Challenges have surged to record highs over the past few years, and the 2024 totals so far still exceed the ALA’s numbers before 2020.

In observance of Banned Books Week, the American Library Association and PEN America released reports on book censorship across the country.

A San Diego native will Monday give a special reading of his book, banned by an Arizona school district in 2012, as part of National Banned Book Week.

The annual event is meant to bring the book community together in support of literature and the need for having free and open access to information.

Two new reports provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide.

Banned Books Week kicked off Sunday across the nation, uniting authors, readers, librarians and more in the effort to combat what some data shows as a rise in censorship.

In the 2023-2024 school year, state legislation was “particularly critical in accelerating book bans,” the report states, “making it easier to remove books from schools without due process, or in some cases,