PVLF 2025

1,269 Book Censorship Attempts in American Libraries in 2022

This amount sets a record for a single year and is over two times more than the prior year. For over 20 years, the group has been monitoring these patterns.
on Apr 25, 2023

An autobiographical graphic book on gender identity, and a compilation of the activist's essays. The debut book by Toni Morrison.

According to a recent assessment from the American Library Association, these books were some of the most problematic ones in American libraries in 2022.

A rising tendency in the U.S. led to attempts to outlaw books, including "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe, "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson, and "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison. According to the libraries association, there were 1,269 attempts to censor books and other resources in libraries in 2022.

This amount sets a record for a single year and is over two times more than the prior year. For over 20 years, the group has been monitoring these patterns.

In 2022, more than 2,500 distinct titles were investigated, the bulk of which featured or were authored by LGBT people and people of color.

All around the United States, the initiatives have been successful. A library in a small community in western Michigan lost funding due to a controversy over its LGBT-related materials. After a federal court mandated the restoration of more than a dozen recently removed books to shelves, a Texas county pondered shutting its public libraries.

The American Library Association's Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada said compiling a list of the most difficult books in 2022 might serve in identifying the groups, narratives, and topics that are frequently the focus of book-banning efforts.

These books and others are allegedly being pushed for removal by elected officials, parents, and conservative organizations like Moms for Liberty because the titles are unsuitable for kids and schools. The initiative also came as a result of state authorities' orders and laws.

Many of the most challenged books in 2022 were also on the American Library Association's list of the most challenged books in 2021. The list also agrees with recent assessments from the literary and advocacy organization PEN America.

The top 13 books that the American Library Association predicts will be challenged the most in 2022 are listed below:

1. “Gender Queer," by Maia Kobabe

2. "All Boys Aren't Blue," by George M. Johnson

3. "The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison

4. "Flamer," by Mike Curato

5. (tie) "Looking for Alaska," by John Green

6. (tie) "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky

7. "Lawn Boy," by Jonathan Evison

8. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," by Sherman Alexie

9. "Out of Darkness," by Ashley Hope Pérez

10. (tie) "A Court of Mist and Fury," by Sarah J. Maas

11. (tie) "Crank," by Ellen Hopkins