by Carla Pfahl
Quick Summary
The Harris Poll recently shared information about people's attitudes toward banned books.
The Harris Poll recently shared information about people's attitudes toward banned books. In just 4 years the number of people who believe some books should be banned jumped from 18% in 2011 to 28% in 2015. One of the bigger surprises from the survey is that adults are more likely to believe there are books that should be banned than movies, television shows, or video games. Breaking out those who believe these items should be banned by political preference, Republicans are more likely than Democrats or Independents to believe a book, movie, television show, or video game should be banned. The survey also looked at children's access to books, including religious material like the Bible or Koran, in school libraries. Another interesting point was that 40% of people were more likely to read a book if it’s controversial.
