The Basics

Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions on Book Bans and Censorship

by Sharon Hawkes, MLIS

Overview. Since 2021, the United States has seen a record number of book challenges and outright bans, almost always from far-right conservatives. While past book challenges typically entailed one or a handful of books, banning today frequently involves many books, unread by the challengers, ignoring procedures for reviewing materials, and accompanied by harassment and threats toward anyone who would stand up for the freedom to read. Worse, some states are enacting laws that would punish or jail teachers and librarians for offering materials about sex education or rights for those who are women, LGBTQ+, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native, Muslim or Jewish.

Below are a number of questions and accusations that are often stated in meetings and online about books and censorship. The answers contain links to more information on the topic. Always understand that engaging in conversation with book banners is rarely to dissuade them, but is for the benefit of those listening in who have not made up their minds on this issue. They need the facts. And always, be sure to keep yourself safe.

Questions

“They aren’t really ‘book bans,’ because they would have to be illegal in the whole country, so what’s all the fuss about?”

“Ban” is the correct term. “also : to prohibit the use, performance, or distribution of, e.g. ban a book.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ban and see also https://www.britannica.com/topic/book-banning and Banned Book FAQ - Banned Books Week - Research Guides at Syracuse University Libraries
If a book that met the criteria to be in a library collection is removed (temporarily or permanently) or restricted from that collection, it is called “banned.” That has been the term since at least 1982, the first year of Banned Books Week. There were no national bans at that time, nor since. https://bannedbooksweek.org/about/ and see also https://pen.org/book-bans-frequently-asked-questions/

President Donald Trump's 2025 Executive Order against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies has included removing books and curriculum materials about the LGBTQ+ community and Black history from all Defense Department schools for military families around the world. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/02/12/schools-military-kids-ban-books-and-lessons-run-afoul-of-trump-orders.html

The closest the country came to a national ban before this was in 2020-21, when then-President Donald Trump proposed to remove The 1619 Project from all public schools and replace it with recommendations from his 1776 Commission. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/17/914127266/trump-announces-patriotic-education-commission-a-largely-political-move Before that, it was also Mr. Trump in 2018, when he tried to prevent Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury from being published. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/367390-trump-trying-to-stop-publication-of-explosive-book-about-his/ Before that, it was then-President Richard Nixon in 1971, whose administration attempted to prevent The Pentagon Papers from being published. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/pentagon-papers/

“What if we just move some books to a different part of the library (behind the desk, in an older section, in a restricted section, etc.) or require parental permission to borrow them?

A book that was qualified to be in a children’s collection but was moved to the Adult collection is still banned from the people for whom it was intended. Since teenagers, for example, wouldn’t be interested in a picture book for five year olds, moving a book such as And Tango Makes Three (2005, about two male penguins raising a chick) would ensure that no one read it. In Sund v. City of Wichita Falls, TX (2000), the District Court found that Heather Has Two Mommies (1989) and Daddy’s Roommate (1990), two books about children with gay parents, could not be moved to the parent’s section. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/121/530/2505416/
In Counts v. Cedarville School District (2003), the District Court held that a school cannot restrict access to books by requiring special parental permission. The books in question were the Harry Potter books. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/295/996/2307891/
A federal judge in Arkansas recently affirmed that receiving speech through reading was an established part of our First Amendment rights and that this right extended both to school and public libraries, according to the case of Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982). “Second, although the County is correct that Pico dealt with the right to access information in a school library rather than in a library that was open to the general public, this indicates that the right’s scope is broad—not narrow.” Page 10 at https://webservices.courthousenews.com/sites/Data/AppellateOpinionUploads/2023-13-9--12-39-01-library.pdf, and see the Pico decision at https://www.oyez.org/cases/1981/80-2043

“You can get the book somewhere else (public library, bookstore, online), so what’s the big deal?”

School and public libraries exist to provide their users with equal access to information and ideas, through reading, research, and from one another. https://ilovelibraries.org/what-libraries-do/ This country prides itself on the ideal (not always realized) that anyone can make something of themselves if they work hard. Lifelong education is key. John Adams wrote, “And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people who have a right from the frame of their nature to knowledge...” https://www.azquotes.com/author/90-John_Adams/tag/education Tax-funded access to knowledge provides everyone that chance to acquire knowledge, regardless of means, and helps teach people about the world in which they live. https://medium.com/everylibrary/why-the-value-of-self-reliance-is-at-the-heart-of-libraries-57921268178b
Young children especially are vulnerable when books are banned, as they primarily find their leisure reading by browsing or librarian and peer recommendations. To them, a book not on the shelf is a book that doesn’t exist. https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/about-the-library/why-children-self-select-books-in-library-class/
Since book banners have also gone after public libraries (https://apnews.com/article/books-bans-american-library-association-42b34a284a6363439de20bbb65bb43b4), bookstores (https://www.salon.com/2022/05/20/book-ban-jumps-from-public-schools-to-private-stores-like-barnes-and-noble/), and even museums (https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-historical-commission-book-removal/), this argument is moot.

