This essay was written for English 252 as part of a research assignment. I attempt to explore what the banned book list is and what are the effect that it has on society as a whole. This essay is based on the research proposal that can also be found on this website.
Introduction
In English classrooms nationwide, it has become common to discuss a book only for someone to add, “That’s on the banned book list,”. The following conversation can be broken down into a few steps, first shock falls on the crowd, people then throw around reasons for the ban until a consensus is made, and finally, others start throwing in other random books on the list. Due to their confusion, it can be hard to determine why the banned book list exists. If so many of these books are accepted by the general populace, why are they getting banned? Even defining the list comes with its difficulties. There are multiple lists, and certain books might only be banned in certain settings (Like schools or public libraries). Making it difficult to come to one definitive list of banned books (Pen America). Every state has reasons for banning certain books, but what are their effects? Are these book bans helping students, or are they making it difficult for students to access literature? While the banned book list on paper sounds like a good idea, it deprives young readers of being exposed to some of the greatest literature that the world has to offer and prevents them from being able to grow an appreciation of books.
What Is The Banned Book List?
While the topic of the banned book list seems like a modern subject it actually has a significant presence throughout United States history. Starting back in 1873, when Congress passed the Comstock laws. These prohibited the “obscene, lewd, or lascivious, and filthy book[s] … or other mail matter containing any filthy, vile, or indecent thing.” to be transported through the post office. These laws, while controversial, fell within the rights of the government because although they couldn’t outright ban these books or mail they could ban their transport without infringing on freedom of expression laws. Forms of this kind of ban have evolved throughout United States history. Different works would get banned depending on the era they were written. In WWII for example books that were deemed to be sympathetic towards Germans were banned from public institutions and also military camps.
This is an important concept when considering our banned book list today. When you hear about a book on the banned book list it isn’t removed from bookstores or online, rather the ban can only be carried as far as government institutions. Generally, the most common places are public schools and libraries. Book bans can sometimes only extend as far as the local community. As mentioned previously the list is generally different from every state but is constantly changing. In 2024, the American Library Association reported another 1,128 books were being challenged, and this number keeps rising year after year. When a book is challenged a group or organization has submitted it to be banned. The American Library Association (ALA) receives information about these challenges from Schools, Libraries, and other media and compiles the data.
Books will be challenged for any number of reasons and oftentimes from both sides of the political aisle. In some places, Harry Potter books are banned because they discuss witchcraft while in other parts of the country books like “Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are banned due to their use of the N-word. These challengers according to the ALA, are “groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose, who, for all sorts of reasons, have attempted—and continue to attempt—to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs.”
The Issue With The Banned Book List
You may start seeing some immediate issues with the banned book list. There are very few people who would argue that explicit or pornographic material should be allowed in most public institutions. For such situations, it’s necessary to have systems that allow the censorship of obviously inappropriate literature. The problem then arises when the ban hammer is brought down on literature with much more ambiguous reasons for its ban.
If something can be banned because it disagrees with a particular party it becomes almost impossible to draw the line anywhere. It would be easy if there were a definitive list of things that could get a book banned but since you could submit a challenge for just about anything it becomes increasingly harder to define what shouldn’t be allowed in these institutions. It’s hard to enforce since schools can decide not to feature certain books in their library.
Because it’s become a political issue, neither party wants to let the other get a leg up on them. If one party bans a book that disagrees with them the other will feel short-changed until they ban a book (ALA). This is a major issue because it loses sight of what the banned book list should be for and causes the banned book list to inflate tremendously. Figure 1 shows the rate of challenged books over the last few decades.
Figure 1, American Library Association
One major argument of these parties is the fear that the presence of the opposing parties’ views in these public places serves to indoctrinate their children into whatever ideology the book holds.
This of course defeats the purpose of books in the first place. One unique perspective books present us with, is the chance to view a story from the characters’ minds. While other forms of media might follow one or two characters closely we rarely get a chance to see into their minds, which in a book format we do. You can learn the thought process of how a good man can become a killer in books like, “Crime and Punishment,” because we know the main character’s thoughts, we’re more inclined to sympathize with him. This doesn’t mean you agree with his killing, but he causes you to be more empathetic. This is what we lose when we ban any book we disagree with. Reading a book that challenges our beliefs causes us to miss out on vital opportunities to understand others better.
Banning books based on the basis that they indoctrinate also has other problems. One of the most glaring parts is the irony behind it. If you’re constantly banning books because you are worried that they’re going to influence someone to change their opinions then you are engaging in indoctrination. It must be said though that the vast majority of the challenges made aren’t filed by a party specifically but rather concerned parents. In an article written by Joshua Spilka for the ALA, he says, “Parents want the best for their children. Toward that end, parents are often concerned about ideas their children are exposed to and keep certain types of information locked away until the parents think the child is mature enough to handle it.” These parents are in no way trying to hurt their children rather they only seek help. What ends up happening however in the attempt to protect their kids they end up limiting their thoughts. Many books that end up banned are good resources for young people, like mental health books. Eliminating these books from libraries doesn’t take them out of the world, it just makes them harder to access.
