Thirteen books are on the literal chopping block after Utah has imposed what appears the first-ever statewide K12 book ban, according to The New York Times and PEN America, a nonprofit that fights censorship.
Books about women, sexual violence and rape that have are being challenged based on obscenity while race, LGBTQ and transgender identities continue to be frequent targets.
More than 40% of teachers believe current curriculum-related debates have had a negative impact on their job, according to the Pew Research Center. What do these topics include?
Opponents say it's a campaign of censorship meant to block children's freedom to learn, while scaring teachers and librarians into silence for fear of losing their jobs or worse.
Will the U.S. Department of Education be dismantled? Or does Trump's proposal ring hollow? Tune into this story as we provide updates in the months leading up to his first day in office.
"Some of the books that I've read are books like Hood Feminism, The Poet X, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces," says a 17-year-old senior with round glasses and long braids. The books, she says, sparked her feminist consciousness. "I just see, especially in my community, a lot of women being talked down upon and those books [were] really nice to read."
Authors are becoming regular targets of copycat bans after just one of their titles is removed from a library's shelves, according to the new "Spineless Shelves" report from PEN America.
Spotsylvania school division superintendent Mark Taylor on Thursday evening sent out an email to the school community stating that it is “inaccurate” to call his decision to remove more than 30 titles from high school libraries “a ban.”
Books bans have been growing in scale since the pandemic. Now, a leading book publisher is giving elementary schools the option to exclude "controversial" books as a result of this nationwide dilemma.
Banning books has become a top issue around the country, with many Republican states making it easier for parents to challenge what’s available on school shelves while Democratic states try to do the opposite.
