A new study looks at parents’ perceptions of public libraries and the current issues they face, including book bans and how people feel about children’s books that touch on sometimes sensitive topics: LGBTQ+ characters, race/racism, social justice, and sexual education.
The “Public Libraries and Book Bans – Parent Perception Survey,” from the EveryLibrary Institute and Book Riot, gathered insights during September 2023 from 853 parents and guardians with children under 18. The respondents’ political affiliations were: Republican Party 29%; Democratic Party 36%; Independent 20%; None 14%.*
Book Bans and Library Safety
Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) think that “banning books is a waste of time,” and nearly three-quarters (74%) agree (42%) or somewhat agree (32%) that the bans infringe on their right to make decisions for their children. That’s heartening, given the tremendous increase in bans, some incredibly sweeping, across the country, although it’s still scary that about a third (31%) of respondents said that banning books is the right way to prevent children from seeing something inappropriate.
Almost two-thirds (65%) said book banning is an important issue when voting. Of those, 30% vote Republican, 41% vote Democrat, 18% vote Independent, and 9% are unaffiliated.
The survey also found that 92% of all respondents feel their children are safe at the library.
Additionally, 66% said “no” when asked if a book that their child checked out made them (the parent) uncomfortable, and 67% said “no” when asked if their child has ever been uncomfortable with a book they checked out. That’s good, on the surface—but doesn’t explore whether the child is picking books themself or if the parent is present (in which case I’d imagine there’s less likelihood of picking an “uncomfortable” book). I’d also note that being uncomfortable as a parent about something our kid does can sometimes lead to meaningful and important conversations with them, and isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
LGBTQ+ Content
Respondents were least likely to feel comfortable with their child reading age-appropriate children’s books with LGBTQ+ characters, versus ones about “social justice,” “race/racism,” or “puberty and sexual education.”
The full study breaks this down to look at specific age groups and when respondents felt comfortable with children of that age accessing the various types of content; respondents were a little more comfortable about books with LGBTQ+ characters versus books about puberty and sex ed for the youngest age groups, but I think that’s because the term “puberty” relates to a subtopic of talking with kids about their bodies that is simply less relevant to younger kids. The study therefore doesn’t really get at whether and when children should have access to books about bodies/genitalia and/or reproduction that aren’t about puberty (e.g., What Makes a Baby, Your Whole Body Book, Every Body is a Rainbow). Maybe there really should have been two related but separate questions here: one on books about bodies/genitalia/reproduction and one on those about puberty/sex ed.
Almost 16% said that no child under 18 should have access to age-appropriate books with LGBTQ+ characters, much more than those who felt no child should have books on the other topics (9% for race/racism; 6% for social justice, and 5% for puberty and sexual education). It’s still rather horrifying that some people feel that age-appropriate books on any of these topics is inappropriate for children.
Just over a third (36%) of respondents felt that books with LGBTQ+ characters have a positive impact on children, with just under a third viewing them as having a neutral (32%) or negative (32%) impact. This is much less than the nearly half of respondents who felt that books about race/racism, social justice, and puberty/sex ed have a positive impact on children, with only 15-18% feeling these topics have a negative impact.
67% agreed or somewhat agreed that books “about complex topics like race or sex” belong in the library, but that drops to 60% when asked about LGBTQ+ themes specifically.
As I read the study, it seems that some of the questions may have asked about books with LGBTQ+ characters, whereas others asked about books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes, which are two different things. (See all of the books in my Database of LGBTQ Family Books tagged “Incidental Queerness,” where the book isn’t “about” being LGBTQ but simply has LGBTQ characters.) Either that, or the researchers are using the terms interchangeably, which would be deeply unfortunate, given that I and others have been agitating for years to have more kids’ books with LGBTQ characters that aren’t simply “about” those identities; it’s an important distinction to make. Would the study results have changed if the questions were more consistent, one way or the other, or had asked both about books with incidental queer representation and ones specifically about queer identities? I don’t know, but it begs further research.
Library Collections and Librarians’ Role
More than half (58%) of respondents felt librarians should decide which books are in the library, with only 22% who felt local elected officials should decide and 18% who felt the state legislature should do so. Just over half (53%) also felt that parent groups should be involved in collection development choices; 47% saw library boards as having that role.
More than half (58%) think librarians should be primarily responsible for which books are selected in a public library, though they are largely unaware of how librarians decide what books to include in the library collection.
One quarter (25%) said librarians should be prosecuted for giving children access to certain books, while 41% said they shouldn’t. The survey didn’t specify what “certain books” refers to, however, making this result less useful. I think people would answer differently if the question specified “pornography” versus other topics.
In Summary
The survey includes a few more items that I’m not going to cover here; I hope you go check out the full report if you have an interest.
Despite my constructive (I hope) input on a few points above, I do think this is an important study that starts to shed light on some key issues around book bans and libraries, a hot-button topic of our time. I am particularly inspired by seeing how many parents feel that book bans are “a waste of time.” I hope they make their voices and their votes heard further.
This survey is the first in a series of three that focus on parents and libraries, and I look forward to the next two.
* For further demographics, I refer you to the study itself. Please also note that I have rounded results for ease of reading; see the study if you want the extra decimal places.