Organized Groups Try For Library Book Bans

“The rise in unique titles challenged is indicative of the rise in organized political groups creating and sharing lists of objectionable books,” Andrew Albanese explains.

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) this week reported 695 attempts to censor library materials between January 1 and August 31, 2023.

The figure barely rose from the 681 documented attempts at this point last year, yet those 695 challenges involve a growing number of books, according to Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly executive editor.

As calculated by ALA, the number of unique book titles challenged in US libraries jumped 20% over last year. So far in 2023, 1,915 unique titles have been targeted compared to 1,651 last year.

“The rise in unique titles challenged is indicative of the rise in organized political groups creating and sharing lists of objectionable books that they want to ban,” Albanese explains.

“In past years, most challenges came from individuals seeking to remove or restrict a single title. But what we see now is a single challenge by a person or group demanding the removal of multiple titles,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“In fact, 90% of books challenged were part of an attempt to censor multiple titles and challenges that targeted ‘100 or more books’ were reported in 11 states thus far in 2023, compared to six during the same reporting period in 2022—and none in 2021.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Velocity of Content” features the editors and reporters of Publishers Weekly for an early look at what news publishers, editors, authors, agents, and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.