American Library Association says book ban challenges in 2023 broke new record

According to the American Library Association (ALA), a record number of books were challenged in school and public libraries in 2023.

ALA announced Thursday that 4,240 unique book titles were censored in 2023, a 65% increase from the previous record of 2,571 unique titles in 2022.

“Reports from librarians and educators on the ground show that the systematic campaign to ban books is not over yet, and that we must all come together to protect the right to choose what to read. “We’re making it clear that what we need to do,” said director Deborah Caldwell Stone. of the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.

ALA documented 1,247 requests for the removal of library books, materials, and resources, out of more than 4,000 books that were subject to censorship.

The group highlighted four trends it has seen in 2023, including increased censorship activity against public libraries.

In 2023, titles targeting public libraries will increase by 92 percent, and school libraries will increase by 11 percent.

The group often targeted dozens to hundreds of books at a time, and 47% of the books targeted were about people of color in the LGBTQ community, according to ALA.

More than 100 books were targeted in 17 states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. .

“The 2023 data compiled by the ALA is only a snapshot of book censorship throughout the year, as many book objections are not reported to the ALA or covered by the press. In some cases, the solution may be to keep the book in the collection; in other cases, the result may be that the book is restricted or removed from the library,” ALA said in a statement.

ALA previously launched Unite Against Book Bans to fight back against these efforts and published a list of the most censored books for National Library Week’s Right to Read Day on April 8th. We are planning to make an announcement.