Book Censorship Spiked in 2013

Censorship of books rose
dramatically in the U.S. in 2013, according to a major watchdog and
advocacy organization.

The Kid’s Right to Read Project (KRRP), an arm of the National
Coalition Against Censorship, reports that, compared to last year,
it has investigated 53 percent more cases of books being
“challenged.” Shelf-Awareness, an industry newsletter,
states
that in November alone, KRRP “investigated three times the average
number of incidents,” and that “during the second half of 2013, the
project battled 31 new incidents, compared to only 14 in the same
period last year.” In total, they’ve grappled with 49 incidents in
29 states. Luckily, many of their efforts have successfully put
books back on the shelves.

KRRP coordinator Acacia O’Connor told the newsletter, “It has
been a sprint since the beginning of the school year,” said
O’Connor. “We would settle one issue and wake up the next morning
to find out another book was on the chopping block.” She
highlighted that the majority of books that were challenged dealt
with sensitive topics like race and sexuality.

The KRRP warns of the
serious repercussions that come with restricting children’s access
to literature:

Censorship is about more than a single book. It is about the
intellectual, cultural and political life of the community and the
people in it.

Each time a book is a removed it reinforces the idea that books
and ideas are off-limits if someone doesn’t like them. It
contributes to a culture where it’s better to hide from
controversial or difficult topics, than to acknowledge or discuss
them.

[…]

It’s censorship whenever anyone in the government – including
public schools and library – restricts access to a book because
they dislike it or disagree with what it says.

Who is trying to ban books? “Most of the challengers were
parents of district students or library patrons, though a handful
were local or state government officials,” according to The
Guardian. As little provocation as a single complaint can take
books out of classrooms. A notable
case of this happened to Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere
in a New Mexico high school in October.

Although the advocacy group suggests that determining the merits
of a book should not be left up to “squeaky wheels” or “majority
opinions,” they believe in “the professional judgment of
individuals with training and expertise.” This stance,
unfortunately, also falls short of actually preventing censorship.
The real way to protect books is by not putting authority in the
hands of any, but by allowing each individual to decide for
himself—and only himself—what information he consumes.