to recommend district policies.). Lisa Tolin provided editorial support, and Dominique Baeta provided research assistance. Chapters of County Citizens Defending Freedom pushed for book removals in Polk County Schools, Florida and Corpus Christi, Texas. Abbott did not provide any specific content examples. NEW YORKAddressing concerns that recent campus controversies may lead a rising generation to grow alienated from core American values of free speech, PEN America today released the PEN America Principles on Campus Speech to help guide university students, faculty, and administrators to advance inclusion and equality while safeguarding intellectual and academic freedom. Books in the collection include Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, Dim Sum for Everyone by Grace Lin, and Pink Is For Boys by Robb Perlman, among other titles designed to make classroom libraries more diverse and inclusive. Revisiting the PEN-Charlie Hebdo Controversy One Year Later Kyle Lukoff, author of the picture books When Aidan Became a Brother (2 bans) and chapter book Call me Max (2 bans), Ruby Bridges, testifying before the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and author of This Is Your Time (2 bans). The Florida Citizens Alliance (FLCA), for example, was founded in 2013 to champion education reform. But its leaders have spent considerable time and energy opposing climate change education, arguing for the elimination of sex education in K12 schools, and publishing the misleading 2021 Objectionable Materials Report: Pornography and Age-Inappropriate Material in Florida Public Schools (provocatively named the Porn in Schools Report on their website). Although parents rights is a powerful piece of political rhetoric, in most instances, it is being invoked to mean rights for a particular group of parents with distinct ideological views, rather than a neutral effort to engage all parents and students in ensuring that schools uphold free speech rights. The Texas standards follow state representative Matt Krauses October 2021, initiating an inquiry into Texas school district content, as well as a, to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) from Gov. This evolving censorship movement has grown in size and routinely finds new targets and tactics, homing in on the books encompassed in, . PEN America, Penguin Random House sue Florida school district over book The newspaper reported finding more than 1,000 bans in Texas during that time frame, which overlaps only in part with the time period covered by this report. The Nampa school board voted last month to remove several books from its libraries. For example, the school board in Hamilton County, Tennessee, accepted board policy, from a special book review committee in March 2022, which removed a statement on the principles of intellectual freedom from the. This campaign is in part driven by politics, with state lawmakers and executive branch officials pushing for bans in some cases. During the same legislative session, Florida lawmakers also enacted. Dozens of people read books on the lawn of the Nampa School District office at the same time as a meeting takes place inside to determine the disposal of books on its banned books list on Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Nampa, Idaho. These districts include 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students. New PEN America Report Sets Out Principles to Defuse Campus Free Speech removed books from their shelves preemptively, particularly graphic novels, which appear to be uniquely susceptible to challenge under the laws provisions. The vast majority of the books targeted by these groups for removal feature LGBTQ+ characters or characters of color, and/or cover race and racism in American history, LGBTQ+ identities, or sex education. Ultimately they have played a role in bans in several counties in Florida, such as, , the superintendent responded to their email by directing the removal of all books on the list, despite, , I havent read one paragraph of the books at this time. Their advocacy was also connected to warning labels being applied to over 100 books in school libraries in, Even smaller, less formal groups have had an impact too. In another sign of the escalation of tactics to restrict books, criminal charges have been pursued against school officials and librarians in a number of cases in the past year. Emerging data, like a recent survey of school librarians by the School Library Journal in which 97% said they always, often, or sometimes weigh how controversial subject matter might be when deciding on book purchases is pointing clearly to these alarming trends. Ultimately they have played a role in bans in several counties in Florida, such as Jackson County School District, Orange County Public Schools, St. Lucie County Schools, Polk County School District, and Walton County School District. PEN America has identified at least 50 groups involved in pushing for book bans across the country operating at the national, state or local levels. These varied groups do not all share identical aims, but they have found common cause in advancing an effort to control and limit what kinds of books are available in schools. These trends are unfortunately likely to continue, as the chilling effect of these legislative measures spreads. In that list, 41 titles were not only identical to those in the 2021 FLCA report, but they were in the same order, with the same typos found in the original list. chapter book series and several biographies of Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor were banned in Central York School District in Pennsylvania. In too many places, todays political rhetoric of parents rights is being weaponized to undermine, intimidate, and chill the practices of these professionals, with potentially profound impacts on how students learn and access ideas and information in schools.