George Orwell (1903–1950)
Nineteen Eighty-Four
London: Secker & Warburg, 1949
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
The censorship of specific books can originate from a variety of sources: from an individual’s appeal to a school board, as is often the case today, to city officials, as was the case in Boston most notably in the 19th century. Censorship is also enacted through legal statutes, which can restrict access to swaths of books with the stroke of a pen.
In May 2023, the Iowa State Legislature enacted Senate File 496, a bill that, along with prohibiting instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary schools, also requires the removal of any books with sexual content from all libraries. The burden on school administrators is high: if a book remains on the shelves, it can lead to disciplinary action.
More than 400 titles (3,000 books) were pulled from collections. Following an injunction by a federal judge, many of these books were returned to the shelves, but more than 60 titles (2,000 books) remain inaccessible to students, including 1984, George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel.
: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
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