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Libraries of all sizes across the US are more than just information access points: They’re social hubs, technology centers, and can be safe havens for the marginalized. In rural areas and small towns in particular, libraries are often one of the few—or only—places to serve these functions in a way that’s free and accessible to […]
Tracy K. Smith Photo: Andrew Kelly Author, professor, and librettist Tracy K. Smith is as prolific as she is distinguished. She has won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (for 2011’s Life on Mars), earned a National Book Award nomination (for her 2015 memoir, Ordinary Light), and served as 2017–2019 US poet laureate. With To Free […]
Libraries and schools nationwide are working overtime to repel an unprecedented level of attacks on the freedom to read. Vigorous debate, advocacy, and coalition-building remain the backbone of the fight against book banning. But some libraries, groups, and individuals have recently taken innovative approaches to ensure information access for all. Books Unbanned is one of […]
LeVar Burton Photo: Sarah Coulter for Paramount+ When asked about the impact libraries have had on his life and work, LeVar Burton answered simply and succinctly: “Better to ask what role sunlight and water plays in the life and work of flowers.” The actor, known for his roles in the iconic series Roots and Star […]
Libraries are facing a record number of attempts to restrict access to books and other library materials. In the first eight months of 2023, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) reported challenges against 1,915 titles in libraries. This pace is expected to eclipse the record set in 2022, which saw 2,571 titles challenged. To help […]
High school senior Da’Taeveyon Daniels has quickly become a passionate leader in advocating for students and intellectual freedom. The 16-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, is the youngest member of the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Advisory Council, the partnership director for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), and the leader of Student Advocates for Speech (SAS) […]
Banned Books Week takes place Oct. 1–7 1,269Number of book challenges documented in 2022 by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). This is nearly double the number reported in 2021 and the highest number of book ban attempts since OIF started compiling this data more than 20 years ago. The 2022 challenges […]
Illustrations: Tom Deja Amanda Jones has been called a pedophile and a groomer. She’s received death threats. She’s lost friends, weight, and hair. She even had to take a leave of absence from her job as a school librarian in Louisiana for mental health reasons. All because she spoke at a public library board meeting […]
Simon & Schuster Senior Vice President and Publisher Justin Chanda (left) interviews author Judy Blume at the 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition. Photo: EPNAC This summer marked a homecoming for the American Library Association (ALA), as thousands of library workers and advocates gathered in Chicago for the 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition. The conference, which […]
Growing up in Boise, Idaho, my dream was always to be a writer in New York City. Instead, in 2000, I found myself fact-checking at Lucky, a magazine about shopping. I wasn’t penning trenchant essays on the state of the world for an audience of adoring readers. I was confirming the prices of handbags and […]
Ava Kirtley raised money to purchase books from frequently banned lists and gave them away to teens in Walla Walla, Washington. Ava Kirtley was a high school junior when she first learned about attempts to ban books at her school library in Walla Walla, Washington. In summer 2021, several parents and community members challenged a […]
Photo: Imani Khayyam Soon after Angie Thomas released her debut young adult novel, The Hate U Give, in 2017, the book became a common target for challenges in schools and libraries across the US. But the novel also helped change the landscape of the publishing industry, at a time when authors and readers were calling […]
In mid-March, I spoke on a panel at the South by Southwest EDU conference in Texas to discuss the alarming and increasingly weaponized attempts to ban and remove books from public and school libraries. Joining me on the panel were Carolyn Foote, retired school librarian and FReadom Fighters cofounder; Kelvin Watson, executive director of Las […]
Kelly Yang Photo: Jessica Sample As a kid, the library was the first place Kelly Yang felt invited to “dream bigger.” Yang, now a bestselling and award-winning middle-grade and YA author, spent her childhood moving from city to city, making it difficult to find her footing. But everywhere she went, she could find familiar stories […]
Joslyn Dixon (left), executive director of Oak Park (Ill.) Public Library, poses with author Caseen Gaines in the LLX Marketplace.Photo: EPNAC For the first time, the American Library Association (ALA) held LibLearnX (January 27–30) in person. The four-day hybrid event drew 1,712 attendees and 757 exhibitors to New Orleans as well as 190 participants to […]
Uniting against censorship attempts Organized book challenges continued to proliferate. From January through August, 681 attempts to ban or restrict library materials had been made in the US, with 1,651 unique titles targeted. In response to mounting censorship threats, ALA announced in May its Unite Against Book Bans campaign, a coalition with more than 60 […]
Illustration: Gaby FeBland When a handful of books stopped being returned at Vinton (Iowa) Public Library, Janette McMahon suspected it was more than just forgetfulness. McMahon, the library director at the time, says residents of the east central Iowa town of 5,000 had been discussing book bans, and it had become heated. “We had five […]
Rebecca Makkai Photo: Brett Simison Each of Rebecca Makkai’s five books is different in focus and style, and all are enthralling, incisive, and witty. Her 2018 novel The Great Believers won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Stonewall Book Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Makkai is a Guggenheim fellow; […]
Illustration: Chelsea Feng As libraries, schools, and universities continue to confront unprecedented attacks on the freedom to read, the Public Library Association (PLA) invited library colleagues to participate in “Facing the Challenge,” a virtual town hall held March 4. As those who have endured book-banning attempts and related legislative efforts know, the experience is often […]
In their bestselling young adult memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), author and activist George M. Johnson tells the story of their life growing up Black and queer in the United States, while also addressing topics like racism, gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, and sexual abuse. The book has been […]
