The second edition of Interim Dean and Professor Emily Knox's book, Book Banning in 21st Century America, was recently released by Bloomsbury. The first edition, published by Rowman & Littlefield (now Bloomsbury) in 2015, was the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars' Series. The new edition examines 25 contemporary cases of book challenges in schools and public libraries across the United States and breaks down how and why reading practices can lead to censorship.
According to Knox, the impetus for authoring a second edition was the rise in book challenges over the past decade.
"So much has happened since 2015 when the first edition was published," Knox said. "Book challenges and bans exploded across the country. Even though the theoretical analysis hadn't changed much, I knew that there would be many more examples of the justifications that people give for censorship."
Among the new chapters is one based on a board meeting Knox attended in Metropolis, Illinois, which included discussion of several books that were moved by the library director at the time.
Knox's scholarly work focuses on information access, intellectual freedom and censorship, information ethics and policy, and print culture and reading practices. She has been interviewed by media outlets such as NPR and The New York Times and has testified before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary on book banning. Her book Foundations of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Neal-Schuman) won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom. Knox received her PhD from Rutgers University School of Communication and Information.