Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kirsten Slungaard Mumma
Format: Recurso educativo Open Access
Language:en
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1440440
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Table of Contents:
  • Politics and Children's Books: Evidence from School Library Collections Kirsten Slungaard Mumma School Libraries Politics Library Materials Correlation Public Schools Regional Characteristics Social Problems State Government Censorship Books State Legislation LGBTQ People Race The recent spike in book challenges has put school libraries at the center of heated political debates. I investigate the relationship between local politics and school library collections using data on books with controversial content from a sample of 6,631 public school libraries. Libraries in conservative areas have fewer titles with LGBTQ, race/racism, or abortion content and more Christian fiction and discontinued Dr. Seuss books. This is true even though most libraries have at least some controversial content. State laws that restrict curricular content are negatively related to access to some LGBTQ and race/racism titles. Finally, I present short-term evidence that book challenges in the 2021-22 school year are associated with decreases in the acquisition of new LGBTQ materials.