Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The recent spike in book challenges has put school libraries at the center of heated political debates. I investigate the relationship between local politics and school library collections using data on books with controversial content from a sample of 6,631 public school libraries. Libraries in conservative areas have fewer titles with LGBTQ, race/racism, or abortion content and more Christian fiction and discontinued Dr. Seuss books. This is true even though most libraries have at least some controversial content. State laws that restrict curricular content are negatively related to access to some LGBTQ and race/racism titles. Finally, I present short-term evidence that book challenges in the 2021–22 school year are associated with decreases in the acquisition of new LGBTQ materials.

Keywords

LGBTQ issues politics school libraries

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

AASL. (2018). National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. American Library Association.

AASL. (2019, June). Role of the school library. https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/advocacy/staements/docs/AASL_Role_of_the_School_Library.pdf

Abramowitz

A. I.

(2010). The disappearing center: Engaged citizens, polarization, and democracy. Yale University Press.

Adukia

Eble

Harrison

Runesha

H. B.

Szasz

(2021). What we teach about race and gender: Representation in images and text of children's books (Working Paper Series No. (W29123)). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29123/w29123.pdf

American Library Association. (2019, January). Library bill of rights. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

Ananthakrishnan

Basavaraj

Karmegam

Sen

Smith

M. D.

(2023). Book bans in American libraries: Impact of politics on inclusive content consumption (SSRN Working Paper). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract _id=4489684

Apple

M. W.

(1993). The politics of official knowledge: Does a national curriculum make sense? Teachers College Record, 95(2), 222–241.

Berkman

M. B.

(2005). Ten thousand democracies: Politics and public opinion in America's school districts. Georgetown University Press.

Bishop

R. S.

(1990a). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3).

10.

Bishop

R. S.

(1990b). Windows and mirrors: Children's books and parallel cultures[Conference session]. California State University Reading Conference: 14th Annual Conference Proceedings (pp. 3–12).

11.

Botelho

M. J.

Rudman

M. K.

(2009). Critical multicultural analysis of children's literature: Mirrors, windows, and doors. Routledge.

12.

Breeding

(2020). Library technology guides. https://librarytechnology.org/product/destiny/

13.

Burgin

Bracy

P. B.

(2003). An essential connection: How quality school library media programs improve student achievement in North Carolina. R.B. Software and Consulting. https://www.lrs.org/documents/impact/NCSchoolStudy.pdf?lrspdfmetric=no

14.

Cibulka

J. G.

(2001). The changing role of interest groups in education: Nationalization and the new politics of education productivity. Educational Policy, 15(1), 12–40.

15.

CNN. (2020). CNN presidential election results. https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/president

16.

Cockcroft

(2023, August 24). Book challenges are having a chilling effect on school librarians nationwide. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/Book-Challenges-Are-Having-a-Chilling-Effect-on-School-Librarians-Nationwide-SLJ-Survey

17.

Crisp

Knezek

S. M.

Quinn

Bingham

G. E.

Girardeau

Starks

(2016). What’s on our bookshelves? The diversity of children's literature in early childhood classroom libraries. Journal of Children's Literature, 42(2), 29.

18.

Dallacqua

A. K.

(2022). Let me just close my eyes: Challenged and banned books, claimed identities, and comics. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 66(2), 134–138.

19.

Dhruvil

(2020). New York Times best sellers. Kaggle. Retrieved March 29, 2022. https://www.kaggle.com/ds/1018720; https://doi.org/10.34740/KAGGLE/DS/1018720

20.

Epstein

(2013). Are the kids all right?: Representations of LGBTQ characters in children's and young adult literature. Intellect Books.

21.

Gilpin

Karger

Nencka

(2021). The returns to public library investment (Working Paper No. WP-2021-06). FRB of Chicago.

22.

Gold

Henig

J. R.

Simon

(2011). Calling the shots in public education: Parents, politicians, and educators clash. Dissent, 58(4), 34–39.

23.

Grossmann

Reckhow

Strunk

K. O.

Turner

(2021). All states close but red districts reopen: The politics of in-person schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic. Educational Researcher, 50(9), 637–648.

