SAS 2: What's the Point of Banning Books?

Emily Knox, Associate Professor and Interim Dean    
School of Information Sciences

Many attempts to ban books in schools and libraries have made headlines over the past few months. Almost all of these attempts have failed and yet the attempts continue. Why do people ban books? What are they trying to accomplish? 

Emily is interim dean and professor in the School of Information Sciences. Her research interests include information access and intellectual freedom and censorship. She is a member of the Mapping Information Access research team. The second edition of her book, Book Banning in 21st Century America (Bloomsbury), was published in January 2026. Her most previous book Foundations of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Neal-Schuman) won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Prize for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom.  She has been interviewed by media outlets such as NPR and the New York Times and also testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on book banning. Emily previously served on the boards of the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and is a former editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy.

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