The America Library Affiliation reported 729 e-book challenges in 2021 that impacted practically 1,600 titles, the very best variety of challenges the group has recorded in 20 years.
Regardless of this enhance in challenges, solely 43% of the librarians who took the Faculty Library Journal’s (SLJ) 2022 Controversial Books Survey reported dealing with a proper e-book problem— which was just one% larger than the final time the survey was given in 2016. Within the instances of formal challenges, the challenged e-book stayed 71% of the time. Solely 19% of challenges led to a challenged e-book being taken off the shelf.
Although a majority of e-book challenges don’t truly end in books being eliminated, the challenges are nonetheless creating what seems to be to be an enduring 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 take into account the consequences of buying books with doubtlessly controversial 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.
However what made particularly made respondents cease from shopping for a e-book? The survey reveals that:
- 66% of respondents shunned 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 acceptable;
- 14% feared some type of skilled repercussion, like punishment or the lack of a job.
For extra of the survey outcomes, check out SLJ’s findings.
Discover extra information and tales of curiosity from the e-book world in Breaking in Books.
