Censorship
and
Banned Books
Censorship limits access to information and ideas, often by removing books from schools and libraries. At the North High Library, we believe in the freedom to read and explore diverse perspectives. This page highlights books that have been challenged or banned, and why defending the right to read is essential for open-minded learning and critical thinking. Explore, question, and discover—because your voice and choices matter.​
Terms to Know
Censorship
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To have access to information, ideas, or expressions restricted or suppressed by authorities or organizations
Challenge
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An attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or group
Ban
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The official removal or prohibition of a book from a specific space. The U.S. government does not ban books from the entire country, but local governments and governing bodies can ban them from schools, libraries, and bookstores.
Titles Challenged in Public Schools and Libraries During 2023
Attempts to censor books during this period: 938
Total titles challenged in those attempts: 9,021
Unique titles: 4,240
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A challenge may result in access being retained, restricted, or revoked at a school or public library.
Who Initiates Challenges?
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. Recent censorship data is evidence of more organized efforts to challenge books in public and school libraries. Pressure groups--often political in nature--focus on books with topics like race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health. Using social media and other channels, they 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.
Books and Beyond
Books are not the sole target of attacks orchestrated by parent groups and the media. Both school and public librarians are increasingly in the crosshairs during book challenges and are 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.
Where Do Challenges Take Place?
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; school libraries saw an 11% increase.
In a time of deep political divides, library staff across the country are facing an overwhelming number of book ban attempts. In 2023 alone, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 1,247 efforts to censor books and other resources in libraries—an increase of 65% from the year before. In total, 4,240 unique book titles were targeted, many of them representing LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC voices and experiences. So much is at stake. The freedom to explore new ideas and different perspectives is under threat, and book bans don’t just restrict access to stories—they undermine our Constitutional rights. Now is the time to come together, celebrate the right to read, and find freedom in the pages of a book.
I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom. By banning books, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past and to envision a braver future. Books have the power to open minds and build bridges. This is why certain forces do not want the masses to engage with books. They fear progress and growth in new, bold directions . . . I stand with my fellow readers, fellow writers and fellow advocates around the world who refuse to let voices be silenced.
2024 Banned Books Week Honorary Chair Ava DuVernay