BOOK BANS ARE ON THE RISE

BOOK CHALLENGES DOUBLED IN 2022 AND THE USUAL TARGETS ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR AND THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

The American Library Association (ALA) recently published a report stating that attempts to remove books from libraries nearly doubled in 2022 over the previous year. 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color. These two already-marginalized groups are directly disadvantaged by being erased from history, memoirs, and fiction.

A report by PEN America, a nonprofit supporting literature and writing, said that 1,648 unique titles were banned in the 2021-2022 school year. Of those titles, 41% centered LGBTQ+ themes, and 40% featured a prominent character of color.

The wave of censorship coincides with legislation around the country limiting or eliminating access to informational and educational texts. Some laws impose restrictions on libraries altogether. Librarians are being punished for doing their job serving their communities; some have quit from harassment and others have been fired for keeping books available.

Banned books are taken out of public libraries so nobody can access them. Since public libraries are a free resource, folks who have limited financial resources are directly impacted.

Disappearing the depth of history, art, and lived experience from libraries featuring LGBTQ+ and BIPOC narratives flies in the face of freedom of speech and expression; narrows American history and literature to only dominant culture and cis-gendered perspectives; is fascist in its roots; and curtails a free resource that libraries everywhere provide. See the QRs for more info on this harrowing real-time anti-intellectual movement.