Book banning is not new — in the U.S. alone the practice goes back to Puritan times, when Thomas Morton’s book “New English Caanan” and others opposing this way of life were tossed from Massachusetts.
But the American Library Association said Monday that this year there have been more challenges to books than they have seen since they started tracking it in 2000.
The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom counted 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials in 2021. It’s a significant jump: Last year the group noted 156 challenges — and in 2019, there were 377. Although the 2020 number was impacted by the pandemic, which forced schools and libraries to shut down, the ALA said they don’t usually get more than 500 book challenges in any given year.
Read this story for free
To continue reading, sign up for our newsletters and get unlimited access to WABE.org
We won't share your information with outside organizations Why am I seeing this?
