ALA: Number of Unique Titles Challenged up for 2023

To no one’s surprise, censorship in the form of book challenges is up across all of library world. What may be a little surprising is that there were more challenges in 2023 – 4,240 to be exact – than there were in the previous two years (2021 and 2022).

Number of Unique Titles Challenged (2021-2023)

The 2023 numbers equate to the largest growth ever documented by the American Library Association. In analyzing this data, you see the largest growth in public libraries with an astounding increase of 92%. Public schools saw growth of 11% in challenges.

The two largest thematic areas of books were LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC making up roughly half of all challenges.

The states with the largest numbers of title censorships included, in alphabetical order, the following:

States with more than 100 titles censored

Colorado	Connecticut	Florida	Idaho
Illinois	Iowa	Kentucky	Maryland
Missouri	North Carolina	Ohio	Pennsylvania
Tennessee	Texas	Utah	Virginia
Wisconsin

The states with the greatest number of banned books were Texas and Florida.

ALA President Emily Drabinski stated: “Every challenge to a library book is an attack on our freedom to read. The books being targeted again focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color. Our communities and our country are stronger because of diversity. Libraries that reflect their communities’ diversity promote learning and empathy that some people want to hide or eliminate.” 

ALA will announce the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in the U.S. for 2023 on Right to Read Day, Monday, April 8, as part of the release of the “State of America’s Libraries Report” that kicks off National Library Week.

To see how your state contrasts with others in this report, see the “Heat Map below.”

Data compiled by American Library Association – Office for Intellectual Freedom

For information on how to help fight back against book bans, go to Unite Against Book Bans.