A report from the American Library Association shows that attempts to ban books are growing in frequency and volume of books targeted. 2022 shows nearly twice as many books had made the list MAGAs demand to see removed from the shelves.
This stuff is no joke, librarians are threatened with violence and gun-toting weirdos show up at libraries to break up reading circles based on who is wearing what clothes.
Thursday's report not only documents the growing number of challenges, but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually arose with parents and other community members and referred to an individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, which has a mission of "unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government."
Last year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges that the numbers might be far higher.
Librarians around the country have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action."Every day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully determine what reading material is best suited for their child's needs," ALA President Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. "Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing books to youth they and their parents want to read."
