America's book ban epidemic: politics hijacks libraries

I can't believe I'm writing about book bans in the United States of America. On both sides of politics apparently freedom of speech means, "only the speech I like."

A report from the American Library Association indicates that America's libraries are facing an unprecedented assault on intellectual freedom, with 2024 marking the third-highest number of book ban attempts since record-keeping began in 1990.

What's particularly alarming isn't just the volume but the source: nearly 72% of censorship attempts now come from organized pressure groups and officials rather than concerned parents or individual library users.

The data reveals a strategic, coordinated campaign targeting primarily LGBTQIA+ content and books addressing race issues. This isn't grassroots concern—it's a calculated political movement with powerful backers attempting to reshape what Americans can access in their public and school libraries.

So what?

• Book challenges have evolved from individual parent concerns to organized political campaigns, with pressure groups targeting 4,190 titles in 2024 (up from an average of just 46 titles annually between 2001-2020).
• The censorship strategy has shifted from targeting individual books to eliminating entire categories and genres from library shelves, effectively weaponizing politics and religion to restrict information access.
• Several states have implemented laws creating regulatory regimes that eliminate librarian involvement in collection development, effectively transferring control of community libraries to state officials.
• Federal courts in Arkansas, Iowa, and Texas have firmly rejected claims that library users lack First Amendment rights, setting critical legal precedents against government censorship.
• Communities are fighting back—from California to New Jersey, state legislatures are passing laws protecting librarians and the freedom to read, with sixteen more states considering similar legislation.

Counterpoint

It's not about books—It's about who controls information and what they control.

The current wave of book bans isn't actually about "protecting children" from inappropriate content. If it were, we'd see individual parents raising specific concerns about materials their children encountered. Instead, we're witnessing a calculated power grab over who controls information access in America.

What's being challenged here isn't just what's on library shelves but the very foundation of public libraries as democratic institutions. Several state attorneys general are actively working to overturn decades of legal precedent that establishes libraries as protected First Amendment spaces, arguing instead that libraries merely express elected officials' opinions.

This isn't conservative versus liberal—it's authoritarianism versus democracy.

When nearly three-quarters of censorship attempts come from organized pressure groups and government officials rather than community members, we're no longer discussing community standards but witnessing an orchestrated attack on institutional independence.

The data tells the story

The American Library Association documented 821 attempts to censor library materials in 2024, affecting 2,452 unique titles. While this represents a decrease from the 1,247 attempts in 2023, it remains drastically higher than historical norms and is still the third-highest number of book challenges recorded since the ALA began documenting library censorship in 1990.

What's most revealing is who's behind these challenges. Pressure groups, elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated nearly 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries. Parents only accounted for 16% of demands to censor books, while less than 5% of reported book challenges were brought by individual library users.

The targeted content follows clear patterns. Books addressing the lives, experiences, and concerns of LGBTQIA+ persons, or books addressing the lives, experiences, and concerns of Black persons, Indigenous persons, and persons of color make up the majority of challenges.

The dangerous legal frontier

Perhaps most concerning is the legal strategy being employed. The most insidious attack on the freedom to read in 2024 is the coordinated and ongoing effort by several state attorneys general to overturn decades of legal precedent that hold that public libraries are public spaces intended for people's access to information and ideas that operate under the First Amendment. They seek a declaration that libraries and their collections are nothing more than an expression of elected officials' opinions that can be censored at will to deny people access to the ideas and opinions they do not like.

This represents a fundamental reimagining of what libraries are and who they serve—from community resources protected by constitutional principles to political expressions controlled by whoever holds power.

Real-world impact

The practical effects of these campaigns are already visible:

• In Virginia, the board of the King George County Schools restricted access to more than 100 titles at the urging of a 76-year-old preacher, who is related to two board members. The books are now under lock and key or kept behind the librarian's desk, and the board has taken control of book selection.
• Nearly 400 books were removed from school libraries in Wilson County, Tennessee, after state legislators adopted a law that barred Tennessee schools from making any books available that "in whole or in part" contain sexual conduct, excess violence, or something that is "patently offensive".
• At the Community Library Network in northern Idaho, 140 young adult and non-fiction titles were removed from circulation at the urging of representatives from the organization Clean Books 4 Kids, denying the entire community access to those books.

The resistance movement

Despite these challenges, there's significant pushback. Legislators in California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington adopted new legislation protecting the freedom to read and the library workers who defend that freedom for their communities. Sixteen other state legislatures are considering similar legislation.

Communities are also speaking out. In New Castle, Indiana, dozens turned out to oppose a proposal to remove several books from the middle school library, with one grandmother stating: "Removing or banning books is a slippery slope to government censorship and the erosion of our country's commitment to freedom of expression".

The business of banning books

What's perhaps most surprising is how organized and well-funded these censorship efforts have become. This isn't random moral panic—it's an industry. These campaigns reflect sophisticated marketing strategies, coordinated across multiple states, with shared talking points and methodologies.

A documentary called The Librarians highlights the experiences of librarians who have been fired, harassed, stalked, and threatened with jail time for defending community access to diverse materials. The coordinated nature of these attacks suggests significant financial backing and political organization.

The question becomes: Who benefits from restricting information access in America's libraries? Certainly not the communities these libraries serve, where in places like Michigan, nearly 100 residents turned out to support their library director and staff after rumors of a possible book ban reached the community.

Libraries remain among America's most trusted institutions precisely because they serve everyone without agenda or bias. The current wave of censorship threatens not just books but the very concept of community-controlled information access.

That something so fundamental to democratic participation and informed citizenship is at risk in the United States of America is almost unbelievable.