In anticipation of Banned Books Week, occurring September 18–24, and within the wake of a pointy rise in e-book bans and censorship efforts throughout the nation, the nonprofit EachLibrary Institute performed a nationwide ballot that discovered that the overwhelming majority of voters strongly oppose e-book banning. And notably, 75 p.c of voters will contemplate e-book bans when voting within the upcoming November elections.
The EachLibrary Institute is a nationwide 501c3 non-profit with a mission to assist libraries and librarians within the United States and overseas. The Institute commissioned Embold Research to survey 1,223 registered voters nationally from August 31 to September 3, 2022. The ballot was commissioned to grasp political assist and opposition to e-book banning and to grasp the influence of these bans on public assist for libraries. The full report Voter Perceptions of Book Bans and Censorship is obtainable on-line.
In at this time’s political local weather, it’s not stunning that almost all of American voters (92%) have heard at the very least one thing about e-book banning. Polling outcomes state that ladies, college-educated voters, and Democrats are probably to have heard an excellent deal about this with some slight regional variations.
But the ballot discovered that this situation crossed occasion traces. Preventing e-book banning can also be “very important” to 21 p.c of Republicans and if you happen to add in responses of “somewhat important,” the entire is greater than 50 p.c. And 42 p.c of Independents additionally deemed it “very important.” When requested “How important is preventing book banning to how you decide to vote?” 3 in 4 voters mentioned that it was an essential voting situation within the upcoming elections.
Executive director of the EachLibrary Institute, John Chrastka, remarked on the ballot’s outcomes, “Voters believe in the right to read and the right to be left alone to make their own choices about what to read. . . . It is heartening to see that this belief in the right to read — and voter support for school libraries and public libraries — transcend partisanship. With such high numbers of voters from all parties, persuasions, and backgrounds telling us that they support American’s right to read, it’s time for politicians to pay attention and stop their attacks on libraries.”
Poll outcomes additionally dug deeper into how the sort of e-book influences how e-book bans are acquired. Voters are most offended by the concept kids and traditional books are being banned. Eighteen p.c of voters assist banning books that target race and Critical Race Theory and one-third assist banning books that debate sexuality.
Other key findings from the report embrace:
- Half of voters imagine there’s “absolutely no time when a book should be banned,” 41% suppose “there are rare times when it’s appropriate to ban books,” and simply 8% suppose “there are many books that are inappropriate and should be banned.”
- 31% of Republicans suppose there’s completely no time when a e-book needs to be banned.
- 50% of voters discover the laws created to manage entry to books most regarding.
- Voters have favorable emotions about their libraries (69%) and librarians (66%) and their faculties (53%) and faculty librarians (62%).
These outcomes comply with a nationwide ballot commissioned by the American Library Association earlier this 12 months which additionally discovered {that a} majority of voters, throughout occasion traces, oppose efforts to take away books from public libraries.
If you’d prefer to study extra about Banned Books Week and the present rise in censorship, we advocate the next:
A Banned Books Week Action List
Celebrating Banned Books Week 2022
Book Bans Impact Over 4 Million Students: PEN America’s Sobering New Report
American Library Association’s New Book Censorship Data Released in Advance of Banned Books Week
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