American Library Association’s New Book Censorship Data Released in Advance of Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week launches Monday, September 19, 2022, and the American Library Association (ALA) has released the latest numbers connected publication challenges successful a caller tract report. Pulling from accusation reported straight to ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF), quality coverage, and nationalist records, the information amusement a marked summation successful censorship and 2022 is connected way to person the highest fig of instances of publication bans since ALA began keeping record.

Among the highlights of the study including:

• The challenges reported to ALA successful 2021 represented the highest fig of attempted publication bans since ALA began compiling these lists much than 20 years ago. Eight months into 2022, publication challenges are connected way to transcend 2021’s count.
• 681 attempts to prohibition oregon restrict room resources successful schools, universities, and nationalist libraries, seeking to region oregon restrict 1651 antithetic titles successful 2022. In 2021, determination were 729 attempts to censor room resources, targeting 1597 books.
• 70% of the 681 attempts to restrict room resources targeted aggregate titles. In the past, astir challenges to room resources lone sought to region oregon restrict a azygous title. 
• OIF documented 27 instances wherever constabulary reports were filed against librarians implicit books connected room shelves.

This caller study is the archetypal from ALA to straight code the basal causes of the summation successful publication bans crossed the country. From the report:

Several related movements contributed to this surge successful censor- ship. Organizations similar Moms for Liberty and No Left Turn successful Education provided resources including people lists, talking points, and readying documents supporting publication challenges. Conservative deliberation tanks specified arsenic the Manhattan Institute and the Heritage Foundation precocious exemplary authorities and policies targeting “divisive concepts” and “critical contention theory” successful curricula and libraries. Republican PACs supported the predetermination of pro-censorship candidates to schoolhouse and room boards. Fringe ideas from MassResistance and QAnon were normalized done right-wing media outlets, politicians, and algorithmic elevation connected societal media sites.

It is refreshing to spot the enactment sanction immoderate of the large players successful the censorship game; unfortunately, the study inactive does not code wherever oregon however these groups are being funded and the nonstop lines from those groups to akin ones launching campaigns successful ALA’s aboriginal censorship tracking years.

ALA released their top 10 astir challenged books for 2021 backmost successful April. The caller study adds much discourse to their data: examples of censorship toward respective of the astir challenged, alongside the fig of reports indicating a title. They are arsenic follows:

• Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe: 120 challenges
• Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison: 67 challenges
• All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson: 64 challenges
• Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez: 36 challenges
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: 32 challenges
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: 28 challenges
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: 25 challenges
• This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson: 24 challenges
• Looking for Alaska by John Green: 24 challenges
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews: 23 challenges
• Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin: 22 challenges
• Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson: 22 challenges
• Drama by Raina Telgemeier: 18 challenges
• Melissa by Alex Gino: 18 challenges
• It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris: 18 challenges
• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel: 16 challenges
• This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely: 14 challenges
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi: 14 challenges

It is crystal wide books by/about queer radical and radical of colour proceed to beryllium targets for censorship. It is besides wide that books are an casual target; these actions are meant to disturbance the motivation panic and promote further marginalization of these groups of people.

The caller study besides highlights challenges to Pride displays this year. According to their data, 27 challenges were made against specified displays this year, and the study includes stories from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas (though absent from the study is that coordinated efforts similar Catholic Vote’s “Hide the Pride” helped spur specified challenges and the disappearance of queer books from libraries).

The tract study ends with a missive from James LaRue, Executive Director astatine Garfield County Library District (CO) and room consultant, contextualizing the wherefore of timing:

There are 2 wide dimensions of this infinitesimal successful time. The archetypal is personal. As I’ve written elsewhere, historically astir worldly challenges autumn into those offered to children betwixt the ages of 4 and 6 (picture books) and 14 and 16 (YA novels). These are times of modulation successful their lives, and immoderate parents go overprotective of their children’s innocence, reflecting their ain insecurities and fears. It’s an affectional world amplified by existent fears and concerns related to the pandemic.

The 2nd is political. Many of the challenges to materials are straight linked to the talking points of today’s blimpish movement. According to those starring these governmental movements, captious contention mentation (taught successful nary nationalist schoolhouse successful the United States) is portion of a “woke” and “divisive” threat, disguise mandates are intolerable restrictions connected idiosyncratic liberty, parental rights are sacrosanct, and nationalist institutions and credentialed experts are fundamentally suspect. One wonders if the timing of these legislative and anti-institutional efforts, particularly fixed the dissemination of lists by politicians (such arsenic the 850 titles disseminated by Texas authorities Rep. Matt Krause), isn’t chiefly intended to rouse a basal and triumph midterm elections. Informing that governmental propulsion is simply a demographic shift. After a play marked by wide societal change—the predetermination of a Black president, the Black Lives Matter movement, the ineligible and nationalist acceptance of same-sex marriage, the greater visibility of LGBTQIA+ people—certain groups fearful of a nonaccomplishment of privilege and presumption are engaged successful a motivation panic.

It whitethorn besides beryllium that excessively overmuch clip successful societal isolation has made america each much stressed and little civil.

While some are true, neither goes acold capable to denounce the governmental question and acheronian wealth backing these initiatives. Likewise, room workers and educators are facing targeted harassment by specified censors successful a mode that undermines their credibility and nonrecreational skills, resources, and background. This is not astir societal isolation nor astir the property groups successful question. It is astir gaining powerfulness and retaining achromatic supremacy successful each facets of nationalist life, fueled by a far-right Christian nationalist question that has been steadily gaining traction since earlier the Trump administration.

The study does not interaction connected different censorship happening successful nationalist oregon schoolhouse libraries related to programming, nor does it interaction connected the ever-growing occupation of quiet/silent censorship taken successful effect to fearfulness of imaginable challenges.

ALA’s report, portion a measurement guardant from erstwhile nationalist communications that shied distant from naming the nonstop causes of the existent censorship climate, inactive fails to relationship for the existent breadth of books nether attack. Their numbers see nonstop counts, arsenic good arsenic counts successful media reports, and adjacent a speedy perusal of the play links present amusement a fig overmuch higher. And portion the study offers immoderate actions radical tin instrumentality to antagonistic censorship, what they connection is thing that is new. At times, the usage of images wrong the study undermines the severity of the messages being conveyed:

For readers and professionals conscionable wading into the satellite of publication censorship, ALA’s caller assets is simply a large spot to begin. But for those looking to bash much oregon question existent enactment from the enactment for this ongoing and escalating reality–which includes carnal threats of harm and unit to room workers connected the beforehand lines successful states crossed the country–the study is obscurity adjacent enough.

You tin work the study successful afloat astatine ALA’s Banned Books Week assets page.