Advocacy: Unite Against Book Bans

censorship quote
Click on the image to read the State of America's Libraries 2022

Hear more book challenges this at Rural Assembly Everywhere as we discuss censorship with neighbors from a rural community that faced the banning of a book in their school district. 


As National Library Week kicks off, the American Library Association has launched a new effort “to fight the rising tide of book challenges.” 

Unite Against Book Bans is a national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship.

According to the ALA, a majority of Americans are opposed to book bans, but a vocal minority is currently dominating the national conversation.

A recent poll showed bipartisan opposition to book bans: 71 percent of voters oppose efforts to remove books from public libraries and 67% of voters oppose efforts to remove books from school libraries.

And yet, attempts to ban books from libraries are rising at an unprecedented level across the country. The American Library Association reported more than 729 attempted bans of 1,597 individual books in 2021 alone, according to the ALA.(Read the 10 top most challenged books below.)

Earlier this year, The Rural Assembly’s Whitney Kimball Coe wrote about her county’s experience with a book challenge and ban of the graphic novel “Maus.” Read her essay.  

Our upcoming Rural Assembly Everywhere virtual gathering on May 10 and 11th will include a discussion of book bans from a rural lens. Register now for free.

Something to watch: On Thursday, April 7, at 10 a.m. ET, the House of Representatives’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will host a hybrid hearing titled “Free Speech Under Attack: Book Bans and Academic Censorship.”

Most challenged books

  1. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
    Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images
  2. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
    Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
  3. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
    Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
  4. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
    Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
  5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
    Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda
  6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
    Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term
  7. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
    Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women
  8. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
    Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit
  9. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
    Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.
  10. Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
    Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit. 

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Drawing Resilience: Caryl Hale

Caryl Hale is the executive director of the Norton Regional Health Foundation and amember of the Norton Arts Council in Norton, Kansas. Hale brings her experience in farming and foodsystems with her to both roles, helping to create rural health policies that center art and food production.

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Extend your Everywhere experience by registering for one or more of three workshops hosted with partners Aug. 6- 8th, the week following our mainstage programming on Aug. 1. 

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