Attempts to Ban Books Accelerated Last Year

Alexandra Alter March 14, 2024 1 min read

Alexandra Alter
The New York Times

Excerpt: After several years of rising book bans, censorship efforts continued to surge last year, reaching the highest levels ever recorded by the American Library Association. Last year, 4,240 individual titles were targeted for removal from libraries, up from 2,571 titles in 2022, according to a report released Thursday by the association.

Those figures likely fail to capture the full scale of book removals, as many go unreported. The American Library Association, which has tracked book bans for more than 20 years, compiles data from book challenges that library professionals reported to the group and information gathered from news reports.

Click here for link to full article

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in National Free Speech News & Commentary

The New Chilling Effect: Too many institutions are teaching young people to stay quiet.
The New Chilling Effect: Too many institutions are teaching young people to stay quiet.

By Jacob Blane, Annabelle Garland, and Sam Gross July 23, 2026 1 min read

If you’re looking for a reason to despair over the state of American education, there are many places you could start. Something that deserves more attention is damage to free expression—not in the classroom but in the public sphere of high school: the realms of student newspapers, student government, and other aspects of everyday life. School is meant to prepare students for the real world, but too many institutions are training kids to be silent.

Read More
Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance
Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance

American Association of University Professors  July 23, 2026 1 min read

Higher education in the United States and the faculty members central to its mission are under unprecedented, destructive, and sustained attack, part of a larger assault on democratic governance, civil society, and knowledge itself. 

Read More
DOJ Takes Aim at UC San Diego Med School’s Use of Hardship in Admissions
DOJ Takes Aim at UC San Diego Med School’s Use of Hardship in Admissions

Katherine Knott July 23, 2026 1 min read

The University of California at San Diego’s medical school discriminated on the basis of race in admissions decisions over the course of three cycles, the Justice Department claimed this week. 

Read More