Banned books in Illinois are handled differently than in most other states. There is no statewide list of prohibited titles, and in 2023 Illinois became the first state to pass a law designed to discourage book bans by tying library grant funding to anti-ban policies. Local school boards and public library boards can still remove specific books after a formal challenge, so what sits on the shelf depends on where you live and which institution you’re asking about.
The Illinois Anti-Book-Ban Law
Public Act 103-0100 took effect January 1, 2024, and added Section 8.7 to the Illinois Library System Act. To stay eligible for state grant funding, a library or library system must either adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights or write its own policy that explicitly prohibits banning books or other materials from the collection.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois General Assembly Public Act 103-0100
The state distributes roughly $20 million a year in grants across more than 600 public libraries. A library that refuses to adopt an anti-ban policy isn’t fined, but it loses access to that money. For a small library running on a thin budget, that can mean cut hours, cut programs, or fewer new books.
The grant condition covers public libraries and library systems. School libraries operate under their own school boards and are not directly bound by Section 8.7. The broader Library System Act still declares it state policy “to encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.”2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 75 ILCS 10/1 – Library System Act
What “Banned” Means in Illinois
A challenge is a formal request from a patron, parent, or group asking a library or school to remove or restrict a title. A ban happens only if the institution actually pulls the book or restricts access to it. Those decisions are made locally, one district or library at a time. A book pulled from a school library in one town may sit untouched on shelves twenty miles away.
No state agency in Illinois orders books removed. School boards control school library collections, and elected or appointed public library boards govern public library holdings. That structure is why availability varies so much across the state, and why the anti-ban law works through funding conditions rather than direct prohibition.
Constitutional Limits on School Book Removal
Federal constitutional law sits on top of state policy. In Board of Education, Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982), the U.S. Supreme Court held that school boards “may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.” Using removal to prescribe orthodoxy in politics, religion, or other matters of opinion violates the First Amendment.3Justia. Island Trees Sch. Dist. v. Pico by Pico
Motive is the dividing line. A board can weigh educational suitability, age-appropriateness, or relevance to the curriculum. It cannot target a book because officials disagree with the viewpoint expressed in it. If a court finds that ideological disapproval was the decisive factor, the removal is unconstitutional. That standard applies to every school district in Illinois.
Proving motive is where litigation gets difficult. Board members rarely announce they’re pulling a book to suppress its message, so evidence tends to come from meeting minutes, communications, and the pattern of which books draw scrutiny. The constitutional floor itself, though, is not ambiguous.
How a Book Challenge Works
Most Illinois libraries and school districts have a written reconsideration policy that structures how objections are handled. Ask for it by that name.
Filing a Challenge
The process starts with a written complaint. The person filing identifies the book, states the objection, and often has to confirm whether they’ve read the whole work. The complaint goes to a reconsideration committee, usually an odd number of members to avoid tie votes. Committees typically draw from librarians, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members. Their identities are often kept anonymous so the review stays objective.
The Review Itself
Committee members read the full book, consult professional reviews, and measure the title against the library’s written selection policy and mission. Passages are not evaluated in isolation. The work is judged as a whole against objective criteria, and personal beliefs are set aside. The challenged book stays on the shelf while the review is pending. Removing it early would defeat the point of having a process.
The Decision
The committee issues a written recommendation: keep the book where it is, move it to a different section, or remove it. Both majority and minority views are reported to the governing body, which makes the final call. The person who filed the original challenge is notified of the outcome.
A removal in one library does not affect any other library. A title pulled from one district’s school library may still be on the shelves at the public library across the street, at a neighboring district’s school, or available through interlibrary loan. Some Illinois academic institutions maintain dedicated collections of challenged and banned titles to keep access open.
Books That Have Been Challenged in Illinois
The titles drawing the most challenges in Illinois track national patterns. Objections most often cite sexual content, LGBTQ+ themes, and discussions of race. A handful of examples show how differently the same book can be treated from one district to the next.
- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe has been the most frequently challenged book in the country in recent years. It was removed from shelves in Community High School District 117 (Lake Villa) and Harlem School District 122 (Machesney Park). Review committees in Lake Forest and Downers Grove voted to keep it after parent challenges to its illustrations.
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was challenged in ROWVA Community Unit School District 208. The board removed it from classroom instruction but kept it in the school library.
- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was pulled from Chicago Public Schools libraries and classrooms by administrators in 2013 who cited inappropriate language and images. After public backlash, CPS reversed course and limited the restriction to seventh-grade classrooms.
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky are among the most challenged titles nationally and have drawn objections at various Illinois schools and libraries.
The same book can be removed in one district, kept after review in another, and never challenged at all in a third. Outcome depends on who files, how the local review runs, and what the governing board decides.
Checking Your Local Library and Getting a Removed Book
To find out whether a specific book has been challenged where you live, contact the local school district or public library directly. Both keep their own collection policies and challenge records. Ask for the reconsideration policy by name.
At the national level, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has tracked challenges since 1990 and publishes annual data on the most challenged titles. PEN America maintains a separate index of book bans in schools. Both provide state-level data that can surface Illinois incidents.
If a book has been removed from your local library, you still have options. Illinois public libraries participate in interlibrary loan networks, so a librarian at your branch can often request a copy from another system. Many challenged titles are also available as e-books through digital lending platforms. A removal from one shelf does not erase a book from every shelf in the state.