Public schools and libraries across the U.S. are still facing a rise of book challenges due to recent state and local policies that have accelerated efforts to censor certain materials, according to preliminary findings released by two advocacy groups.
While book censorship is nothing new, efforts to ban books have rapidly spread across the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic — supported by conservative organizations that have pushed for nationwide banning efforts. In two separate reports released Monday during Banned Books Week, PEN America and the American Library Association (ALA) provided contrasting data on recent and attempted book bans reported in the U.S.
PEN America, a free speech advocacy group, found that book bans nearly tripled during the 2023-2024 academic year with over 10,000 books banned in public schools. The group previously documented 3,362 instances of book bans in the 2022–2023 school year.
“With 10,000 school book bans and counting in the 2023-2024 school, we have to take stock of the harm censorship imposes on those most affected—the students,” Sabrina Baeta, researcher and advocate on the PEN America team, said in a statement to USA TODAY. “This Banned Book Week demands that we join together to turn the page on book bans by saying ‘No more.'”
Meanwhile, the ALA — a leading librarian group — revealed that new data has shown a slowdown in book challenge reports. The association tracks attempts to censor books and materials in public, school, and academic libraries, noting that there were 414 attempts to censor library materials and services during the first eight months of 2024.
That number is a decrease from the 695 attempts recorded during the same period last year. But ALA noted that while the number of reported challenges has declined, the “number of documented attempts to censor books continues to far exceed the numbers prior to 2020.”
Both PEN America and the ALA also emphasized that their findings are an undercount or represent “only a snapshot of book censorship” as many book challenges are unreported.
“This is just a sampling and not our final numbers. We may well receive, and I know that we are receiving, an uptick in reports since school(s) opened after Labor Day,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told USA TODAY on Tuesday. “Whatever set of numbers you look at, we are still seeing an overwhelming number of demands to censor books.”
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PEN America, American Library Association book ban definitions differ
PEN America and the ALA use different methodologies and definitions of “ban” and “challenge” when documenting instances of book censorship. According to PEN America, the group is the only organization that tracks book bans in schools nationwide while the ALA records challenges that are filed against books in libraries.
Suzanne Trimel, senior adviser for communications and media at PEN America, told USA TODAY that the group tracks bans through school board minutes, local news stories. and reports from organizational partners across the country. PEN America notes on its website that it does not document book challenges that do not result in bans.
“A book challenge is any attempt to restrict or remove a book based on objections to its content,” according to PEN America. “A book ban is the removal or restriction of those materials.”
The ALA compiles its data on book challenges from news stories and reports from library professionals, according to the association’s website.
“A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict access to materials or services based upon the objections of a person or group,” the ALA said on its website. “A book is banned when it is entirely removed from a collection in response to a formal or informal challenge.”
Recent book challenges follow trends from previous years
Preliminary findings from PEN America found that book challengers during the 2023-2024 school year followed trends from previous years in which targeted books were written by or about a person of color, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or a woman. The group also tracked an increasing number of cases that included books containing depictions of rape or sexual abuse.
“As in recent years, there are two key pressures behind the school book ban movement: state legislation and the influence of groups that espouse ‘parental rights’ rhetoric to advance pro-censorship advocacy goals,” PEN America said in its report.
The dramatic increase in book challenges was largely a result of state laws, which have made it “easier to remove books from schools without due process, or in some cases, without any formal process whatsoever,” the group added.
Out of the more than 10,000 books banned, about 8,000 were documented in Florida and Iowa, according to PEN America.
The Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that Iowa’s Republican-dominated Legislature passed a sweeping education law in 2023 that requires schools to remove books depicting or describing sex acts and restricts teaching about LGBTQ+ topics. The newspaper filed records requests with all 325 school districts in the state and found that nearly 3,400 books were removed because of the ban before a federal injunction halted enforcement in December 2023.
Florida also implemented legislation in 2023 restricting material containing “sexual conduct.” During that year, Florida had more books challenged for removal than any other state with nearly 2,700 titles targeted, according to data released by the ALA in March.
But school districts in the state have since faced federal lawsuits with accusations of unconstitutional censorship. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, a Florida school board agreed earlier this year to place books it banned back on library shelves as part of an out-of-court settlement.
American Library Association attributes the decline to community pushback
The ALA said it released preliminary data in preparation for Banned Books Week, noting that “library staff across the country are facing an overwhelming number of book ban attempts.”
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded 414 censorship attempts that included 1,128 titles. The ALA said these numbers are a decrease from the same period last year when the group tracked 695 attempts with 1,915 titles challenged.
The group also highlighted instances of “soft censorship,” where books are purchased but are hidden or placed in restricted areas in fear of potential challenges. In some instances, the ALA said books have also been preemptively excluded from libraries, in which books are removed before they are banned or not purchased at all.
Caldwell-Stone underscored that several factors may have contributed to the slowdown in reported challenges, including efforts to fight “against the tide of book banning” and “successes in courts.”
She cited the work of local communities and anti-censorship activists, who rise to “both defend their library professionals and to assert their belief that libraries should protect the freedom to read.”
“Especially the bravery of youth, who are standing up at library board meetings and school board meetings to speak out in defense of their very freedom to read,” Caldwell-Stone added. “We’re seeing a small but see change in the conversation around books … We’re realizing that censorship is a very real threat to everyone’s liberties and that we don’t want the government getting in the business of telling people what to read or believe.”
Contributing: Mike Trautmann, Des Moines Register; Douglas Soule, USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida
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