Illinois becomes the first state to ban book bans—here’s what that means

As states across the U.S. continue to remove books and literature from public schools and libraries, Illinois has become the first state in the country to effectively ban the banning of books.

Earlier this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law that will prohibit libraries from banning books.

“Book bans are about censorship, marginalizing people, marginalizing ideas and facts. Regimes banned books, not democracies,” Pritzker, a Democrat, said at the bill signing ceremony at a Chicago library. “We refuse to let a vitriolic strain of White nationalism coursing through our country determine whose histories are told, not in Illinois.”

According to Pen America, book bans in US public schools increased by 28% during the first half of the 2022-23 academic year. In March of this year, the library association said there were 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022. It’s officially the highest number of attempted book bans since the library association began compiling this type of data more than 20 years ago. Almost a third of the bans were the result of newly enacted state laws, which found bans were most prevalent in five states: Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah and South Carolina.

“A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship,” the association said, noting that of those books, “the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.”

The Illinois measure takes effect January 1, and states that public libraries must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights or their own statement prohibiting book banning in order to be eligible for state funding.

The association’s Library Bill of Rights states that reading materials “should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval” or “excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.”

“We are not saying that every book should be in every single library,” said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. “What this law does is it says, let’s trust our experience and education of our librarians to decide what books should be in circulation.”

Gov. Pritzker and nine other U.S. governors sent a letter to textbook publishers last month, urging them to consider the negative impacts of book banning, per CNN. Just last week, President Joe Biden announced plans to appoint a new federal coordinator to address the increase in book bans.

“The concept of banning books contradicts the very essence of what our country stands for. It also defies what education is all about: teaching our children to think for themselves,” Giannoulias said.