According to a report released by the American Library Association Thursday, March 23, attempts to ban a record number of books from schools and public libraries reached new highs in 2022. The record total of 2,571 books targeted for censorship was up 38% from the 1,858 books targeted in 2021. Just 566 books were targeted in 2020.
40% of the books challenged in 2022 were part of cases where 100 or more books were being challenged at once. In a statement, the director of the association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom said the overwhelming share of attempted book bans came from “organized censorship groups that target local library board meetings to demand removal of a long list of books they share on social media.”
“Each attempt to ban a book by one of these groups represents a direct attack on every person’s constitutionally protected right to freely choose what books to read and what ideas to explore,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone said. “The choice of what to read must be left to the reader or, in the case of children, to parents. That choice does not belong to self-appointed book police.”
In its report, the association noted the vast majority of the record number of books subjected to ban attempts in 2022 were written by or about people of color and members of the LGBTQ community.
“Their aim is to suppress the voices of those traditionally excluded from our nation’s conversations,” Caldwell-Stone said.
The association also added that bipartisan research firms in 2022 found voters across the political spectrum oppose efforts to remove books.
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