Censorship by the Numbers Infographic Text:
Books unite us. They reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, divides us and creates barriers. In 2021, 1,597 books were affected by censorship attempts. Learn more at ala.org/bbooks.
Who Initiates Challenges?
- 39% parents
- 24% patrons
- 18% board/administration
- 10% political/religious groups
6% librarians/teachers
- 2% elected officials
- 1% students
Where do Challenges Take Place?
- 44% school libraries
- 37% public libraries
- 18% schools
- 1% academic and other types of libraries
Books and Beyond
The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges in 2021. Here's the breakdown:
- 82% books, graphic novels, and textbooks
- 5% programs, meeting rooms
- 4% displays, exhibits
- 2% films
- 7% other (includes filtering access, databases, magazines, online resources, artwork, social media, music, pamphlets, student publications, reading lists)
Reasons for Challenges (each word and phrase is cited from 2021 censorship reports):
- LGBTQIA
- Sexually explicit
- woke
- obscene
- critical race theory
- profanity
- polarizing
- political viewpoint
- drugs
- racially divisive
- problematic author
- not a happy ending
- gender dysphoria
- non-traditional values
- sex education
- indoctrinating kids
- rape
- promoted a homosexual lifestyle
- offensive Chinese stereotypes
- pedophilia
- anti-semitic
- bleak
- racist content
- low literary value
- sexualization of women
