UK’s Rising Trend in Book Censorship Concerning

A rising UK trend, particularly affecting LGBTQ+ titles, mirrors book censorship in the US and underscores the need for robust collection development policies in school libraries

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in The Guardian

According to a new survey by Index on Censorship, 53% of librarians reported being requested to remove books, with over half of these requests resulting in the books being taken off the shelves. The survey highlights that more than two dozen school librarians in the UK have been asked to remove books, many of which are LGBTQ+ titles, from school libraries.

The list of books facing removal requests includes This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson, Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, and ABC Pride by Louie Stowell, Elly Barnes and Amy Phelps. Over 50% of these removal requests originated from parents. These recent book bans in the UK may be influenced by a rise in book censorship in the US, which reached unprecedented levels last year.

Censorship is “definitely something that there’s quite a lot of concern about from some of our members”, said Alison Tarrant, chief executive of the School Library Association (SLA).

The School Library Association (SLA) recommends that school libraries establish collection development policies. These policies should outline the procedures for addressing complaints, specify the criteria for selecting books and define the objectives of the school library.

Tarrant also stressed the importance of ensuring that senior school leaders recognise the need for comprehensive collection development policies and provide adequate support and training for handling censorship. This helps them understand the role of school librarians and the pressures they face.

“There is an intense pressure for librarians to ‘get it right’ when it comes to dealing with books that have been flagged, because there are often conflicting opinions from different parties about what should be done, and censorship issues “can turn into a very big discussion quite quickly”, said Tarrant. This has an “emotional impact” on librarians and can be very isolating.