Book Banning in 21st-Century America
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:8th Jan '26
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Based on 25 contemporary book challenge cases in schools and public libraries across the United States, this book argues that understanding contemporary reading practices, especially interpretive strategies, is vital to understanding why people attempt to censor books in public institutions.
With book banning increasing around America, this book breaks down how and why contemporary reading practices can lead to censorship.
Requests for the redaction, removal, relocation, and restriction of books—also known as challenges—have markedly increased in the 2020s. Book Banning in 21st-Century American Libraries, based on 25 contemporary book challenge cases in schools and public libraries across the United States argues that understanding contemporary reading practices, especially interpretive strategies, is vital to understanding why people attempt to censor books in public institutions.
The books focuses on the why of censorship and posits that many censorship behaviors and practices, such as challenging books and targeting public libraries and schools, are intimately tied to the how one understands the practice of reading and its effects on character development and behavior. It discusses reading as a social practice that has changed over time and encompasses different physical modalities and interpretive strategies. In order to understand why people challenge books, it presents a model of how the practice of reading is understood by challengers including “what it means” to read a text, and especially how one constructs the idea of “appropriate” reading materials.
Emily Knox's book has become essential for understanding the evolving landscape of book challenges, a landscape that now includes higher education and private business. While the core justifications for restricting access remain consistent, in this edition, Knox illuminates how today's challengers increasingly target not just individual titles but the very institutions that house them, and the cultural contexts they reflect. By analyzing the challenger’s discourse within theoretical frameworks, Knox reveals both the continuity in censorship arguments and the fundamental shift in how these challenges thrive in our present-day. This work provides crucial insights for a profession facing unprecedented institutional and cultural attacks, offering both scholarly depth and practical understanding for information professionals navigating a hostile new terrain. -- Lucy Santos Green, Professor and Director, School of Library and Information Science, The University of Iowa
Refreshingly not polarizing! Knox offers a good faith book examining the practice of reading and real-world censorship. It’s expertly researched and painstakingly written with fairness top of mind. The audience for this disciplined author is from all sides! -- Toni Samek, Scholar-in-residence, Centre for Free Expression, Toronto Metropolitan University
Knox’s book is a masterful, insightful analysis of the motivations behind book banning, using challengers’ own words. With this context, censorship opponents can better advocate for libraries and schools. -- Shannon M. Oltmann, PhD, Associate Dean and Director, School of Information Sciences, Wayne State University
ISBN: 9781538195062
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
272 pages
2nd edition