According to the American Library Association (ALA), book challenges (attempts to restrict literature) in the United States have increased more than twentyfold over the past decade, from just under 190 unique challenged titles in 2015 to an astounding 4240 in 2023. Anti-intellectualism is on the rise and has become an increasingly sensitive topic in politics. During the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump ran on an anti-intellectual stance, attacking higher education with clear intentions to dismantle the Department of Education.
In the ALA’s State of America’s Libraries 2024 report, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the Director of the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) stated, “Half of all challenges reported to OIF were challenges to titles recommended for censorship by websites maintained by… organized pressure groups, whose lists of ‘bad books’ disproportionately target those books reflecting the voices and lived experiences of those who are LGBTQIA+, Black, Indigenous, or persons of color.” Additionally, the same reports from 2015 to 2019 each showed a word cloud for the most frequent reasons for a book challenging, with one of the biggest words in each of the infographics being LGBTQIA+, LGBT, or homosexuality.
Goal 4 of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals is quality education, specifically targeted to “[e]nsure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The United States is headed in a direction that directly challenges inclusive and equitable education. Furthermore, it speaks volumes that the growing hatred towards education in our nation especially targets books that are focused on educating readers on the struggles of marginalized peoples.
Here are some books that I would recommend to combat anti-intellectualism.
Fahrenheit 451, a 1953 novel by Ray Bradbury, focuses on a futuristic American world in which books are burned and information available to the public is heavily censored. Though it is not currently banned in the US, it has previously been banned in Florida, Texas, and, yes, California. Fahrenheit 451 is often subject to challenges because of its message regarding free speech and censorship (ironic, isn’t it?).
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which PEN America lists as one of the most frequently banned books in school libraries for the 2023–2024 school year, is a dystopian novel focusing on a futuristic America where women are categorized based on a fundamentalist Christian doctrine. The feminist novel has been frequently challenged for being sexually explicit and for its discussions of feminism and extremism. In an article for The Atlantic, Atwood wrote, “My novel is also an exploration of the theoretical question ‘What kind of a totalitarianism might the United States become?’ I suggest we’re beginning to see the real-life answer to that query.”
Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower discusses freedom, climate change, and inequality in an eerily prophetic story of California on fire in 2024 and a presidential candidate running on the slogan “make America great again.” Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, focuses on a high school boy struggling with grief, mental health, and loneliness, but was challenged and banned for being sexually explicit and having LGBTQ+ themes. I would also recommend the Perks of Being a Wallflower movie, which beautifully depicts Charlie’s struggle with his mental health.
Books serve to inform, as well as to entertain. In the current age, we must educate ourselves as best as we can, and you don’t need to read a textbook to do so—fictional books and movies can create just as much of an impact. As critically-acclaimed author Stephen King says, “[R]un, don’t walk, to the nearest nonschool library or to the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned. Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’s exactly what you need to know.”
