Washington [US], April 24: Book bans are rising at a rapid pace in school districts around the United States, driven by new laws and regulations that limit what kinds of books children can access, The New York Times (NYT) has reported, citing a new report from PEN America.
From July to December 2022, PEN America found 1,477 cases of books being removed, up from 1,149 during the previous six months, said the report.
"Of the nearly 1,500 book removals that PEN tracked in the last six months of 2022, the majority -- nearly 75 percent -- were driven by organized efforts or because of new legislation," it said.
Since the nonprofit organization started tracking public school book bans in July 2021, it has recorded more than 4,000 instances of book removals.
"The numbers don't reflect the full scope of the efforts, since new mandates in some states requiring schools to vet all their reading material for potentially offensive content have led to mass removals of books, which PEN was unable to track," said the report.
Source: Xinhua