Public schools and libraries in the U.S. continue to experience an increase in book challenges, with efforts to ban books accelerating due to recent state and local policies, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conservative organizations have been pushing for nationwide banning efforts, leading to nearly 10,000 books being banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 academic year, as reported by PEN America. The American Library Association also noted a slowdown in book challenge reports but highlighted the ongoing attempts to censor books and materials, with 414 attempts recorded in the first eight months of 2024.
Both organizations use different methodologies to track book bans and challenges, with PEN America focusing on bans in schools and the ALA documenting challenges in libraries. The increase in book challenges during the 2023-2024 school year targeted books written by or about marginalized communities, with an increasing number of cases involving depictions of sensitive topics.
The rise in book challenges has been attributed to state laws that make it easier to remove books from schools without proper due process, leading to a significant number of bans in states like Florida and Iowa. While there has been a decline in reported challenges, efforts to combat book banning and censorship have been ongoing, with communities and activists pushing back against these restrictions on the freedom to read. The ALA highlighted instances of “soft censorship” and preemptive book exclusions in libraries as additional challenges faced by library staff across the country.
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