Library book bans are attempts by private citizens, governments, or organizations to remove books from library collections based on ideological objections to those books’ content, themes, or ideas. This is censorship. Such restrictions infringe on the patrons’ First Amendment rights and violate the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. PA 103–0100 seeks to help Illinois libraries block these censorship attempts. The law even emphasizes that the ALA Library Bill of Rights "indicates materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval."

It’s a long-held best practice for libraries to develop such policies. See, for example, the following recommendation from the American Library Association:  

"The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution requires a procedure designed to critically examine all challenged expression before it can be suppressed. Therefore, libraries should develop a procedure by which the governing body examines concerns and challenges about library resources. This procedure should be open, transparent, and conform to all applicable open meeting and public records laws. Challenged resources should remain in the collection, and access to the resources remain unrestricted during the review process. Resources that meet the criteria for selection and inclusion within the collection as outlined in the institution’s collections policy should not be removed. Procedures to review challenges to library resources should not be used to suppress constitutionally protected expression." (Challenged Resources: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.) 

Even if your library has gotten by without an anti-censorship policy or collection development policy, the recent rise in book bans means you need one now. According to American Library Association (ALA), there were 67 attempts to ban books in Illinois in 2022, up from 41 attempts the previous year. Nationally, these challenges are rising on an unprecedented scale, with more attempts to ban books since ALA began tracking 20 years ago.  

Additionally, a policy on book bans will help you protect your entire community’s freedom to read. Many of these challenges come not from individuals within the community but from extremist groups. Even when community members are the initial impetus, these crusades gain traction through organizations like the Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty, seeking to suppress many marginalized communities’ voices.  

Not at all! Despite the uptick in materials challenges, over 90% of voters oppose banning classic novels and children’s books. That means that your patrons and your community most likely oppose these bans, as well. 

Illinois is a state that allows libraries a high degree of local control, and PA 103–0100 will not take that away. In general, library boards will still hold the same authority that they are given following their election or appointment. They will continue to write their libraries’ policies, collection development policies, and reconsideration policies. The only change will be for boards at libraries that don’t already have a reconsideration policy that reflects the best practices outlined in the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights. Those boards will need to include in their reconsideration policies a statement indicating that no materials will “be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval” (The Library Bill of Rights). As library boards are meant to be nonpartisan, this statement should merely reflect their current practices.

No. The law is not concerned with librarians removing or excluding irrelevant, outdated, or misleading books from the collection following the library’s collection development policy. Nor does PA 103–0100 prevent reconsideration processes wherein community members may make informal complaints or formally request reconsideration of a library resource. These selection, weeding, and reconsideration processes are best practices that help libraries provide useful and reliable resources to their entire communities.

Moreover, PA 103–0100 states, "It is further declared to be the policy of the State to encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials."

For more information, see the “Not Censorship But Selection” and the ALA’s Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School, & Academic Libraries.

We recommend that you invite parents to supervise their children at the library and read their checked-out books with them.

It’s also good to make sure they know they are welcome to have a discussion with library staff about their concerns. If you have particular policies or protocols in place for accommodating parental requests, be sure to inform them of those. And, if you’re comfortable doing so, you may want to assure them your librarian(s) and circulation staff are trained to help children find materials that align with their students' maturity levels. Be transparent about the policies and techniques your staff uses to work with young readers.

First, it’s important to communicate that school library educators have established policies and protocols for selecting materials that align with their students’ maturity levels. Be transparent about the tools you use, such as School Library Journal, NoveList, Booklist, Horn Book, and Kirkus Reviews.

Second, we recommend that you invite parents and guardians to talk to you. Let them know that you will welcome this type of discussion and that you’ll do your very best to make sure their wishes are honored.

Let them know that some requests from parents will be easier to accommodate than others. For instance, if a guardian calls and asks that their child not be allowed to check out Harry Potter books, most school library educators will put a note on that student’s record. Then, if that student tried to check out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, that library would explain that the guardian said no. That’s an easy fix. However, it’s harder to accommodate requests that a student be kept from checking out books containing specific themes or content, such as violence or LGTBQIA+ undertones. We know that you haven’t read every book in the collection and can’t guarantee that type of limitation. In those cases, you might suggest that they:

• Name titles, series, or authors that they don’t want their child to access.
• Read their child’s books with them.
• Look up reviews for their checked-out materials in School Library Journal.

In addition to collaborating on pages like this one, our Membership Team is ready and available to consult with members seeking clarification, support, or advice.

Members can also can find relevant materials in our Book Challenges resource guide. The Illinois Secretary of State Administrative Ready Reference also has a sample library policy available for review. 

We recommend you consult the ALA Guidelines for Library Policies as you work on your policy. The ALA stands firmly against book censorship—even for children. Restricted access violates patrons’ rights to intellectual freedom and their First Amendment rights.

PA 103–0100 requires that library systems also produce a policy opposing book banning in order to receive State grants. On Nov. 28, 2023, the IHLS Board of Directors voted to adopt the ALA's Library Bill of Rights as a system.

Additionally, our automation consortium, SHARE, holds a similar policy in their eResources Collection Development Guidelines. The anti-censorship policy appears under "Reconsideration of Materials" and reads as follows: 

"SHARE endorses the American Library Association (ALA) Freedom to Read Statement, Freedom to View Statement, the Library Bill of Rights, and all relevant Library Bill of Rights Interpretations. The choice of library materials by patrons at participating libraries is an individual matter.

"Patrons of cloudLibrary participating libraries wishing reconsideration of materials within the cloudLibrary collection must complete the SHARE cloudLibrary Request for Reconsideration Form in its entirety and submit via email to Cassandra Thompson, SHARE director at cthompson@illinoisheartland.org. Only signed forms will be considered.

"The title in question will be reviewed by the SHARE E-Resources Committee within 30 days to determine if it aligns with the collection development guidelines. The committee’s recommendation will be reviewed by the SHARE Executive Council. Once a decision has been made, the requestor named on the Request for Reconsideration Form will receive a written response indicating the decision and reasoning. Titles will remain in the collection during this process. The step-by-step Request for Consideration Procedure is attached (Appendix A)."