The number of people calling for bans on books is on the rise in the U.S., with 729 individual challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2021, versus only 307 book challenges in 2013. But which topics are we seeing bans or attempted bans on and how has it changed over the years?
According to the American Library Association (ALA), of the 273 books to be challenged in 2020, there was an increasing demand to remove books from schools and libraries that focused on LGBT+ stories and issues, increasing from nine percent of challenges in 2013 to 23.5 percent in 2020. This included titles such as George by Alex Gino, which has been republished under the name Melissa, and tells the tale of a young transgender girl. This pattern has continued into 2021, with texts such as Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, among others, being added to the banned list of public schools or libraries in certain states.
When a book is challenged, several of the same reasons are repeatedly cited. As our chart shows, the most common reason in both years was sexual content, remaining at around the 92 percent mark in both cases. Meanwhile, the seven year gap saw a shift away from outcries over violence and the mention of drugs and alcohol towards challenges over religious viewpoints and racism.
The ALA also listed how books on social justice and antiracism as well as stories that centered Black, Indigenous or people of color were challenged by some Americans. Titles such as Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds as well as Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard were included on the 2020 list - with the latter being banned for promoting “anti-police views”.
