Need To Know: to Ban or Not to Ban?

A quick read of the pros and cons of removing materials from public libraries and public school libraries

By Michaela Manfull, Editor in Chief of News

Published: April 14, 2025

Pros

• Some materials are better suited for older readers; where Shakespeare has themes that high schoolers can and should understand, elementary school students are not developmentally ready for it.
• Certain scenes and themes are just put in materials to be there, they are unnecessarily obscene and do not need to be in the libraries.
• Just because a material is banned within a school or library district doesn’t mean it’s banned for everyone.
• Materials can be offensive to different groups of people, especially when the context around them change.
Cons

• Just because one parent, student or community member does not feel comfortable with a material does not mean they should ban it for everyone.
• Materials created by or about minorities, including people of color and those in the LGBTQ+ community, are disproportionately affected by bans.
• Even if a material is no longer considered to reflect modern viewpoints, it can still hold great literary and educational value.
• School is a safe place for students to learn historical and modern facts about the world around them that they may not have access to at home

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