- Over half of all book challenges made in the 2021-2022 school year came from just 11 adults.
- One woman said she read 73 books, scanning for sexually explicit content, and challenged 71 of them.
A Virginia woman dedicated herself to challenging at least one book per week — an effort that has caused a schism in her community as well as hours of $4.
Jennifer Petersen, 48, spends hours scanning books for content she finds sexually explicit and filing challenges with Spotsylvania County Public Schools, where one of her children is enrolled and another is a recent graduate, $4 reported.
Out of 73 books she read in one year, she challenged 71 of them, the Post reported. The remaining two were removed before she had the chance to get to them.
In her complaints, seen by the Post, she wrote that one book "reads like a how-to guide for raping teens." Another "normalizes teen sex and ... glorifies and incites teens to have sex," she wrote.
She told the Post that she considers whether the content is $4 or $4 based on definitions provided by Virginia law.
According to an $4 by the Post, 60% of book challenges made in the 2021-2022 school year came from the same 11 adults. Petersen was one of them. The majority of objections were on books authored by or about LGBTQ+ people or people of color.
While some members of the community have praised Petersen, others have called the effort a waste of time and money. A library staffer told the Post that nearly a dozen people spent 40 hours per week just on Petersen's book challenges.
Peterson's ongoing effort comes at a time when $4 are going national. While most challenges and bans focused on school libraries under the guise of protecting unknowing children, an increasing number of challenges are targeting public libraries that are accessible to entire communities, $4 reported.