Books are not the sole target of attacks orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media. Both school and public librarians are increasingly in the crosshairs of conservative groups during book challenges and subject to defamatory name-calling, online harassment, social media attacks, and doxxing, as well as direct threats to their safety, their employment, and their very liberty.
Prior to 2020, the vast majority of challenges to library books and resources were brought by a single parent who sought to remove or restrict access to a book their child was reading. However, in 2024, 72% of of reported book challenges were demands by pressure groups and government entities to censor multiple titles in school and public libraries. In 2024, there have been attempts to remove 2,452 titles. This number surpasses the average number of 273 titles that were challenged yearly during 2001-2020.
These numbers and the list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 are evidence of a growing, well-organized, conservative political movement, the goals of which include removing books about race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health from America's public and school libraries that do not meet their approval. Using social media and other channels, these groups distribute book lists to their local chapters and individual adherents, who then utilize the lists to initiate a mass challenge that can empty the shelves of a library.
In 2024, 45% of the demands to censor books targeted books, programs, displays, and other materials in school libraries and schools; 55% of book challenges targeted materials in public libraries.
Books are still being banned and challenged today. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials.
While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.
ALA documented 2,452 demands to censor library books and resources in 2024, one of the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2024 is less than the 4,240 book challenges reported in 2023. However, we must remain vigilant as numbers have only increased in past years and can do so again. Of the record 2,452 unique titles targeted for censorship, these are most challenged, including reasons cited for censoring the books.