Unrealized Potential
The people we are in high school and elementary determine who we will become for the rest of our lives. As a kid, I’ve always loved to read, In my Junior year of high school I discovered I liked performing in musicals, and once I graduated I realized how much I enjoyed backpacking. All of these experiences came from my exposure to them. I’d never joined a musical before Junior year because I didn’t know how, but that same year my English teacher told me I should try out which exposed me to something I didn’t think I liked. There are many other stories out there as well, specifically for young readers. One story comes from Cynthia Smith, published author and winner of the American Indian Youth Literature Award:
We close off too much of our world to kids and teens, especially those whose families struggle financially. But every young reader is welcome at their local school and public libraries. I was a lower-middle-class kid, a bicultural Indigenous kid, a shy and bullied kid. But stories from my libraries showed me how to become the hero of my own story. We must preserve that opportunity for young readers of today and beyond. (Yorio)
Smith found a passion for reading that eventually led her to become a published author and inspire the next generation of learners to read. One of the main things she contributes to this is her love of libraries. Her school library and public library were places she could go to find this inspiration.
We can compare Smith’s experience in the library to the libraries today. While libraries have and always will have good books, limiting the types of books allowed in a library gives people less reason to go there. Playground Equipment, a website dedicated to spreading awareness of bannings, determined the most banned book of all time was, 1984, by George Orwell. Irony aside, this book for many people is a gateway into classic literature. This book in particular gets recommended by tons of people. Someone who isn’t an avid reader might not want to buy the book but might pass it over entirely if their library doesn’t have it. Now this is one specific example but we’re not just talking about the banning of one book this is the banning of thousands of books. Each one possesses its opportunity to open a reader up to new ideas or passions.
It could be said that just because these books aren’t in schools or public libraries it doesn’t mean someone who wants access to them can’t get access to them. This is completely true, if an individual wants a copy of 1984, they have multiple different options to get it. However, depriving them of the opportunity can also possess unforeseen effects. I’d never been part of a musical until my Junior year of high school, not because none of my schools before that point had musicals, but rather because I’d never had the opportunity to join. I didn’t realize it was something I liked and because of that, I lost out on years of being able to perform before my Junior year.
Counter Arguments
The decision on what books to ban if any are justified can be difficult, and many still see banning many of these books as a good thing. One of the most difficult arguments is parents claiming the right over what their kids are and aren’t allowed to read (ALA). Understandably, a parent would want to be able to raise their kids independently of outside influence even if others disagree. However, the presence of many of these books doesn’t hinder a parent’s ability to do so. Just because a book is in the library or at the school doesn’t mean a student has to check that book out. Rather if a parent wants their kids to pass over certain books it should become their responsibility to educate their kids on what they can and cannot read.
In a similar vein that can be extended to public libraries as well. If a book contains something that someone finds offensive, they can choose not to read it. The problem arises when others have voided the opportunity to read some incredible books.
Another argument is that the banned book list simply doesn’t have a large effect. Because the books banned can still be accessed its effects are fairly minimal. This is a fair argument especially in in the modern age where everything can be easily accessed. The banned book list doesn’t keep these books from the hands of youth though, rather it deprives them of opportunities to read them. If the banned book list has such minimal effects anyway why keep it around? If it already proved to be ineffective at stopping youth from reading these books why waste resources maintaining them, and deprive others of enjoying them? The idea that “the banned book list is ineffective so why worry about it” is counterintuitive because it contradicts itself.
Conclusion
Banning of books or other materials has existed for centuries and will likely never go away. Ultimately it is a system that is in place that’s meant to protect kids but over the years it’s found itself under increasingly greater abuse. It’s difficult to define the list due to the sheer immensity and variations of it, one thing is for certain. The thing that was once protecting youth is now working against them. Parents need to take a different angle on how they want to raise their kids. In an attempt to satisfy everyone libraries are becoming devoid of literature that inspires complex thought.
True commentary on the human experience trends towards controversy. Because the human experience is a complex thing, it tends into a morally gray area. This area shouldn’t be avoided but should be used to help better understand the lives of others. People who are different from us and are experiencing things that we might never get to experience. This is the experience that someone can have with literature and more importantly libraries. A young reader might never discover a love for literature if some of these books aren’t available to them. While the decision to let these books back into our schools and libraries might be a hard one, it would be worse to lose an entire generation being inspired by them.
Work Cited
About banned & challenged books. American Library Association. (n.d.-a).
https://www.ala.org/bbooks/aboutbannedbooks
Book ban data. American Library Association. (n.d.).
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data
Bertram, Cara S. “Censorship throughout the Centuries: A timeline of US book bans and the
fight for intellectual freedom.” American Libraries, vol. 55, no. 9-10, Sept.-Oct. 2024, pp. 28+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A811171597/AONE?u=byuidaho&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=867a53be. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.
Hart, K. (2024, September 14). The most banned and challenged books of the past 8 years
[updated] – playgroundequipment.com. Playground Equipment. https://www.playgroundequipment.com/the-most-banned-and-challenged-books-of-the-past-5-years/
Meehan, K., Friedman, J., Magnusson, T., & Baêta, S. (2024, August 20). Banned in the
USA. PEN America. https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-superch
arge-book-suppression-in-schools/
New report: Book bans spike by 33% over last school year. PEN America. (2024, May 29).
Surge in book challenges press kit. ALA. (n.d.).
https://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/presskits/surge-book-challenges-press-kit
Spilka, Joshua. “377 BOOK CHALLENGES TRACKED BY ALA IN 2019–AND THE
PROBLEM IS GROWING: Book Banning and Its Adverse Effects on Students.” Knowledge Quest, vol. 50, no. 5, May-June 2022, pp. 30+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A706127700/AONE?u=byuidaho&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=8177c16f. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.
Yorio, Kara. “REASONS TO Love Libraries: They are a community’s soul, ‘cathedrals to who
we should be as a society,’ and more.” School Library Journal, vol. 70, no. 6, June 2024, pp. 20+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A798594517/AONE?u=byuidaho&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9
93dbb70. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.
Campfire Literature 