We along with other libraries across the country noticed last year that there were just *** lot of more reports of books being banned or challenged across the United States in school libraries and public libraries and the American Library Association even came out with *** report that there were 1600 over 1600 banned books reported to their office last year, which was by far the most they've ever had since the beginning of them keeping track of banned books. And we wanted to do something more intentional to support young people across the country who were at the business end of these challenges and bands. So we thought that one way to do this would be to offer *** free access to our over half *** million e books and audiobooks, particularly for young people ages 13-21 who are literally seeing their experiences, their narratives and their voices silenced in their communities. The books that are being targeted for challenges or bands are representative of voices that are L G. B. T. Q voices or black indigenous voices. So you have books like gender queer which is the most challenged and banned book of all of last year, according to the American Library Association. Yeah, it's really important to see myself reflected in narratives um such as um just books that talk about transgenderism and um L. G. B. T. Q rights and queer people in general. Um just because again, like we've been silenced for centuries. Um I'm *** transgender man. Uh I use pronouns. Um and you don't not often that you see that in especially works of fiction. I grew up in *** very conservative place, *** small town in Georgia, um and Georgia, the state. And um I grew up around people who didn't see me as *** person, uh didn't see me like for my race, for my identity, for my sexuality. I was ostracized for *** long time until I came here. Um and I know what it's like to not have those resources available to you. It's hard enough to find representation in the media for like minority groups, like your underrepresented in *** lot of places underrepresented in like um schools sometimes um uh in the television um in like education, like maybe your major, there's not *** lot of people that look like you um that share your identity and background and like that can affect you deeply. So like these books being taken off or like you can't even like see *** representation um at your local library. I feel like that's um really bad
Book ban attempts hit record high in 2022, library org says
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Updated: 1:43 PM CDT Mar 23, 2023
Attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association released Thursday.More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.“I've never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. “The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”Thursday's report not only documents the growing number of challenges, but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually arose with parents and other community members and referred to an individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, which has a mission of “unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”Last year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges that the numbers might be far higher.Librarians around the country have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action.“Every day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully determine what reading material is best suited for their child’s needs," ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. “Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing books to youth they and their parents want to read.”Caldwell-Stone says that some books have been targeted by liberals because of racist language — notably Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — but the vast majority of complaints come from conservatives, directed at works with LGBTIQA+ or racial themes. They include Maia Kobabe's “Gender Queer,” Jonathan Evison's “Lawn Boy," Angie Thomas' “The Hate U Give” and a book-length edition of the “1619 Project,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in the U.S.Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among other states. In Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved laws to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender identity and race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover's “Hopeless,” Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” and Grace Lin's picture story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”More recently, Florida's Martin County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and James Patterson's “Maximum Ride” thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has criticized on Twitter as “arbitrary and borderline absurd.”DeSantis has called reports of mass bannings a “hoax," saying in a statement released earlier this month that the allegations reveal “some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.”Some books do come back. Officials at Florida's Duval County Public Schools were widely criticized after they removed “Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” a children's biography of the late Puerto Rican baseball star. In February, they announced the book would again be on shelves, explaining that they needed to review it and make sure it didn't violate any state laws.
Attempted at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association released Thursday.
More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.
“I've never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. “The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”
Thursday's report not only documents , but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually arose with parents and other community members and referred to an individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, which has a mission of “unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”
Last year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges that the numbers might be far higher.
have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action.
“Every day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully determine what reading material is best suited for their child’s needs," ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. “Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing books to youth they and their parents want to read.”
Caldwell-Stone says that some books have been targeted by liberals because of racist language — notably Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — but the vast majority of complaints come from conservatives, directed at works with LGBTIQA+ or racial themes. They include Maia Kobabe's “Gender Queer,” Jonathan Evison's “Lawn Boy," Angie Thomas' “The Hate U Give” and a book-length edition of the “1619 Project,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in the U.S.
Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among other states. In Florida, where to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender identity and race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover's “Hopeless,” Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” and Grace Lin's picture story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”
More recently, Florida's Martin County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and James Patterson's “Maximum Ride” thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has criticized on Twitter as “arbitrary and borderline absurd.”
DeSantis has called reports of mass bannings a “hoax," saying in a statement released earlier this month that the allegations reveal “some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.”
Some books do come back. Officials at Florida's Duval County Public Schools were widely criticized after they removed “Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” a children's biography of . In February, they announced the book would again be on shelves, explaining that they needed to review it and make sure it didn't violate any state laws.