“Librarians remove books from library collections all the time. Can’t we do the same?”

Librarians choose books based on many criteria, which can usually be found in a library’s written, board-approved collection development policy. When they remove books, it is usually because they are worn (and are replaced), out of date (such as science books, computer manuals, or travelogues), or no longer being checked out (newer books of interest take their place). https://library.wustl.edu/about/policies/collection-development-policy/.
The removal or restriction of books because people don’t like the ideas in them is book banning, and in the case of books about people who are women, LGBTQ+, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native, Muslim, or Jewish can be considered discrimination under federal law. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/08/fact-sheetbiden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-protect-lgbtqi-communities/

“These books are pornographic! We need to protect the little children!”

1. The legal term for pornography is “obscenity,” and it is defined in court (not by politicians) by using the three-pronged Miller Test. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/miller-test/ A book must have all three elements to be considered obscene:

whether the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;

whether the work depicts, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by state law;

whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

2. To date, none of the books being challenged or banned would meet all three criteria in the Miller Test. For example, the teen book Gender Queer (2019), the most-challenged book of the last few years, is an award-winning comic book-style memoir of the author’s self-discovery of gender and asexuality. Its sexual information is factual, not prurient, and has literary value, especially for those who struggle with similar issues. https://bookresumes.uniteagainstbookbans.org/wp-content/uploads/kobabe_GenderQueer_20240214.pdf

The novel The Bluest Eye (1970) by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, was the third most-banned book of 2022. It is about generational trauma, and has been banned from libraries and the AP English Literature curriculum in various states. Almost no one would find its depiction of a rape to be prurient, and it is recognized as having a high literary value. https://bookresumes.uniteagainstbookbans.org/wp-content/uploads/MorrisonToni_BluestEye_20240124.pdf

3. While some books for teenagers have mature content, this is not new. Teen books mentioning sexuality date at least as far back as 1952 with the first American translation of Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl and 1951 with The Catcher in the Rye. Often, Young Adult (YA) novels have coming-of-age themes that explore domestic abuse, drug use, mental illness, peer pressure, and yes, sex. Topics that often get challenged include racism, sexism, violence, and gay issues. https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/quick-take-dark-or-difficult-themes-young-adult-readers

4. Books in the middle grades may include sex education books, such as It’s Perfectly Normal (1994); and books with no sex scenes, such as novels about LGBTQ+ people, such as one about a trans girl and the people who support her, (Melissa by Alex Gino, 2015); books about civil rights issues (They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, 2019); novels about minorities (New Kid by Jerry Craft, 2019); fantasy books, such as the Harry Potter series (beginning in 1998 in the US); and biographies about people such as Billie Jean King, Harvey Milk, Michelle Obama, and Rosa Parks. While book banners discuss protecting “children” from “porn,” most books being banned are for teenagers and are not about having sex. https://pen.org/spineless-shelves/

5. Picture books for grades pre-kindergarten through third grade have no sex in them at all but may mention gay or minority families. https://pen.org/banned-picture-books-2022/

6. In 1982, the Supreme Court determined that the Island Trees School District in Long Island, NY, could not ban books even if they were, in their opinion, “…just plain filthy.” Interestingly, the banned books included Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), which is also challenged today. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1981/80-2043

“The books are inappropriate! Can’t they be removed on that basis alone?”

