Washington Post

It’s Banned Books Week. LGBTQ+ Content Tops the Most-Challenged List.

Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post
Books successfully defended by Martha Hickson, a high school librarian in New Jersey, in 2023.

The Washington Post / Niha Masih

13:09 JST, September 25, 2024

The attempts to censor, restrict or ban books in 2024 in the United States continued to surpass pre-pandemic levels, while books with LGBTQ+ themes dominate the most-challenged list, advocacy groups said in reports released Monday, just as Banned Books Week began.

The annual event, which will run through Saturday nationwide, seeks to spotlight the value of free and open access to information. Free-speech nonprofit PEN America and the American Library Association (ALA) released their preliminary data on book challenges and bans in 2024 to mark the week.

Some red states have moved in recent years to pass a rash of legislation to ban or restrict the availability of books from schools and public libraries over material they deem unfit for children. Some bills threaten librarians with prison or prohibitive fines, contributing to what one librarian described as a “poisonous atmosphere.”

Here’s what to know about Banned Books Week and the latest reports on book bans.

Why are book bans in the news?

More than 10,000 books were removed, at least temporarily, in U.S. public schools during the 2023-24 school year, according to preliminary data from PEN America. This figure is nearly three times higher than the number from the previous school year, it said. The group gathers data through publicly available information on district or school websites, media reports, public records requests and school board minutes. PEN America considers a book ban as either when a book is completely pulled or where access is temporarily limited or restricted.

The group said the key drivers behind the spike were state laws and the influence of conservative groups that push for “parental rights.” PEN America highlighted laws passed in Iowa and Florida last year and said newly enacted policies in Utah, South Carolina and Tennessee were likely to affect books in the new school year.

The data collected by the ALA suggests a drop in the attempts to censor books and materials in libraries in the first eight months of 2024, compared with the same period last year. The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 414 attempts to challenge books between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2024, compared with 695 such efforts in 2023. The group, however, said the number of attempts far exceeds the challenges before 2020, based on information from library professionals and media reports. A book challenge may not always result in the book being withdrawn or restricted, it added.

The two groups found that the challenges overwhelmingly targeted LGBTQ+ content or books written by or for those individuals.

Both groups said these findings probably represent an undercount, as many challenges go unreported.

What is Banned Books Week?

Established in 1982, Banned Books Week comprises of a coalition of organizations supporting the freedom to read. ALA, PEN America, Amnesty International USA and the Children’s Book Council are some of the sponsors.

This year’s theme is “Freed Between the Lines,” and filmmaker Ava DuVernay is the honorary chair. “By banning books, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past and to envision a braver future,” she said in a statement, adding that Banned Books Week is a “celebration of our right to access varied voices and to engage with ideas that challenge and champion us.”

A Washington Post analysis in December of nearly 900 book challenges nationally found that titles with LGBTQ+ characters, themes and stories are most likely to be targeted and that almost half of the books challenged are ultimately returned to the shelves.