In June of 2023, amidst a wave of book censorship impacting schools and libraries across the country, primarily targeting books with culturally responsive or LGBTQ+ content, Governor Pritzker signed the first piece of state-level legislation in the country prohibiting the banning of books in libraries and public schools. The Illinois Resource Center applauds Illinois state leadership for taking action to safeguard students’ freedom to read, and the hard work of educators, library workers and advocates nationwide who have been pushing back against the wave of book bans.

So why talk about book bans now, after it seems legislatively decided? Although we are based in Illinois, the IRC supports districts all over the country, and we hope that our state will serve as a model for how to deal with this kind of harmful censorship, as well as offer perspective and resources to educators and library workers in other states facing this issue. It is also important for educators and library workers to be aware of attempts at soft censorship — demands, for example, to reshelve or recategorize books, particularly those with anti-racist themes or LGBTQ+ content, via a subjective reading of these books or topics as “inappropriate” for children. Additionally, this issue provides an opportunity to have conversations not just about not banning books but about the importance of deliberately making a wide variety of content available to our students and communities. 

At the IRC, we believe in strong literacy practices that allow all students, and specifically multilingual students, to not only exist but thrive in literacy, and access to diverse books that reflect our students’ and educators’ rich and multifaceted histories, cultures and lived experiences is a cornerstone of that. Diverse books provide what Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop refers to as “windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors” –  works that authentically promote understanding of one’s own experience and perspective as well as those of others. Safeguarding the freedom to read empowers students with skills to make meaning of their own lives in the world and cultivates individual and collective agency toward continued growth and learning. Furthermore, access to diverse books that multilingual students can connect with will only serve to foster and grow their love of reading and improve their literacy skills over time. 

It is particularly concerning to the IRC team that the majority of books being challenged target historically marginalized authors or stories. A PEN America study found that of all the challenge/ban attempts during the 2021-22 school year, more than 40% featured LGBTQ+ themes, and 40% featured prominent characters of color. More than 20% featured titles with issues surrounding race or racism; and another 10% strongly featured messaging or subject matter about human rights or activism. Looking at the data, there is a clear picture of coordinated attempts to suppress access to reading material about, and therefore conversations about, real experiences that impact many of the students and communities we serve. 

Our students, educators, library workers and their larger communities all deserve better. They deserve access to reading material that affirms and challenges them, that they can see themselves reflected in, and that can empower them to share their stories in their own voices. 

At the IRC we encourage educators to:

  • Continue learning about the dangers of book banning and the importance of diverse books 
  • Anticipate that diversity will always be a part of any classroom and design curriculum and classroom environments with this in mind
  • Strive to normalize and recognize how we are enriched by difference, rather than compartmentalize, pathologize, or demonize difference
  • Select individual books with care and attention to authentic and respectful representations of characters and communities
  • Carefully consider both the overt and underlying messages of what is on the walls, on the shelves, and “in the air” in our learning environments and work to make this relevant, responsive, and affirming to the community of learners in our care
  • Curate collections of texts within assigned curriculum and as part of classroom/school libraries that represent a diverse array of authors, perspectives, lived experiences, identities, communities, cultures, and languages
  • Cultivate a multilingual ecology that includes texts in multiple languages, particularly those of the homes and communities of our students–to affirm bilingual language practices and ways of knowing, to complement and scaffold meaning making of content instruction in English in any program, and to provide linguistic windows and mirrors to all students
  • Create space to thoughtfully discuss themes of identity, community, diversity, representation, power, privilege–and even book banning itself–in ways that are of course aligned with the developmental level of their students  
  • Engage students, families, and colleagues in thinking critically and taking action to sustain access to diverse books for everyone and especially for people whose identities are often underrepresented in the curriculum  

Further readings, resources & toolkits:

To support teachers, districts and students experiencing these attacks on the freedom to read, we have compiled a list of resources to share with your colleagues and districts. Furthermore, if you would like additional support from the IRC for an upcoming meeting or material challenge, please use the contact form on our website and we will be able to provide a form letter to share with your board or colleagues or work with you in other ways to address this issue in your school, district or organization. 

ON BOOK BANS

Dive into this white paper from Unite Against Book Bans highlighting the benefits of giving children access to a wide variety of reading material.

Explore the American Library Association’s toolkits and resources for Advocacy and Public Policy. 

Reference ASCD’s A Framework for Resisting Book Bans (Feb 1, 2023)

Read this statement opposing book bans from the National Council of Teachers of English.

Review this document created by Support Forest Hills Public Schools debunking common misinformation and false narratives leading to book bans.  

Read about how Book Bans Threaten Public Education (June 13, 2023) from Zinn Education Project.

Unpack this perspective and advice from a librarian from this editorial from Teen Library Toolbox.

Familiarize yourself with available resources like the Brooklyn Public Library’s BooksUnbanned program, which allows youth ages 13-21 to digitally access BPL reading materials for free. 

Share this infographic on how teens can join the fight against book banning. 

Prepare readings and activities in your learning community with these resources from Banned Books Week. 

 

ON DIVERSE BOOKS

Reflect on this essay by George M. Johnson, author All Boys Aren’t Blue, of one of the most challenged YA novels in recent years 

CCBC Diversity Statistics – Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Picture This: Diversity in Children’s Books 2018 Infographic

“We hope that this infographic, along with Lee & Low’s Diversity Gap blog posts, Debbie Reese’s blog American Indians in Children’s Literature, Edith Campbell and Zetta Elliott’s blogs, Maya Christina Gonzalez’ “Children’s Books as a Radical Act” blog posts, Malinda Lo’s LGTBQ blog posts, We Need Diverse Books, Reading While White, Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, and other diversity initiatives, can help push forward important conversations and lead to real change in children’s literature publishing. We encourage you to study these and other sources to better understand the context in which these numbers exist.” Quote from An Updated Look at Diversity in Children’s Books (Jun 19, 2019) School Library Journal