The America Library Association reported 729 e book challenges in 2021 that impacted practically 1,600 titles, the best variety of challenges the group has recorded in 20 years.
Despite this enhance in challenges, solely 43% of the librarians who took the School Library Journal’s (SLJ) 2022 Controversial Books Survey reported dealing with a proper e book problem— which was just one% increased than the final time the survey was given in 2016. In the circumstances of formal challenges, the challenged e book stayed 71% of the time. Only 19% of challenges resulted in a challenged e book being taken off the shelf.
Even although a majority of e book challenges don’t really lead to books being eliminated, the challenges are nonetheless creating what seems to be to be a long-lasting change in libraries. Of the 43% surveyed who had skilled a proper problem, 27% reported that their book-buying choices had been influenced.
When those that hadn’t skilled a proper problem, 97% mentioned they contemplate the consequences of buying books with doubtlessly controversial subject material to find out whether or not they need to buy or not. This was seen extra in small city libraries in comparison with extra city ones.
But what made particularly made respondents cease from shopping for a e book? The survey exhibits that:
- 66% of respondents avoided shopping for a e book due to sexual content material;
- 43% mentioned profanity;
- 29% mentioned if the e book had LGBTQ+ content material, a quantity that rose in smaller cities to 42%;
- ~30% mentioned potential complaints from dad and mom regarding a e book not being age applicable;
- 14% feared some form of skilled repercussion, like punishment or the lack of a job.
For extra of the survey outcomes, check out SLJ’s findings.
Find extra information and tales of curiosity from the e book world in Breaking in Books.
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