Understanding Book Bans in the United States
These days, “banned book” has become an unavoidable buzzword. From news headlines to social media posts to official government mandates, book bans are being discussed left and right.
Doing your due diligence to research the ins and outs of politically charged topics is critical when making your mind up about where you stand. With our helpful guide, you can find all your most basic book ban questions answered!
What is a Book Ban?
By definition, a book ban occurs when a book is removed from shelves due to objections to its contents. These protestations can come from individuals, organizations, or governments and affect libraries, schools, and sometimes bookstores. A ban can cover a singular title, specific authors, or entire book genres.
The Difference Between Challenged Books and Banned Books
Challenging a book refers to someone attempting to remove or restrict a title. Banning a book is the actual act of taking it off the shelves and away from readers. The two are not entirely interchangeable: just because a party challenges a revamped classic book doesn’t necessarily mean it will be banned. With so many avenues to go through before a book ban takes place, many challenges are unsuccessful.
The History of Banned Books
Banned books are not a recent phenomenon—the act of censoring titles has been around in the United States since the early colonial era. A book written to expose the truth of slavery, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is one of the earliest and most recognizable titles that multiple states worked hard to ban as soon as it was published. Every single era since, from McCarthyism to the early 2000s and beyond, has had its own list of banned books—and it continues to grow.
Why Do People Ban Books?
Book banning occurs when an advocate believes that the content within a novel is morally offensive or inappropriate, either as a whole or for specific age groups, so they challenge it and rally enough support to have it officially banned.
Often, these individuals claim that this act of censorship is intended to protect people from the influential themes and messages found within books that they deem inappropriate. The worry is that these publications will raise questions and present new ideas that do not align with the views of the readers’ religious organizations, political groups, or parents. These days, most book bans are aimed at children’s literature.
A Few of the Many Reasons Books Get Banned
Though the specifics can vary from state to state and school to school, books can be banned for various reasons. And sometimes, a group or individual will claim a book contains subject matter about one of the reasons in the list below in their attempt to get it removed from shelves, even if it does not. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cozy mystery for teens or a children’s picture book—most banned books are brought to the table for including:
- Sexual content
- Violence
- Race
- Religion
- Profanity
- Political bias
- Inappropriate age levels
- Drug use
- LGBTQIA+ themes
What’s the Most Banned Book of All Time?
1984 by George Orwell has been burned and banned around the country ever since it was first published in the ‘40s. It offers insight into living under an oppressive regime and is often challenged for themes of censorship, privacy, pro-communist ideals, sexuality, and the harmful effects of nationalism.
Who is In Charge of Banning Books in the U.S.?
Any parent, individual, or organization can challenge a book, but once the claim is put into place, it’s out of their hands. Book bans are typically put into effect by school boards, administrators, and politicians who have the actual power to pull a book from shelves or prevent it from being assigned to classrooms. These people are often elected by the citizens in the area, which is one of the reasons voting at the local level is so important!
Is Book Banning a State or Federal Issue?
Banned books are primarily a local issue acted on by state officials, but lately, they have become more and more of a federal topic. Technically, the decision to ban a book in school districts and zip codes is made at the state level, but the right-wing party has drawn more and more federal attention to the issue over the years. Most recently, the White House has begun suspending books for a review under Trump’s goal of ending radical indoctrination in schools.
How Many Books Are Currently Banned in the USA?
When compared to previous years, the current number of banned books across the United States has skyrocketed. From 2023 to 2024, PEN recorded over 10,000 titles banned across nearly 30 states. That’s about three times as many as the year before.
Can You Still Buy Banned Books in Areas Where the Ban Has Gone Into Effect?
If a school district or library has banned a book, it doesn’t disappear in the area. You can still purchase the title at a local bookstore or online. In fact, this is one of the main arguments for why banned books are not as effective in protecting children from those topics as some people hope.
Reasons Why These 5 Popular Children’s Books Were Banned
These days, book banning is a divisive topic. But we can all agree that sometimes, the reasons for banning kids’ books are a bit silly. For example:
Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann, a picture book about a little girl who loves all things pink – especially pink cupcakes, was banned in certain areas for promoting excessive sugar consumption and “encouraging unhealthy eating” patterns.
Unicorns are the Worst! by Alex Willan, a cute children’s story about unicorns as told from a goblin’s perspective, was banned for showing an illustration of a goblin’s booty.
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is a classic picture book about protecting the environment that was banned in the ‘80s in California because it portrayed logging negatively.
Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, a story about a little boy who dresses up in a homemade mermaid costume, was banned in parts of the country for covering gender identity—though many states wrongfully claimed it depicted “sex acts.”
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig is a modern classic children’s story about a donkey with a wishing pebble that was banned because parents feared its portrayal of magic would convince kids to join the occult.
How Can You Fight a Book Ban?
If book bans don’t align with your beliefs, there are plenty of ways to fight them in your local community! You can exercise your right to free speech by protesting libraries and school districts that make the banned book lists, listening to the titles on audiobook, starting a banned book club where you only read currently banned titles, joining community organizations, and writing letters to state officials to express your opinion. Stand on principle and find your voice.
Book bans are a time-honored debate in this country. As the country gets more and more divided, it’s important to determine where you stand on the issue of banned books. Hopefully, with our help, you have a better idea of what aligns with your values. Visit our Rochester, MI, bookstore, shop around, and attend our events—we can’t wait to have you!