“Inappropriate” is a very vague word, perhaps intentionally so. What might be wrong for one child or one family might be just fine for another. This becomes especially apparent when talking about sex education, the gay community, or civil rights. Librarians try to choose books that represent and inform many members of the community. Readers can recognize themselves and learn about each other. This is especially helpful for children, who as adults will work alongside many different people. Empathy is important. And wrestling with “uncomfortable” themes in literature leads to better critical thinking, reading ability, and empathy. In one important study, students reading “disturbing” books became more avid readers, and “Students reported becoming better people, a change also noticed by their parents and peers. Reading engaging narratives about characters with complicated lives, they reported, helped them become more empathetic, less judgmental, more likely to seek multiple viewpoints, morally stronger, and happier.” https://www.tcpress.com/blog/young-people-read-disturbing-books/ , https://readingpartners.org/blog/reading-improves-kids-emotional-intelligence-increases-empathy/ and https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2023/september/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-book-bans-sweeping-the-us/ and https://firstbook.org/solutions/diverse-books-study/
Librarians check reviews of books for quality and age appropriateness. When it comes to sex education, the subject matter falls along these age guidelines: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/12/1121999705/sex-education-school-kindergarten

“The left bans books, too, so how is this any different?”

When the far left does it, it is also wrong. Librarians are against banning any books if they meet the criteria to be included in a library collection. Books challenged by the far left in the past have included Huckleberry Finn (for use of the n-word) or To Kill a Mockingbird (use of the “white savior” trope). Librarians have reported such challenges to the American Library Association and they fight for the freedom to read. The far right, in contrast, is banning books about LGBTQ+, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native, Muslim, and Jewish people, and books about sex education and women’s rights. https://abcnews.go.com/US/conservative-liberal-book-bans-differ-amid-rise-literary/story?id=96267846
Librarians and school officials advise against challenging books in retaliation, such as the Bible, just because other books are being challenged. Allow all books that are qualified to remain in libraries and curricula. Give educators more freedom to teach complicated texts in nuanced ways, and give readers the opportunity to read different points of view, as opposed to social media, which tends to offer only what the app thinks its readers want to hear. https://www.wptv.com/news/education/bible-wont-be-banned-in-palm-beach-county-public-schools and https://viewpoint.pointloma.edu/the-social-media-silo-situation/
There are big differences between past book bans and what is happening now. While past challenges typically entailed one or a handful of books, banning today frequently involves tens or even hundreds of books that were never read by the challengers. Entire collections have been frozen pending review, a time-consuming process. Procedures for reviewing materials, such as leaving the book on the shelf during review, are ignored. Book challengers storm meetings, read parts of books out of context and shout down attempts at discussion. Librarians, teachers, administrators, and First Amendment advocates are being called names, doxed, harassed, and threatened for opposing book bans. https://pen.org/teachers-librarians-intimidation/ and https://pen.org/report/educational-intimidation/

“So do parents have no rights at all when it comes to what goes into a school or public library, a teacher’s classroom, or a school curriculum?”

No, parents have many choices! They can opt their child out of a course or reading assignment. They can instruct their own children about what to read or not read, and why. They can monitor what books their children bring home from school, and go with them to the public library. (In most public libraries, children under 10 are not allowed without a grownup, anyway.)
If a book truly was purchased in error, parents can speak with a librarian and point it out. If they aren’t satisfied, they can fill out a form and ask a review committee (sometimes the library or school board) to formally review the book against the collection development policy. Finally, parents can read a controversial book with their child and discuss their point of view.
Most people – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – are against book bans. Parents should not fear books, but welcome books of various points of view to help them and their children learn. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/voters-oppose-book-bans-libraries and https://www.cbsnews.com/news/book-bans-opinion-poll-2022-02-22/ and https://www.milibraries.org/statewide-survey-on-library-issues and http://blog.csba.org/book-bans-infringe-upon-parent-rights/ and https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/23/lgbtq-book-ban-challengers/ and https://epe.brightspotcdn.com/4b/b4/cac31a8642518e91d5850dcdd7fd/recent-book-ban-controversies-final-5.15.23.pdf

The Basics

The Basics

Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions on Book Bans and Censorship

Questions“They aren’t really ‘book bans,’ because they would have to be illegal in the whole country, so what’s all the fuss about?”

“What if we just move some books to a different part of the library (behind the desk, in an older section, in a restricted section, etc.) or require parental permission to borrow them?

“You can get the book somewhere else (public library, bookstore, online), so what’s the big deal?”

“Librarians remove books from library collections all the time. Can’t we do the same?”

“These books are pornographic! We need to protect the little children!”

“The books are inappropriate! Can’t they be removed on that basis alone?”

“The left bans books, too, so how is this any different?”

“So do parents have no rights at all when it comes to what goes into a school or public library, a teacher’s classroom, or a school curriculum?”

Other Links to Book Ban Information

Right to Read Ohio

Questions

“They aren’t really ‘book bans,’ because they would have to be illegal in the whole country, so what’s all the fuss about?”