How Book Bans Are Taking a Toll on Many Authors
More than 3,000 books were banned in the 2022-2023 school year, according to PEN America.
OCTOBER 5, 2023
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More than 3,000 books were banned in the 2022-2023 school year, according to PEN America.
“We have to fight for our freedom to read,” Pressley told the audience.
The American Library Association says it documented over 820 attempts to censor books and related LGBTQ+ services at libraries and educational facilities in 2024.
The library’s executive director confirmed the book was listed because of the word “gay.”
With skyrocketing attempts to ban books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color, the guide provides a way to fight back.
Republican House members and conservative groups contended that removing books from school libraries doesn't amount to banning them, while Democrats pushed back.
Between May 2022 and May 2023, 6.1 million LGBTQ+ fiction books were sold.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the Freedom to Read Act, which prohibits public institutions from removing books based on the "origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors."
The number of titles targeted rose 65 percent over 2022, according to the American Library Association.
To mark Banned Book Week, PEN America offers thoughts about how banned books deny all youth the affirming and empathetic vision that literature sparks.
The Republican governor of Florida really did that.
The law will deny state funding to public libraries that ban or restrict books because of “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”
The publisher's action is drawing criticism from teachers, librarians, and advocacy groups.
“We need all hands on deck in this moment, and there’s something everyone can do,” Emily Drabinski says.
A children's dictionary is one of almost 3,000 books under review at a Florida school district.