It’s impossible to miss the growing trend at organized efforts to ban books. That makes this year’s Banned Books Week, “Freed Between the Lines,” more important than ever. The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom released a jaw dropping report on the uptick stating, “The number of titles targeted for censorship surged 65 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest levels ever documented by the American Library Association (ALA). The new numbers released today show efforts to censor 4,240 unique book titles in schools and libraries. This tops the previous high from 2022, when 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship.”
Their report goes on to share, “ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023. Four key trends emerged from the data gathered from 2023 censorship reports:
1. Pressure groups in 2023 focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92 percent over the previous year; school libraries saw an 11 percent increase.
2. Groups and individuals demanding the censorship of multiple titles, often dozens or hundreds at a time, drove this surge.
3. Titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47 percent of those targeted in censorship attempts.
4. There were attempts to censor more than 100 titles in each of these 17 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.”
The preliminary data for 2024 shows 414 attempts to censor library materials and services and in those cases, 1,128 unique titles were challenged. This is a slight decline compared to this point in 2023, but still a disturbingly large number.
Hopefully, by this point you’re wondering what you can do to help stop this trend. I suggest going to the American Library Association’s Banned Book website, https://www.ala.org/bbooks. There you will find all kinds of resources from online educational events to learning how to report attempts at book censorship in your community.
As I do every year, I’d like to highlight this past year’s top 10 most challenged books.
1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
3. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
5. Flamer by Mike Curato
6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
7/8. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
7/8. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
9. Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
10. Sold by Patricia McCormick
Get your own copies here. (This is an affiliate link to my Bookshop, which supports independent bookstores throughout the United States. If you use this link to purchase the book, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
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Grrrr.