This video is about bans on books and other attempts to censor materials.
Did you know there are efforts to ban books in every state, including New York, and that most challenged books were written by or about LGBTQ+ people or deal with issues of race?
School book bans occur where students’ access to books in school libraries and classrooms is restricted or diminished for either limited or indefinite periods of time.
According to PEN America, a non-profit organization that advocates for free expression, the total number of instances of books being banned between 2021-2023 was 5,894.
Discussion topics include:
- What happens during school book bans regarding students' access to books in libraries and classrooms?
- How does the First Amendment protect the right to receive information and ideas in public school libraries?
- Under what circumstances does the removal or restriction of library books violate the First Amendment?
- Why is the library considered a principal place for exploring and exercising the right to access diverse ideas?
- How do the First Amendment and the right to academic freedom protect the library collection?
- What balance must be maintained between boards of education's rights to establish curricula and the rights of teachers and librarians to academic freedom?