Kevin Spidell

Mrs. Mills
British Literature
20 December 2022

One Pager: How Book Bans Are Affecting Schools and Libraries

How book bans are affecting schools and libraries. Book banning has a long history in the
United States. PEN American, PEN America attributes the new wave of book bans to the
increasing number of “educational gag orders” being passed across the country. According to
PEN, 36 states have introduced 137 educational gag order bills; only seven states have passed.
Many gag orders address the inclusion of critical race theory and LGBTQ themes in school. The
number of books being challenged has reached an unprecedented high, per The American
Library Association. The organization says that most of the targeted books were by or about
blacks and LGBTQ people. The top listed books include “All boys Aren’t Blue”, “Out of
Darkness”, and “The Hate U Give”. Jeremy Young, senior manager of PEN America, told CNN
that these measures had affected classrooms in multiple ways. CNN reports that schools in Texas
are pulling books off the shelves. In other places, students and teachers are fighting back. A
teacher in Oklahoma resigned. Most censorship laws specifically target K-12 classrooms. Time
Magazine reports that public librarians in many states face the same pressure as their school
counterparts.
I believe book banning is a good and bad thing. I believe it is a good thing because I
agree that some books need to be removed for example, Commissioner Client Ives deemed a
book “pornographic”. He is giving the library 90 days to remove it or they will face eviction. I
believe if a book has pornographic it should be removed immediately because you never know
who is reading it. I also say it is a bad thing because it will affect classrooms and this problem
will just keep becoming bigger and bigger. For example Jeremy Young, senior manager of PEN
America, told CNN that these measures had affected the classroom. I agree that this affected the
classroom because students can’t read any book they want or may like. The organization says
“that most of the targeted books were by or about black and LGBTQ people”. I believe that these
books shouldn’t be banned because I feel like you should be able to express yourself or make a
book about your kind without people targeting it. The usual books challenged is 300-500 but in
2021 went up to 1,527 books challenged. I believe that this is insane and is newsworthy because
the amount tripled. I believe this whole article is newsworthy because this affects kids and CNN
and Time Magazine is involved already and this is just going to become bigger. A teacher in
Oklahoma resigned. I believe more teachers will start resigning now that this teacher did and
soon if this problem doesn’t get fixed there might be a shortage of teachers in the near future.
 Works Cited

Theara Coleman. “How Book Bans are Affecting Schools and Libraries.” 11, September, 2022,
https://theweek.com/briefing/1016551/how-book-bans-are-affecting-schools-and-libraries
.