In school districts across the United States, students are staring at empty spots on bookshelves where their favorite books used to lie. Books students were eager to check out, such as “The Kite Runner,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” “Yellowface” and many more are quietly being removed from shelves. As stories of book bans continue rapidly, students have begun to have less access to literature that expresses diverse experiences and topics as school boards and state officials take them away.
Book bans begin with a challenge from parents, organizations, or community members, and then removal requests start. These bans typically impact public libraries and public schools. This means these bans significantly impact students and low-income individuals. Students have less access to diverse perspectives and discussions about history, identity and social issues. Public libraries are critical places for many low-income individuals who rely on free access to literature.
I asked 30 people around and off the Christopher Newport University campus about banned books, and their reactions were generally similar. “If you’re banning things that disagree with your opinion, I think that ultimately that is harmful, not only for the exploration of one’s own ideas and beliefs, but it violates freedom of speech as well,” CNU student Alex Gonzalez said.
While banning books isn’t a new phenomenon, we’ve seen a quick increase in banning in the past few years. Since 2021, over 16,000 books have been banned in states, school districts and schools, ABC news reports. Oftentimes, these books are banned in hopes of “shielding” or protecting students from certain topics.
Others argue that book bans only suppress impactful issues, such as race, gender and history. “These books are a part of our history, so why get rid of them,” History major Kendra Primm said.
There were differing opinions on moderation, but the consensus was that books were necessary for knowledge and expression. “Books are the language of the author, and it’s their way of talking to their audience through books,” Cadence, a Barnes & Noble shopper, shared with me in the “banned books” section of the store.
The limitations of literature have a long history. The most infamous example of “book bans” was the book burnings by the Nazis in 1933. It was one of the most significant examples of literary suppression: burning books written by Jewish people, LGBTQ+ authors and socialists, including works from Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and more influential individuals. Those book burnings were efforts to control and eliminate the literature the public was able to consume.
Although modern book bans don’t involve literal flames, some argue that they share a similar motivation: to stop people from consuming certain narratives and understanding diverse perspectives. “Most, or just about every child that goes in reading [banned] books are not going to pick up on all of these possible political messages in the books. They’re looking for a story to read,” Andrew Sobol said.
PEN America, a non-profit organization that intends to defend freedom of speech, keeps track of challenged books in the United States. PEN America reported that over 10,000 books were banned in the 2023-2024 school year. The data they’ve collected about the rapid removal of books is shocking.
The states of Iowa, Texas and Florida are the country’s greatest offenders of banned books, Florida leading with over 4,000 books banned between 2023-2024.
In Virginia alone, over 100 books are banned across five different districts. Titles such as “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Hate U Give,” “Nineteen Minutes” and more have been removed, all detailing stories of suicide, school shootings, oppression, LGBTQ themes and racism. “You can’t make exceptions. It’s either nothing is allowed, or everything is allowed and I prefer to have everything allowed with the majority of good themes,” Bridget Little said.
Not only does this impact the students on this campus, but it reaches elementary school students as well. I took an account from my 10-year-old sister, who experienced book banning firsthand and expressed frustration when she discovered all her favorite “Dork Diaries” books were removed. “Kids should get to pick who reads what because they are the ones reading it,” she said. These words come from a young student, the ones book banners intended to protect.
After interviewing many on campus, I found that 95% of the people I spoke to read at least one banned book, whether they considered themselves avid readers or not. So this begs the question, is banning books effective?
In fact, I found that it encouraged curiosity and made readers seek out the stories they intended to silence. This highlights the reality that banning books does not erase them but strengthens their message.
