School librarians in 2023 are more likely to decline purchasing certain titles based on the content of those books, according to SLJ's Controversial Books survey.

U.S. K-12 librarians were asked: what subject matter has led you to pass on purchasing a book? 

Based on 729 respondents, all of whom are responsible for buying books for their library:

• Sexual content leads by a large margin as the subject matter that has led school librarians to pass on purchasing a book. This stands for all segments.
• There was a significant increase in the number of high school librarians naming sexual content (from 60% in 2022 to 75% in 2023).
• Profanity/vulgar language is the second-most common type of content compelling librarians to pass on a book, while LGTBQIA+ content and slurs/derogatory terms (a newcomer from last year’s open-ended comments) come in third and fourth.
• Self-harm/Suicide, Violence, Drug/Alcohol Use, and Racial or Ethnic Stereotypes were selected by over a quarter of all respondents, and particularly by elementary school librarians.

For more information and to download the full survey report, see "Book Challenges Are Having a Chilling Effect on School Librarians Nationwide | SLJ Survey."

METHODOLOGY

An email inviting recipients to take a survey about selecting books with potentially controversial subject matter was sent to a random sample of U.S. school librarians on May 1, 2023. Responses were anonymous. The survey closed on May 17 with 729 U.S. school libraries responding.

The report contains comparisons with responses to SLJ’s 2022 controversial books survey.