Book Bans Skyrocket Amid Sweeping Attacks on Multiple Titles
Maia Kobabe The number of books being banned or facing attempted bans in schools and libraries increased dramatically in 2022, with books that have LGBTQ and/or Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) characters predominant among them, as two new reports show.
While these trends are not new, the reports find disturbing shifts in the forces behind them. “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe, a memoir about growing up nonbinary and asexual, has topped the American Library Association’s annual list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books for the second year in a row.
Of the 13 books on the list (more than 10 because of ties), seven were targeted because of LGBTQIA+ content. The list was released April 24th as part of the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) annual “State of America’s Libraries Report,” which found a record 1,269 challenges (demands for censorship) to library, school, and university materials and services in 2022, targeting a record 2,571 unique titles, up from 729 challenges and 1,858 unique titles in 2021, both years charting a hockey-stick rise from 2020 and earlier.
Of the challenged titles, the ALA said, “the vast majority” were by or about LGBTQIA+ and/or BIPOC people. That’s unfortunately no different from many past years.
