Let's Tackle
Censorship
Together.
The Big Game is usually about competition, but libraries are on the same team when it comes to protecting your right to read.
American Library Association's Freedom to Read Statement
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
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Get the facts on Book bans and challenges
Explore more resources for fighting censorship and celebrating Americans' freedom of expression.
Top 13 Banned Books
Every year, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the Top Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from media stories and voluntary reports from communities across the U.S.
The ALA reported the highest number of censorship reports since the association began compiling data about library censorship more than 20 years ago. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted in 2021. Most of the targeted books were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.
Legislation of Concern
EveryLibrary is monitoring state legislation during the 2024 session that would limit Americans' freedom to read and think for themselves. Of most concern are proposed laws that would allow for civil and criminal prosecution of librarians, educators, higher ed. faculty, and museum professionals.
In 2024, we are paying the most attention to state legislative initiatives in eight categories:
bills that would criminalize libraries, education, and museums (and/or the employees therein) by removing long-standing defense from prosecution exemptions under obscenity laws and/or expose librarians to civil penalties;
bills that change obscenity and "harmful to minors" definitions that preempt established First Amendment rights;
bills that would establish book rating systems, leading to segregation or expulsion of materials by topic or viewpoint;
bills that mandate restrictive library policies, esp. prescribing collection development or materials challenge policies;
bills that would limit access to school library databases;
bills that create onerous parental control/notification requirements that lead to segregated materials or limit free speech;
bills that limit or outlaw the teaching of "divisive concepts";
bills that lead to defunding or closure of libraries
PEN AMERICA
Books are under profound attack in the United States. They are disappearing from library shelves, being challenged in droves, being decreed off limits by school boards, legislators, and prison authorities. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on the shelf that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against the banning of books and the intolerance, exclusion, and censorship that undergird it.
PEN America tracks all book bans in libraries and classrooms across the U.S. in its Index of School Book Bans, updated for the 2022-2023 school year.
Read its most data summary, Spineless Shelves: Two Years of Book Banning.
Unite Against Book Bans
Unite Against Book Bans is a national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship.
On both sides of the aisle, large majorities of voters and parents oppose book bans. 71% of voters oppose efforts to remove books from public libraries. 67% of voters oppose efforts to remove books from school libraries. And yet, attempts to ban books from libraries are rising at an unprecedented level across the country.
