“These bans eliminated student access to 1,557 exclusive book titles, works by more than 1,480 authors, illustrators and translators,” said a report by the entity founded in 1922, according to which the most targeted authors are often “women, people of color” . and/or LGBTQ+ individuals.”
The organization speaks of a “growing climate of censorship” that is depriving children and young people of contact with books and new ideas, in the wake of minority-coordinated campaigns and, “increasingly”, due to pressure from state legislation .
More than 40% of book bans occur in the state of Florida. “Across 33 school districts, PEN America recorded 1,406 cases of book bans in Florida, followed by 625 bans in Texas, 333 in Missouri, 281 in Utah and 186 in Pennsylvania,” according to the results presented.
“Hyperbolic and misleading rhetoric about ‘pornography in schools’ and ‘sexually explicit’, ‘harmful’ and ‘age inappropriate’ material has led to the removal of thousands of books on a variety of topics and themes for young audiences,” the document reads online published.
The “overwhelming majority” of the bans target books about race or racism or that feature “characters of color,” as well as books with LGBTQ+ characters.
“And this year, the banned books also include books about physical abuse, health and wellness, and themes of grief and death. Notably, the majority of book ban cases involve young adult, middle-grade, chapter, or picture book books – – books written and selected specifically for a younger audience,” says the New York-based organization.
“Punitive state laws, along with pressure from local and national citizens and groups, have created difficult dilemmas for school districts, forcing them to limit access to books or risk sanctions for educators and librarians,” the study authors claim . bans were registered in places where there is a branch of “a national advocacy organization known for defending book censorship”.
The data further shows that 63% of bans occurred in states where legislation “directly enabled book bans or created conditions for local groups to pressure and intimidate educators and librarians to remove books.”
Source: DN