24.

Hartney

M. T.

Finger

L. K.

(2022). Politics, markets, and pandemics: Public education's response to Covid-19. Perspectives on Politics, 20(2), 457–473.

25.

Henig

J. R.

Jacobsen

Reckhow

(2019). Outside money in school board elections: The nationalization of education politics. Harvard Education Press.

26.

Herring

(2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In Ferguson

S. J.

(Ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information (pp. 27–42). Chandos Publishing.

27.

Hoffmann

F. W.

Wood

R. J.

(2007). Library collection development policies: School libraries and learning resource centers (No. 2). Scarecrow Press.

28.

Houston

D. M.

(2022). Polarization, partisan sorting, and the politics of education. EdWorkingPaper. https://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai22-690

29.

Houston

D. M.

Steinberg

M. P.

(2023). Politics, Covid, and in-person instruction during the first year of the pandemic. Educational Policy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048231204843

30.

Hughes-Hassell

Overberg

Harris

(2013). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ)-themed literature for teens: Are school libraries providing adequate collections? School Library Research, 16, 1–18. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1012828.pdf

31.

Iyengar

Lelkes

Levendusky

Malhotra

Westwood

S. J.

(2019). The origins and consequences of affective polarization in the United States. Annual Review of Political Science, 22, 129–146.

32.

Karger

(2021). The long-run effect of public libraries on children: Evidence from the early 1900s (Working Paper). https://ezrakarger.com/karger_carnegielibraries_draft_june2020.pdf

33.

Kogan

(2022). Adult culture wars and student academic achievement (Working Paper).

34.

Kogan

Lavertu

Peskowitz

(2021). The democratic deficit in us education governance. American Political Science Review, 115(3), 1082–1089.

35.

Lance

K. C.

Hofschire

(2012). Change in school librarian staffing linked with change in CSAP reading performance, 2005 to 2011. A closer look. Library Research Service. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED572250.pdf

36.

Lance

K. C.

Kachel

D. E.

(2018). Why school librarians matter: What years of research tell us. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(7), 15–20.

37.

Lance

K. C.

Kachel

D. E.

(2021). Perspectives on school librarian employment in the United States, 2009–10 to 2018–19. slide: The school librarian investigation–decline or evolution?ERIC. https://libslide.org/pubs/Perspectives.pdf

38.

Larrick

(1965). The all white world of children's books. Saturday Review, September 11, 63–65.

39.

Lerer

(2009). Children’s literature: A reader's history, from Aesop to Harry Potter. University of Chicago Press.

40.

Library Research Services. (2018). 2017-18 Colorado school library survey profiles. https://www.lrs.org/school/data/profiles?year=2018

41.

Marschall

M. J.

Rigby

Jenkins

(2011). Do state policies constrain local actors? the impact of English only laws on language instruction in public schools. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 41(4), 586–609.

42.

Matthews

J. R.

(2017). The evaluation and measurement of library services. ABC-CLIO.

43.

Mayorquin

(2023, June 13). To fight book bans, Illinois passes a ban on book bans. The New York Times.

44.

MIT Election Data and Science Lab. (2021). County Presidential Election Returns 2000-2020. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VOQCHQ. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VOQCHQ

45.

Movement Advancement Project. (2022). LGBTQ youth: LGBTQ curricular laws. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.lgbtmap.org/img/maps/citations-curricular-laws.pdf

46.

Naidoo

J. C.

(2014). The importance of diversity in library programs and material collections for children. Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association.

47.

Natanson

(2023, May 18). School librarians face a new penalty in the banned book in the banned-book wars: Prison. The Washington Post.

48.

NCES. (2011). Table 4. Average number of holdings, additions, and expenditures in library media centers during 2010–11 for various kinds of materials, by selected school characteristics: 2011–12. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013315_m1n_004.asp

49.

NCES. (2013). Table 701.30. Selected statistics on public school libraries/media centers, by state: 2011-12. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_701.30.asp

50.

NCES. (2017). Characteristics of public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States: Results from the 2017-18 national teacher and principal survey first look, table 3. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/tables/ntps1718_2019082303_s12n.asp

51.

