Are the U.S. seeing a surge in book bans? That depends on where where people get data and what they qualify as a “ban.”
The American Library Association (ALA) and PEN American both released reports offering different insights about the ongoing conflict taking place in schools and public libraries.
In its annual list of the most “challenged books” of 2023, the ALA said it documented more than 4,200 book titles that were challenged for censorship in libraries — a 65% increase from 2022. The ALA defines “challenged” as “an attempt to remove or restrict access to materials or services based upon the objections of a person or group.”
A challenged book could be relocated to the adult section, labeled with a content warning or require parental consent to check out. However, the ALA report doesn’t ultimately say what happened to those books. So, it is unclear how many challenged books were removed or restricted.
The ALA said a book is “banned” only when it is entirely removed from a library’s collection.
PEN America addressed banned books in a separate report. The free speech organization found more than 4,300 books were “banned” from schools across 23 states in the first half of the 2023 school year. PEN America defines a ban as any action taken against a book that leads to a book’s access being diminished in any form.
For example, PEN America said that if a book that was previously available to all but now requires parental permission or is restricted to a higher grade level than educators initially determined, that is a ban.
Sex in books has commonly been used as grounds for removal and both reports highlight the concerns from objectors. The PEN America report characterized those concerns as “inflated rhetoric.”
While book bans are nothing new in the United States, the way they’re being covered and the definition of what constitutes a ban is evolving. More states and school districts navigate challenges from parents and activist groups, leading to conflicting stances.