The “Anti-Woke” Book Ban Agenda is Impacting College Students Ability to Read

For the last several years, there has been a largely right-wing movement to ban books with “woke agendas” throughout certain states and communities. This includes banning books with “woke” themes, like violence, abuse, racism, race, and LGBTQ+ identities, from classrooms and library shelves.

In a 2023 study from the free speech group PEN America, the organization found that 3,362 cases of book bans took place during the year. Book bans saw a surge compared to the 2021-2022 school year, when 2,532 were prohibited.

A majority of the banned books came from Florida, which accounts for more than 40 percent of book bans (1,406 books). Texas came in second place with 625 books, followed by Missouri, Utah, and Pennsylvania.

In a new study released by First Book Research & Insights, more than 1,500 educators serving students in under-resourced communities responded to the challenges they are facing as book bans continue to limit the reading material both in and outside of the classroom.

“Educators serving students in low-income, under-resourced communities remain unheard in the discussion–and they are a critical voice because of their role in supporting student academic growth while managing the negative effects of ongoing actions to ban books,” says Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book.

Only 7 percent of educators surveyed admitted to removing books from their classrooms following book bans. However, 15 percent reported that books were removed from libraries, suggesting a broader impact beyond individual classrooms. Notably, 18 percent of educators confirmed the existence of banned titles within their districts, highlighting the scope of this phenomenon.

The study from First Books highlights the experiences and perceptions of educators working right now in classrooms during the wide-sweeping book ban that limits the material taught and read in schools.

In an era where most people are chronically online, critical thinking and long-term engagement have been two of several factors that teachers and students are struggling with. Critical thinking encourages students to go beyond the face value of information and dive deeper into the “why” or “how” of something.

“[Book bans] diminish the quality of education students have access to and restrict their exposure to important perspectives that form the fabric of a culturally pluralist society like the United States,” explains Sonya Douglass, Professor of Education Leadership.

Advocates for book bans are seeing their positions challenged by individuals committed to undoing such restrictions. While this is a step in the right direction, the effects of these policies are already here.

“For most of my career, I assigned around 30 pages of reading per class meeting as a baseline expectation—sometimes scaling up for purely expository readings or pulling back for more difficult texts,” Kotsko writes.

Kotsko argues that teachers are “facing new obstacles in structuring and delivering our course” as students’ reading comprehension is at an all-time low, inhibiting their ability to grasp the basic argument of an article.

Kotsko believes that these three factors plus the banning of books have led young people to not have the capacity to follow extended narratives and arguments in the classroom.

While there have been many legal battles over book censorship in schools on at local levels, the U.S. Supreme Court issues a noncommittal ruling in 1982 that continues to keep school and library books in unprotected from censorship.

In the end, your local and state governments have a say in what books get to sit on the shelves. Without specific guidance, school boards often make the decisions that prioritize “community values” first.