In its recent report, “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools,” nonprofit organization PEN America, which champions the cause of free expression in literature, “documented a ferocious wave of book bans that’s sweeping communities across the country,” said the organization’s CEO Suzanne Nossel.
The updated report, released on September 19, revealed that between July 2021 and June 2022, there were more than 2,500 instances of book banning in schools across the United States — a 250% increase from the previous year. The books most often banned deal with LGBTQ+ issues and protagonists, and explore themes of racism or feature characters who are people of color.
The book bans are part of a wider effort by right-wing lawmakers and activists to oppose inclusive and antiracist education, a campaign that also manifests as attacks on so-called “critical race theory.” As we’ve discussed elsewhere, education funders have often found themselves scrambling to respond.
Likewise, since the book banning movement has grown so rapidly, Nossel admits it has caught her organization and others in the sphere — including the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Library Association — somewhat off guard. Until recently, she said, book banning has not been a pervasive issue. Now, organizations like PEN America are scrambling to head off book bans and related forms of censorship in schools and libraries around the country.
Nossel believes that philanthropy must be a critical component of the effort to fight back. Yet she finds that many philanthropists don’t see fighting book bans and other forms of censorship as part of their mission.
“I think the democracy agenda in philanthropy is construed a little bit too narrowly with a very heavy emphasis on voting rights,” Nossel said. “Look, that’s absolutely crucial. But it’s not the only building block of a healthy democracy. Free speech and the free flow of ideas is also essential. I would hope to see those who are investing in democracy recognize that underwriting a robust defense of free speech is crucial.”
Nossel also worries that some Americans, particularly younger people, wrongly view free speech as a conservative cause. That may be due, in part, to their lack of civics education.
“They sort of see free speech as a smokescreen for hatred,” Nossel said. “They are used to hearing the right wing or conservative-leaning voices championing themselves as free speech defenders.”
Nossel believes that young Americans need education about the importance of free speech and the vital role the First Amendment plays in battles around climate and racial justice, immigrants’ rights and virtually every progressive issue. “It’s important for funders across the political spectrum to activate in this fight, to bring in help, bring in allies to this fight,” she said.
To that end, Nossel outlined several ways that the philanthropic community can do so. One way is by funding research and documentation.
“People need to know that this is happening in their own communities, understand what are the books that are being targeted. Because if you credit what the book banners are saying, these are books that are obscene, prurient, and that’s just not the case,” said Nossel, who pointed out that many of the books being banned are award-winning works of literature. “It’s really important to elucidate the facts and make that clear and establish the record. Once you see lists and databases, it’s irrefutable.”
Another funding imperative is community mobilization, she said. “Most Americans don’t like book bans and are against censorship. So it’s a question of getting those people activated, educated, informed, equipped, telling them when and where the meeting is taking place so that they can make it there and make their voices heard. That’s what’s happening on the other side — it’s detailed calendars of the school board meetings, the legislative sessions, and we need to meet that. I think if we do, we will win the argument because most Americans care about free speech.”
Funding is also needed to mount strong legal challenges against book bans, said Nossel, who added that the law around book banning is largely unsettled.
“The operative Supreme Court decision, Island Trees School District v. Pico, was essentially a split plurality decision. So mounting legal challenges where possible to these bans is crucial. We need to be able to rely on our First Amendment. We need to ensure that those battles are waged with the very best legal assistance and the best arguments.”
While more funding is desperately needed, some funders are stepping up to the plate.
In February of 2022, Markus Dohle, chief executive of Penguin Random House and executive vice president of PEN America, created the Dohle Book Defense Fund with $500,000 of his own money. As Nossel told the New York Times earlier this year, PEN America will use the personal gift from Dohle, $100,000 payable over five years, to cover the hiring of personnel like lawyers and costs related to public campaigns and media.
The Endeavor Foundation, Inc. is another funder that has recently joined the fight against book bans. Established by Christian A. Johnson in 1952, the New York-based family foundation has long focused most of its giving on private liberal arts colleges in the United States and Europe, and on performing arts organizations in New York City. But after engaging in conversations with PEN America, Endeavor realized that fighting book bans is closely related to its mission.
“Reading and scholarship is really at the heart of so much of what we do and what we believe in,” said Ashley Kidd, vice president and director of programs at Endeavor. “In terms of the capacity that we humans have to understand one another, make good decisions together, and so much more. This was an issue that we really want to get involved in.”
Kidd said Endeavor’s $100,000 grant, payable over 18 months, is much larger than typical first-time gifts from the foundation. The grant, which was made to PEN’s Freedom to Read campaign, is intended to help PEN “hire regional coordinators who can connect various institutions in these areas where book bans are on the table.” The intention is to help PEN expand its capacity and support ground-level efforts to oppose book bans.
Kidd hopes Endeavor’s support will enable coordinators to come up with effective techniques to fend off bans and to demand that groups advocating bans follow existing democratic procedures instead of forcing bans through without giving community members opportunities to respond.
The Long Ridge Foundation, a family foundation created in 2021 and based in California, is another funder engaged in the fight against book banning. In an email, its board of directors stated: “We believe that the unprecedented rise in book bans and legislative restrictions across the country pose a threat to the freedom of expression, open inquiry, and critical thinking that are essential to education, and ultimately, they undermine democracy.”
Long Ridge is backing several key organizations in this space, including PEN America, the American Library Association and EveryLibrary, the last through its 501(c)(4) arm.
Other funders in the space include Open Society Foundations and the renowned novelist Margaret Atwood. In May, Atwood partnered with Penguin Random House to create an unburnable single copy of the author’s frequently banned book “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The book was auctioned off by Sotheby’s New York and raised $130,000 for PEN.
In a PEN America press release, Atwood said “I never thought I’d be trying to burn one of my own books… and failing. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has been banned many times — sometimes by whole countries, such as Portugal and Spain in the days of Salazar and the Francoists, sometimes by school boards, sometimes by libraries. Let’s hope we don’t reach the stage of wholesale book burnings, as in ‘Fahrenheit 451.’ But if we do, let’s hope some books will prove unburnable — that they will travel underground, as prohibited books did in the Soviet Union. “
Nossel expects that battles over book banning and other issues of censorship are here to stay — at least through the next presidential election. “I think there’s a great opportunity to mobilize in parts of the country where there is a quiet constituency that believes in books, which believes in pluralism and inclusivity, and that rejects the tactics of censorship,” she said.
Nossel said she “can’t give an exact figure” for how much money is needed for the fight against book bans. “I have no doubt that many millions of dollars are being spent on the right on this issue and that more will pour in because they clearly seem to see it as a winning issue for them politically.”