Most Americans oppose book bans amid new wave of censorship: poll
They’re not fans of the bans.
A new survey of 2,000 Americans reveals 73% are opposed to banning books — and 43% have sought out challenged or banned books to read this year.
The research comes three months after the American Library Association revealed total book challenges in 2022 are expected to exceed 2021, which saw 729 attempts to censor library resources — a record number in the 20-plus years the organization has compiled this data.
In the survey, commissioned by Half Price Books and conducted by OnePoll, respondents were shown a list of banned books from the ALA and asked which ones they’ve read.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee topped the list at 31%, with “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll coming second at 29%. “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak rounded out the top 3 at 28%.
The survey reported the average person reads two-and-a-half books a month — though 9% of Americans surveyed didn’t read any books.
Nearly half of book lovers found a new favorite book, series or author this year, while 62% discovered a book they would rather trash.
Four in five readers picked up at least one of this year’s bestsellers.
“Regardless of whether people are choosing bestsellers, rereading old favorites or picking up something new, we will always promote building better reading habits by making books more accessible to all,” Kathy Doyle Thomas, president of Half Price Books, said in a statement.
Many poll respondents claim to not have time to read, but 40% continue increasing their “to-be-read” pile that they barely have space for.
Some Americans are spending less money on books. The survey found 56% are buying used books, 55% are trading with friends and 50% are going to the library.
“We encourage readers to find ways to keep books in circulation by sharing with others, selling them back or even checking them out from their local library,” said Thomas. “A used book reads the same as a new book and keeps excess reading material out of landfills.”
Most commonly banned books respondents have read
● “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee — 31%
● “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll — 29%
● “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak — 28%
● “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck — 26%
● “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank — 26%
● “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling — 25%
● “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London — 25%
● “James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl — 24%
● “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood — 23%
● “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou — 23%
Best-selling books that respondents read in 2022
● “Run, Rose, Run” by Dolly Parton and James Patterson — 24%
● “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King — 23%
● “Nightwork” by Nora Roberts — 22%
● “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens — 22%
● “Call Us What We Carry” by Amanda Gorman — 22%
● “The Hotel Nantucket” by Elin Hilderbrand — 21%
● “It Starts with Us” by Colleen Hoover — 21%
● “The Judge’s List” by John Grisham — 21%
● “House of Sky and Breath” by Sarah J. Maas — 21%
● “The Paris Apartment” by Lucy Foley — 21%
Survey methodology:
This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 general population Americans was commissioned by Half Price Books between Nov. 18–21, 2022. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).