Freedom to Read Foundation

Total book challenges in 2022 set to exceed 2021 record

CHICAGO – Eight months into 2022, the number of attempts to ban or restrict library resources in schools, universities and public libraries, is on track to exceed record counts from 2021, according to preliminary data released today by the American Library Association (ALA) in advance of Banned Books Week (Sept. 18-24). 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Award-winning young adult author Jason Reynolds, Book Lust author Nancy Pearl and American Library Association (ALA) intellectual freedom advocate Deborah Caldwell-Stone will join Bell Multicultural High School (Washington, D.C.) students to make the case for defending the right to read—and the joy in claiming that right. The discussion will take place at the largest library event in the world, the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibitions, held in Washington, D.C., June 24-27. 

The American Library Association (ALA) joined with Virginia librarians and booksellers, publishers and civil liberties organizations to issue a statement on June 1 condemning a Virginia political candidate’s legal action that seeks to halt distribution of two well-received books in Virginia. Based on the unfounded claim that the books might be "obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors,” such legal actions threaten Virginians’ freedom to read, according to the coalition’s members.