A History of Censorship in the United States

Steele, Jennifer Elaine

doi:10.5860/jifp.v5i1.7208

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Censorship attempts in libraries have been occurring since the 1850s, with variations in frequency (Steele, 2020). Recently, school libraries in the United States of America have experienced a significant increase in censorship attempts, particularly around books about Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQIA+ issues and experiences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silence in the Stacks

Tudor¹,

Moore²,

Byrne³

2023

slw

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

School libraries in the United States of America have recently experienced an unprecedented number of external censorship attempts. Some censorship attempts, however, quietly occur when the school librarian engages in self-censorship, removing or refusing to purchase materials they consider to be controversial. This collection analysis study explored the extent of self-censorship in 90 Texas public high school libraries based on the exclusion of 55 controversial books in their collections, examining (1) possible relationships between a school’s characteristics and the absence of controversial books, (2) the extent to which the librarians are engaging in self-censorship, and (3) the controversial topics least likely to be included in collections. Findings suggest campus enrollment and district size were moderate to strong predictors of the number of expected books in a school library. More than half of the school libraries had the number of books one would expect based on their district size and campus enrollment. Books with transgender or LGBTQIA+ content were less likely to be found in school libraries, whereas titles featuring profanity, drinking, and drug use were most likely to appear, regardless of campus, district, and city size.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%