Eleven People are Responsible for 73% of Book Ban Requests in Wisconsin
Many of the book banners aren't parents, don't have children in the districts, and many books they want banned aren't even in the school libraries!
According to a Wisconsin Watch review of records obtained from all but two of the state’s 421 public school districts, more than 100 Wisconsin school districts — 1 in 4 — fielded inquiries about book bans.
We see this same trend in state after state.
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According to a Wisconsin Watch review of records obtained from all but two of the state’s 421 public school districts, more than 100 Wisconsin school districts — 1 in 4 — fielded inquiries about book bans.
A handful of “super requesters” seeking to remove more than 15 books made up nearly three-quarters of removal requests and concerns, often using information from right-wing media and lists compiled by national groups to formulate requests.
Some of the groups that compiled the lists are noted as "hate groups" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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At least 849 inquiries and formal challenges to books came from a school board member or candidate, another local politician, or someone otherwise heavily involved in local conservative activism.
Eleven “super requesters” — those who raised concerns about or challenged 15 or more titles at a time — accounted for 73% of the targeted books.
Two parents used an anonymous list to lodge a concern about 86 books in the Watertown Unified School District.
This map showcases current and recent censorship and library attacks statewide from 2023 to the present
They often referred to lists of books originating in other districts or from online forums. Some had no children in the district, and in nearly 60 cases, the school district didn’t own the books on their lists.
There were 679 titles, including classics such as “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “The Bluest Eye,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In one case, someone inquired about 12 books, including Hillary Clinton’s “It Takes a Village” and Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl.” The list of books targeted also included “Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You,” an adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s history of racism and “An American Story” by Kwame Alexander which tells the story of American slavery through the journey of a child navigating the complexities of identity amid racial tension in contemporary America.
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“I think there's no librarian in America right now that isn't having some amount of emotional distress over what's going on,” said EveryLibrary Associate Director Peter Bromberg, who has tracked bills around the country targeting librarians.
Bromberg said more teachers and librarians are leaving the profession early as a result.
“There's an emotional toll to this that doesn't show up on a … spreadsheet of how many books are being banned,” Bromberg said.
Read the whole article from Wisconsin Watch here.