They’ve faced criminalization and harassment and in some cases have been fired.
By Casey Kuhn
Producer, NewsHour Digital Video Team
PBS
Americans last year challenged more book titles than ever before, according to a new report by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. More than 4,000 unique titles were challenged in public and school libraries in 2023, the most the group has recorded since it began tracking censorship efforts.
Much of that increase came from groups or individuals trying to censor dozens or hundreds of titles at a time, the organization said. It’s part of a conservative push across the country to ban certain books based on the claim that they are inappropriate for children. Many of the books were about or written by LGBTQ+ people and people of color.
“The rhetoric about book banning right now is built around this falsehood that books touching on sex or gender identity, sexual orientation, or deal with what’s called critical race theory are legally harmful to minors,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Librarians are often caught in the middle of these campaigns and state legislative attempts to censor library materials. They’ve faced criminalization and harassment and in some cases have been fired after refusing to move or remove books.