FACT BRIEF

Are book ban efforts on the rise in the US?

Monday, April 11, 2022

By Brian A. Gross

Copy link

Copy featured image

YES

The American Library Association recorded 729 book challenges in 2021—the most since it began counting in 2001. On average, the ALA records around 400 challenges per year.

Multiple book-banning efforts are often coupled in a single challenge; the number of individual titles challenged in 2021 totaled 1,597. The ALA says the true number is even higher given that books are sometimes removed from libraries without a formal challenge.

Challenges are not synonymous with bans, with the majority of challenges being unsuccessful due to advocacy from "librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens."

Most challenges were initiated by conservatives targeting books about people of color and LGBTQ people. "The Hate U Give," a novel about a Black teenage girl whose friend is shot by a police officer at a traffic stop, was challenged for its alleged "anti-police" agenda. "This Book is Gay," a nonfiction book about growing up queer, was challenged for “providing sexual education."

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

American Library Association About Banned & Challenged Books

Google Docs Gigafact Research: American Library Association Challenged Books by Year

NPR Efforts to ban books jumped an 'unprecedented' four-fold in 2021, ALA report says

New York Times Book Banning Efforts Surged in 2021. These Titles Were the Most Targeted.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF BY

Latest fact briefs

About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.