Measuring Self-Censorship in School Media Centers

by Bellows, Nicholas K.

This study describes an investigation into the extent of self-censorship within school media centers of Florida public high schools. This investigation was conducted to measure what percentage of schools had a majority of highly regarded books containing controversial materials. Failure to have a majority of these books resulted in the school being designated as engaging in self-censorship.

The OPACs of 102 Florida public highs schools were searched for twenty-five controversial titles. The results showed that over 75% of the schools sampled had fewer than 50% of the controversial books. An attempt was made to improve upon a previous study by accounting for a lack of books resulting from budget issues. This attempt was flawed. Thoughts on how to improve this aspect of the study are discussed.