Banned Childhoods: Storying Book Banning Practices and LGBTQ+ Educational Activism in America’s Heartland (Poster 17)

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Book bans are on the rise across the United States, and LGBTQ+ and BIPOC children’s books are now the most banned of the 21st century. Targeted by social media campaigns and conservative educational policy (e.g., Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill”), these texts spotlight an ideological battleground around banned childhoods, or the ideological belief that LGBTQ+ and BIPOC children are inappropriate for inclusion in U.S. schools and libraries. While educational scholarship has focused on nation-level change, research has yet to account for region-specific book banning practices and educational activism, despite book bans clustering in politically conservative regions (e.g., the Midwest and Deep South). Addressing this gap, this presentation shares early findings from narrative inquiry study. Specifically, I present regional storytelling by local educational stakeholders (e.g., teachers, librarians, and community members) that chronicles educational activism in the conservative region. Findings advance educational knowledge on regional distinctions in book banning practices and educational activism, particularly in the Midwest. Storying one politically conservative region, project implications will increase access to LGBTQ+ children’s literature by 1) informing policy that targets region-specific book banning practices and 2) detailing practitioner approaches to challenging regional book bans in libraries and schools.

Author

• Josh Coleman, Arizona State University