Book Banning Thoughts

 Brandon Stilson

Zalaznick, M. (2024, November 1). Book bans are surging after last school year. District Administration. https://districtadministration.com/book-bans-are-surging-after-last-school-year/#:~:text=Book%20bans%20skyrocketed%20by%20200,race%2C%20sexuality%20and%20gender%20identity.

Summary: 

    This article discusses how book bans are becoming increasingly prevalent in libraries. Book banning’s are a sign of authoritarians censoring messages that they do not believe fit the status quo for society. In one instance of a book banning mentioned in the article, one of the books topics covered mass shootings in the United States and was banned in many schools. The catalyst for these removals is from the discourse that comes far right activists who wish to see the topics of gender identity, and anything related to LGTBQ+ removed from public institutions (Zalaznick, 2024). Overall, this article notifies the public that book bans are increasing, and it is up to the user to interpret this information for themselves. 

Evaluation: 

    I found this article to be a wakeup call for public schools. There is a great deal of diverse information that can help students that is being targeted by the far right. For many years now the far right has been targeting the library with armed and unarmed protests regarding the content and activities of school libraires. Misinformation and disinformation play a large part in this by falsely informing users with negative propaganda about topics covered. We must stand up and continue to push for diversity in libraries because there will be many people who will feel underrepresented if these topics are banned.