Student Research Guide WQ25/ Censorship in Libraries and Impacts on Marginalized Communities

How the Censorship of libraries affects Marginalized Communities

 This is a student created research guide for English 102 & Library 201 Learning community

This guide will address current issue of library censorship and its affect on marginalized communities.

The research thesis of this guide is to explore the impacts of library censorship on marginalized communities and methods of combating censorship.

The research questions addressed in this guide are:

1. Which marginalized groups are affected by library censorship?
2. What kinds of things are being censored?
3. What are the impacts on communities affected?
4. Why is this censorship happening? and who is behind it?
5. How do we combat library censorship?

Over the past few years there has been an increase in cases of library censorship across the country. These instances of censorship have led to many books and library resources becoming unavailable to the public. Most of the books and materials that are currently being censored include topics and themes that provide a voice for many marginalized communities. This research paper will investigate the effects of library censorship on the wellbeing of marginalized communities. The methodology used for this paper was a diverse search of academic papers found in SVC databases, PEN America, The American Library Association, and Google Scholar. Fifteen articles have been compiled from these sources. The results from this paper indicate a negative impact on the mental health of marginalized communities from the rise in book bans and censorship attempts. There was also a noticeable upward trend in the number of book bans that have taken place over the past couple of years. The implications of these findings suggest that there should be more research done on the long-term effects of library censorship and its impacts on the current cultural zeitgeist. 

Censorship is not a new issue in this country, throughout time it has taken many different forms. The most current form of nationwide censorship is the censoring of both school and public libraries. This kind of censorship may seem innocuous, but it can aid the erasure of marginalized communities and the limiting of educational opportunities. Key stakeholders in this situation include library patrons, students, policymakers, book challengers, organizations that support book bans, and people of marginalized backgrounds. Each stakeholder plays a role in library censorship, whether opposing or supporting it. This issue’s presence has increased in recent years, leading to changes in legislation and social discourse. Understanding library censorship's impact on marginalized communities is crucial to understanding how to address and stop it.

The image below is from the American Library Association's Office For Intellectual Freedom. These graphs provide data about titles that have been targeted for censorship. It explains who is initiating censorship attempts, where they are happening, and what kinds of books are being censored. This resource is important because it provides recent data that concerns my topic and outlines how that data has changed over time. 

Alt Text: Infographic about instances of censorship and book bans in 2023. 

Citation:

“Censorship by the Numbers.” American Library Association, www.ala.org/bbooks/censorship-numbers