Opinion: American librarians unfortunately face “thousands of book challenges” in today’s political climate

“It’s bad out there.”

“It is very bad.”

“Actually, it’s more than bad.”

“It’s really terrible.”

Comments from librarians I overheard at this year’s American Library Association International Conference, held June 27-July 2 in San Diego, testified to the toxic conditions many librarians and library staff are experiencing in the face of a record number of book challenges over the past year.

In a session of the conference, the topic was introduced with the words: “Book bans dominate our national literary narrative… The targeting of certain ‘controversial’ topics and the resulting threat to intellectual freedom is clear.”

Almost half of the books affected dealt with LGBTQ+ topics.

“Intellectual freedom and book challenges are current themes of this year’s conference,” said Raymond Garcia, ALA communications specialist.

At the June 30 conference, the ALA’s elected council passed a resolution opposing censorship and those who seek to remove books from libraries.

Specifically, the Council condemned efforts to remove materials from library shelves, the endangerment of the physical safety of library staff, and the dismantling and undermining of professional standards by state and local governments.

“Malicious forces seek to destroy our First Amendment rights,” ALA President Emily Drabinski said in a prepared statement. “In this climate where library workers face thousands of book challenges each year and even threats to their safety, we want to speak loudly and with one voice: Let people read what they want to read.”

She called on the public to raise their voices “to protect, preserve and defend people’s right to read freely.”

As with any large group of people, not all books are personally acceptable to every library worker. However, library workers emphasize that personal beliefs should take a back seat to professional duties.

Garcia referred to the ALA’s code of ethics, which states in part: “We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and oppose all attempts to censor library resources.”

“The ALA believes that people should decide for themselves what they read. A book ban means that the government (at every level) decides what people are allowed to read,” he said in an email.

However, not every book is available in every library.

“Book bans strip library staff of their power, even though they are trained to make choices,” he said, adding that their work “responds to the needs of their entire community.”

The largest library event in the world

The American Library Association, based in Chicago, has eight divisions and is the world’s largest membership association for the library industry, with 50,000 individual members and 4,000 organizational members.

For more than 140 years, ALA has advocated for the profession and the role of libraries in promoting learning and ensuring access to information for all.

“The American Library Association is an invaluable resource for book and publishing professionals, educators and the publishing industry as a whole,” said Simon Tasker, executive vice president, general manager and group publisher at San Diego-based Printers Row Publishing Group.

PRPG was at the conference to showcase its Silver Dolphin Books, which publishes titles for younger children.

The five-day conference, considered the largest library event in the world, featured more than 175 educational programs, 500 speakers and authors, and nearly 550 exhibitors. Total attendance of public and school librarians, library staff, authors, publishers, educators, exhibitors, and others was approximately 13,500, including 340 attendees from 51 countries outside the United States.

According to ALA, about 330 participants from the San Diego Public Library took part.

ALA’s Drabinski said in a statement that conference attendees were able to “explore and debate critical questions and develop innovative solutions that will strengthen libraries for the future.”

At the opening session, entertainer Trevor Noah spoke about his new book, Into the Uncut Grass, which is out in October. It is an illustrated fable about a young boy and his adventures in a magical landscape.

Librarians in the crosshairs

According to the ALA, 2023 saw the highest number of book titles affected by censorship on record.

The number of unique book titles challenged in the United States by year was 223 in 2020, 1,858 in 2021, 2,571 in 2022, and 4,240 in 2023, an increase of 65% in 2023 compared to 2022.

The list of the 10 most controversial books in 2023 can be found here.

However, books are not the only target of the attacks; many of them are orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media, according to the ALA.

76% of the objections were directed against books and graphic novels. But exhibition design was also in focus, as were access (library closures, funding, bomb threats), crime (vandalism, theft of materials) and programs.

According to the ALA website, “Prior to 2020, the vast majority of appeals against books and resources in libraries were filed by single parents attempting to remove or restrict their child’s access to a book they were reading.”

But today, the ALA’s findings suggest that there is “a growing, well-organized conservative political movement whose goals include removing from America’s public and school libraries books about race, history, gender identity, sexuality and reproductive health that do not meet with their approval.”

“Through social media and other channels, these groups distribute book lists to their local chapters and individual followers, who then use those lists to initiate a mass challenge that can empty a library’s shelves.”

It is not just libraries that are under attack.

“Both school and public librarians are increasingly being targeted by conservative groups during book contests and are subject to defamatory name-calling, online harassment, social media attacks and doxxing, as well as direct threats to their safety, employment and freedom,” the ALA explains.

Resources to combat bans

A political cartoon from last year addresses this issue. It shows two small children on their way to school. One says: “You are finally making our schools safer.”

“No more weapons?” says the other.

“No, no more books.”

Appropriately, the ALA says the most banned book of all time is George Orwell’s “1984,” which is considered a satire on totalitarianism. Oh, how ironic.

Check out the resources on the Unite Against Book Bans website to learn more about how to protect yourself from book bans.

These websites are also helpful: Freedom to Read Foundation and Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Attempts at censorship can be reported on this site.

During Banned Book Week, defenders of the right to read are encouraged to read banned books.

For more information about Banned Book Week, September 22-28, visit Freed Between the Lines here.

Famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov once said, “Any book worth burning is a book worth reading.”

Opinion columnist and education writer Marsha Sutton can be reached at [email protected].