More than two dozen school librarians in the UK have been asked to remove books – many of them LGBTQ+ titles – from school library shelves, according to new survey data.

According to the Index on Censorship survey, 28 of 53 librarians surveyed – or 53% – said they had been asked to remove books. In more than half of these cases, books were removed from the shelves.

Titles that were challenged included This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson, Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, and ABC Pride by Louie Stowell, Elly Barnes, and Amy Phelps. More than 50% of requests to remove books came from parents.

Censorship is “certainly something that some of our members have major concerns about,” said Alison Tarrant, chief executive of the School Library Association (SLA), which conducted the survey with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The survey was also shared on a school librarian’s Facebook page.

There seems to be something of a “trend” of censorship targeting books written by queer authors or featuring queer characters, Tarrant said. Censorship can take many different forms – a clear example is when a teacher sees a book in the library and asks the librarian to remove it. In other cases, it’s less clear: Librarians may be told that the library can have a book, but it shouldn’t be on display.

There may also be a certain amount of self-censorship, says Tarrant. Although no one has told her this directly, it may be that certain books are not purchased at all to avoid complaints.

These bans in the UK may be influenced by book censorship in the US, which reached record levels last year. “We’ve seen some cases where things were instigated or initiated by groups or individuals in America – it wasn’t anyone from the school community itself,” Tarrant said.

The SLA suggests that school libraries have collection development policies that outline what kind of complaints will be handled, what kinds of books will be added to the collection and what the aim of the school library is. Sometimes school leaders don’t understand the need for this paperwork, Tarrant said. “As a result, when these situations arise, there is no one in the school who knows how to deal with them.” School library staff may not be trained or adequately supported, and school leaders may not understand “the role or pressures” of a school librarian, she added.

There is “intense” pressure on librarians to “get it right” when it comes to dealing with flagged books, as there are often conflicting opinions from different parties about what to do and censorship issues “can become a big discussion very quickly,” Tarrant said. This has an “emotional impact” on librarians and can be “very isolating.”

The school library is the “only place where every single year group, every single subject, every single cohort is covered. So by definition there are going to be books in a school library that are not suitable for some children – whether it’s the textbooks for the GCSE programme not being suitable for year seven, or whether it’s personal development. I think that’s something that needs to be understood,” Tarrant added.

“If a student wants to know more about sex or sexuality, I would much rather they go to the school library and look around there than look for information on the Internet. This is not intended for children and has no educational purpose,” says Tarrant.

When LGBTQ+ books are not “visible,” it is “exclusion and othering in more subtle ways,” she added, and this can affect the extent to which students seeking out LGBTQ+ books see themselves as readers.

“It is worrying to hear reports that LGBTQ+ books are being removed from school libraries, as we know that for many students, seeing themselves reflected in books and media is very important and reassuring,” said a representative from LGBTQ+ rights group Stonewall. “Preventing LGBTQ+ young people from seeing themselves reflected in inclusive resources and books at school can often lead to them feeling ashamed and the need to hide who they are.”