NCES. (2021). Accessing the common core of data. https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/2021/01/04/default

52.

Pattee

A. S.

(2013). Developing library collections for today's young adults. Scarecrow Press.

53.

PEN America. (2022a). Banned in the USA: The growing movement to censor books in schools. https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/#:~:text=From\%20July\%202021\%20to\%20June,affecting\%201\%2C648\%20unique\%20book\%20titles

54.

PEN America. (2022b). PEN America's index of educational gag orders. Retrieved November 14, 2022, from https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tj5WQVBmB6SQg-zP_M8uZsQQGH09TxmBY73v23zpyr0/edit#gid=1505554870

55.

Polikoff

Silver

Rapaport

Saavedra

Garland

(2022, October). A house divided? What Americans really think about controversial topics in schools. http://uasdata.usc.edu/education

56.

Pratt

(2021, March 2). Six Dr. Seuss books won't be published for racist images. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed18335c03319d72f443594c174513

57.

Prescott

(2021, June 17). Six states have now passed LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum legislation—each with a different definition of ‘inclusion’. New America. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/six-states-have-now-passed-lgbtq-inclusive-curriculum-legislationeach-with-a-different-definition-of-inclusion/

58.

Pribesh

Gavigan

Dickinson

(2011). The access gap: Poverty and characteristics of school library media centers. The Library Quarterly, 81(2), 143–160.

59.

Reynolds

(2011). Children’s literature: A very short introduction (Vol. 288). Oxford University Press.

60.

Salem

(2021). Documenting the portrayal of diversity in children's books. Collection Management, 46(3–4), 174–185.

61.

Sawchuk

(2021, April 6). Beyond ‘don’t say gay’: Other states seek to limit LGBTQ youth, teaching. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/beyond-dont-say-gay-other-states-seek-to-limit-lgbtq-youth-teaching/2022/04

62.

Schwartz

(2021a, February 3). Lawmakers push to ban ‘1619 project’ from schools. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/lawmakers-push-to-ban-1619-project-from-schools/2021/02

63.

Schwartz

(2021b, June 11). Map: Where critical race theory is under attack. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/map-where-critical-race-theory-is-under-attack/2021/06

64.

Short

K. G.

Fox

D. L.

(2003). The complexity of cultural authenticity in children's literature: Why the debates really matter. In Short

K. G.

Fox

D. L.

(Eds.), Stories matter: The complexity of cultural authenticity in children's literature (pp. 3–24). ERIC.

65.

Sims

(1983). What has happened to the ‘all-white’ world of children's books? The Phi Delta Kappan, 64(9), 650–653.

66.

Sosin

(2022, April 21). In some states, versions of ‘don’t say gay’ bills have been around for awhile. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/in-some-states-versions-of-dont-say-gay-bills-have-been-around-for-awhile

67.

Stringer-Stanback

(2011). Young adult lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) non-fiction collections and countywide anti-discrimination policies. Urban Library Journal, 17(1), 4.

68.

Swartz

(2009). Diversity: Gatekeeping knowledge and maintaining inequalities. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 1044–1083.

69.

Tyack

D. B.

Cuban

(1997). Tinkering toward utopia: A century of public school reform. Harvard University Press.

70.

Weitzman

L. J.

Eifler

Hokada

Ross

(1972). Sex-role socialization in picture books for preschool children. American Journal of Sociology, 77(6), 1125–1150.

71.

White

(2021). 2019 NCES ID report. National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/2021/01/04/default

72.

Wickham

M. E.

Sweeney

M. E.

(2018). Are we still transmitting whiteness? A case study of a southern, rural library's youth collections. Library Trends, 67(1), 89–106.

73.

Williams

V. K.

Deyoe

(2014). Diverse population, diverse collection? Youth collections in the united states. Technical Services Quarterly, 31(2), 97–121.

74.

Williams

V. K.

Deyoe

(2015, April). Controversy and diversity: LGBTQ titles in academic library collections. Library Resources and Technical Services, 59, 62–71.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

1.26 MB

Politics and Children's Books: Evidence From School Library Collections

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material