Last year saw a record 4,240 book titles challenged in schools and libraries, according to new data from the American Library Association (ALA). This year looks set to be similarly bad, with censorship triggering firings and protest at an Alabama library—and a Virginia school reading program halted after complaints about a book that includes a nonbinary oak tree. Which is nonbinary because … all oak trees are.
Book Challenges By the Numbers
The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has documented 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023. Some of these demands included more than one title; overall, a record 4,240 unique titles were challenged. Such book challenges may result in the book being restricted, withdrawn, or retained in the collection. (I’ll add that even when a book is retained, it is often unavailable for a period of time while the challenge is evaluated.)
The ALA points out several trends in 2023’s data (my bold):
- Pressure groups in 2023 focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023; school libraries saw an 11% increase over 2022 numbers.
- Groups and individuals demanding the censorship of multiple titles, often dozens or hundreds at a time, drove this surge.
- Titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47% of those targeted in censorship attempts.
- There were attempts to censor more than 100 titles in each of these 17 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Florida (2,672) and Texas (1,470 ) led in the number of unique titles challenged. Those challenges reflect 33 and 49 attempts to challenge materials, respectively—proving the second bullet point above, that often few people and groups are behind huge numbers of titles being targeted.
None of this should come as any big surprise to anyone who’s paid any bit of attention to the news lately. It generally accords with recent book ban numbers from PEN America, although the latter uses school rather than calendar years, and looks at bans in school libraries and classrooms, versus the ALA’s focus on school and public libraries. One shouldn’t compare the numbers directly, although there is overlap in their scope.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement, “Each demand to ban a book is a demand to deny each person’s constitutionally protected right to choose and read books that raise important issues and lift up the voices of those who are often silenced.”
And ALA President Emily Drabinski (who happens to be a lesbian mom), noted, “Every challenge to a library book is an attack on our freedom to read. The books being targeted again focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color. Our communities and our country are stronger because of diversity. Libraries that reflect their communities’ diversity promote learning and empathy that some people want to hide or eliminate.”
She added, “Libraries are vital institutions to each and every community in this country, and library professionals, who have dedicated their lives to protecting our right to read, are facing threats to their employment and well-being.”
Firings and Protest at an Alabama Library
Sobering proof of Drabinski’s words: After Andrew Foster, director of the Autauga-Prattville Public Library in Alabama, pushed back against a request from the library board to remove or relocate over 113 titles, most of which had LGBTQ content, the library board fired him yesterday. Kelly Jensen at Book Riot reports that afterwards, “library staff members walked out and locked up the library in solidarity with their director,” causing four additional staff to be fired.
This came in the wake of a new policy that bans the library from acquiring books “advertised for consumers ages 17 and under which contain content including, but not limited to, obscenity, sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance.” Books for adults on those topics will get special red stickers. Minors will be issued special library cards that prevent them from checking out books with such content. The policy was enacted by the board without Foster’s support, according to Jensen.
The Alabama Political Reporter (APR) says that Foster was officially fired “for revealing confidential information to the press and violation of criminal law”—the “confidential information” being e-mails requested by APR under the Alabama Open Records Act. The e-mails detail Foster’s questioning of the 113 books on the board’s list and whether they actually violate the new policy. It is unclear from the e-mails whether board members are asking Foster to remove the books or to relocate them away from sections that minors can access.
The new rules do allow exceptions for “Age-appropriate materials concerning biology, human anatomy, or religion.” But the idea that those topics can be easily separated (or that they have to be) is ridiculous. I can think of many kids’ books concerning biology and human anatomy that also contain content about sexual orientation and/or gender identity (try B Is for Bellies, It’s a Wild World, or You-ology: A Puberty Guide for EVERY Body, among others). It’s as ridiculous as lumping books with content on sexual orientation and gender identity in with books that are obscene.
The policy also begs the question of what exactly is “content including” sexual orientation or gender identity. Is the depiction of a man and a woman getting married content on sexual orientation? Is a girl playing with Barbies content on gender identity? The ridiculousness multiplies.
Protest Against a Nonbinary Tree
Speaking of ridiculous, the Floyd County school district in Virginia has halted an elementary school reading program after one parent complained that the chosen book for the semester, Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree, included a “A tree with pronouns, and can be any sex it wants. Indoctrination at its finest.” (Thanks to the Roanoake Times for its reporting and to Jensen and Book Riot for the heads up.) The tree is a sentient (but otherwise very tree-like) oak, which, like all real oaks, is monecious, meaning it has both male and female flowers. The tree says in the story:
Some trees are male. Some trees are female. And some, like me, are both.
It’s confusing, as is often the case with nature.
Call me she. Call me he. Anything will work.
The book in fact uses the tree’s watchful gaze on its nearby human community to tell a story about what happens when a Muslim family immigrates to the town and experiences anti-Muslim hatred (including a slur carved into the tree). It is a lovely and powerful tale about the need to be inclusive and welcoming, even to those who may be different from ourselves. It’s hugely ironic that the book has triggered the response that it has (and shows how the overreaction to anything involving “gender” or “pronouns” is leading to the censorship of things far beyond LGBTQ-specific content).
To keep up with all that’s happening with book censorship, I recommend Book Riot’s Literary Activism newsletter (though I’ll keep reporting on highlights, particularly LGBTQ-related ones, here at Mombian, too.)
If your school, school district, or public library tries to ban or restrict books, please confidentially report the attempts to the American Library Association (ALA) and/or to the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC).
If you want to do more to take action against book bans, one good place to start is Unite Against Book Bans, created by the American Library Association and a coalition of other organizations, which offers talking points, suggested actions, and more resources.