Parents Trust Librarians Despite National Push to Ban Books

Libraries used to be peaceful places, where communities could go to find their new favorite books and lose themselves in knowledge and narrative. While this is still true around the world, some libraries have experienced a real shift in recent years – they have become battlegrounds, places of vitriol and discord. This is because of book bans.

Across the 2022 to 2023 academic years, there were 3,362 bans enacted on books around the USA. Librarians, once points of connection to a treasure trove of literature, were being forced to take books off their shelves.

Despite this, parents still place their trust in librarians. Studies have found that families still appreciate the work of the librarian, and still value their service. So what is going on here, and how can we make sure librarians, and their libraries, stay at the heart of communities for years to come?

Banning Books and Censoring Knowledge

PEN America has been keeping a close eye on the censorship and banning of books in America. In some instances, local authorities have taken a single book off the shelf, citing its content or its themes. In others, “wholesale” bans have taken place, with libraries stripped of books and closed to the public.

Data from the second half of 2022 shows us that Texas, Florida, and Missouri are most likely the states to ban books, with nearly 1200 bans enacted between the three. Utah and South Carolina are next on the list, and both implemented more than 100 individual bans each over the period.

Among the books most often banned during this time frame, we find Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe, Flamer by Mike Curato, and Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. Books by world-famous authors Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, and Rupi Kaur, were also among the top ten most likely to be banned.

Despite the Hostile Climate, Parents Still Trust Librarians

As custodians of knowledge, librarians find themselves in an awkward position. For anyone serious about the education and development of children, librarians provide an irreplaceable service. But for anyone who supports book bans, it is these same librarians who are providing this ‘controversial’ literature, and making it available to children.

This could be a serious problem, undermining the position of librarians in the community. Fortunately, it seems parents still trust librarians. A study conducted by the EveryLibrary Institute late in 2023 provided some heartening reading.

• 92% of parents, grandparents and guardians, the study said, trust librarians to curate appropriate materials for children.
• 90% said they were happy to let their own children choose their own reading material in a library.
• 96% said they felt libraries were a safe space for their own children.
• 85% said they were generally satisfied with the work of their local librarians.
• Public librarians are the most trusted profession in the USA. School librarians are the third most trusted, behind teachers and doctors.

What Does This Tell Us About Book Bans?

There seems to be a bit of a disconnect going on here. On the one hand, we have authorities demanding that books be banned, claiming to act on the behalf of concerned parents, children and families in the area.

And on the other, we have those families themselves – families who don’t seem too concerned at all, and put their trust in librarians to curate appropriate materials.

This disconnect is not lost on John Chrastka, the executive director of the EveryLibrary Institute:

“Contrary to the narratives that so-called parent rights groups are advancing, parents across America value librarians’ roles in our communities and our children’s education,” he said.

“Pro-censorship groups do not represent the vast majority of parents or guardians in their beliefs about librarians, reading, education, and civil society.”

Hope For the Future of Our Libraries and Librarians

This is a difficult time for libraries and librarians in the USA, and right across the world. Book bans are not just an American phenomenon. In 2024, PEN International released a list of bans across the world, describing how authorities in Belarus, Brazil, China, Hungary, Russia, Türkiye, and elsewhere, sought to remove works from shelves.

Highlighting the trust that parents still have in librarians will not end the process of book banning, at least, not all by itself. But it does shed some light on what is going on here. Often, governments and institutions will use the excuse of “protecting children”, or “defending families” as a reason for censorship. However, as we have seen, these excuses are often way out of step with what parents and guardians actually want for their children.

So there is hope for libraries and for the librarians who run them. These individuals provide a vital service, and they must be protected.