The American Library Association (ALA) documented 1,269 demands to censor library resources in 2022, the highest number reported in over 20 years. Censors targeted a record 2,571 unique titles, with most focused on LGBTQIA+ and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) topics. In 2022, 90% of reported challenges sought to ban multiple titles, with 40% targeting over 100 books. These mass book challenges are evidence of well-organized groups using book lists to pressure libraries.
Whereas previously most challenges were from individual parents, now challenges are being initiated by political and religious groups (17%), patrons (28%), and parents (30%). Nearly half (48%) of challenges targeted public libraries, whilst 41% targeted school libraries and 10% targeted schools directly. The top 13 most challenged books of 2022 dealt with LGBTQIA+, race, and sexuality issues. Between the concerted efforts to ban books and increased harassment of librarians, there is a dangerous and growing censorship movement in America aimed at restricting access to topics these groups disagree with.
Diving deeper, the large number of demands to censor multiple books in 2022 reveals a strategic and coordinated effort by conservative / reactionary groups to ban books they deem inappropriate. These groups, such as Moms for Liberty and No Left Turn in Education, create lists of books on certain topics like race, LGBTQIA+ issues, and sexuality. They distribute these lists among their chapters and followers, instructing them to initiate mass book challenges against their local public and school libraries. By flooding libraries with challenges against dozens or even hundreds of books at once, their goal is to overwhelm librarians and pressure libraries to preemptively remove the books.
These conservative groups claim they are protecting children and traditional values. However, the mass scale and focus on marginalized topics shows their true intention is to restrict access to ideas and information they disagree with, particularly those that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. They want to impose their values and prevent students and the public from accessing books that conflict with their beliefs. This organized movement presents a dangerous threat to intellectual freedom and the mission of libraries to provide open access to information. The ALA has documented this growing censorship wave, but libraries continue to be under immense pressure from these groups to purge their shelves.
Own Books!
Preserving access to books targeted for banning by reactionary groups is vital to upholding free thought and intellectual freedom. When censorship forces restrict certain titles, simply having these books in our hands takes on significance.
Owning physical copies ensures these stories remain available to read, share, and pass down without limitation. Possession alone defies those who decree certain ideas should be erased. Each banned book on our shelf stands as a small act of resistance, asserting our right to read what others deem off-limits. (remember, digital copies can be erased by the publisher or distributor from your devices.)
Beyond making the books accessible, owning them is a powerful symbolic gesture. It signals we reject the notion of forbidding "dangerous" ideas, we recognize history's repeated cycles of censorship, and we refuse to have our intellectual autonomy dictated by moral authorities or mob outrage.
Banned books in our homes, schools, and libraries are reminders that however loudly reactionaries shout, some still believe knowledge should remain unfettered. We cannot control where the winds of authoritarianism blow, but we can decide which books inhabit the sanctuary of our personal libraries against the chance the winds one day howl at our door.
The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Let Freedom Read
Let Freedom Read
Let Freedom Read
The American Library Association (ALA) documented 1,269 demands to censor library resources in 2022, the highest number reported in over 20 years. Censors targeted a record 2,571 unique titles, with most focused on LGBTQIA+ and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) topics. In 2022, 90% of reported challenges sought to ban multiple titles, with 40% targeting over 100 books. These mass book challenges are evidence of well-organized groups using book lists to pressure libraries.
Whereas previously most challenges were from individual parents, now challenges are being initiated by political and religious groups (17%), patrons (28%), and parents (30%). Nearly half (48%) of challenges targeted public libraries, whilst 41% targeted school libraries and 10% targeted schools directly. The top 13 most challenged books of 2022 dealt with LGBTQIA+, race, and sexuality issues. Between the concerted efforts to ban books and increased harassment of librarians, there is a dangerous and growing censorship movement in America aimed at restricting access to topics these groups disagree with.
Diving deeper, the large number of demands to censor multiple books in 2022 reveals a strategic and coordinated effort by conservative / reactionary groups to ban books they deem inappropriate. These groups, such as Moms for Liberty and No Left Turn in Education, create lists of books on certain topics like race, LGBTQIA+ issues, and sexuality. They distribute these lists among their chapters and followers, instructing them to initiate mass book challenges against their local public and school libraries. By flooding libraries with challenges against dozens or even hundreds of books at once, their goal is to overwhelm librarians and pressure libraries to preemptively remove the books.
These conservative groups claim they are protecting children and traditional values. However, the mass scale and focus on marginalized topics shows their true intention is to restrict access to ideas and information they disagree with, particularly those that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. They want to impose their values and prevent students and the public from accessing books that conflict with their beliefs. This organized movement presents a dangerous threat to intellectual freedom and the mission of libraries to provide open access to information. The ALA has documented this growing censorship wave, but libraries continue to be under immense pressure from these groups to purge their shelves.
Own Books!
Preserving access to books targeted for banning by reactionary groups is vital to upholding free thought and intellectual freedom. When censorship forces restrict certain titles, simply having these books in our hands takes on significance.
Owning physical copies ensures these stories remain available to read, share, and pass down without limitation. Possession alone defies those who decree certain ideas should be erased. Each banned book on our shelf stands as a small act of resistance, asserting our right to read what others deem off-limits. (remember, digital copies can be erased by the publisher or distributor from your devices.)
Beyond making the books accessible, owning them is a powerful symbolic gesture. It signals we reject the notion of forbidding "dangerous" ideas, we recognize history's repeated cycles of censorship, and we refuse to have our intellectual autonomy dictated by moral authorities or mob outrage.
Banned books in our homes, schools, and libraries are reminders that however loudly reactionaries shout, some still believe knowledge should remain unfettered. We cannot control where the winds of authoritarianism blow, but we can decide which books inhabit the sanctuary of our personal libraries against the chance the winds one day howl at our door.
The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.