Primarily interest organizations that want to ban books in the United States

In recent years, a number of books have been banned from American libraries.

Now a report from the US Library Association (ALA) shows that it is increasingly interest organizations and politicians who are responsible for the attempts to ban books, writes The Guardian.

In 2024, a total of 4,190 book titles were exposed to censor attempts from interest organizations, elected representatives, board members and administrators. This is a drastic increase compared to before, according to the association. Between 2001 and 2020, there were an average of 46 book titles per year.

Only 17 percent of last year’s attempt to ban books came from parents.

« The requirements to remove and limit books and other library materials are not the result of any grassroots movement or popular opinion, » Ala writes in the report, and continues:

« The majority of attempts at book censorship now come from well -financed, organized groups and movements that have long been devoted to limiting access to information and ideas. »

One of the most active groups is Moms for Liberty, which according to The Guardian has strong links to the Republican Party.

At the same time, decreased the trials to ban books between 2023 and 2024, from 1,247 to 821 attempts. According to ALA, a partial explanation may be that self -censorship and statutory restrictions for books with « controversial themes » led to the titles being already removed from the libraries.

It is above all books with LGBTQ+themes or discussions about ethnicity, racism and social justice that ended up in the shotgun in the United States. The two books that became most questioned last year were « All Boys Aren’t Blue. A memoir Manifesto » by George M Johnson and « Gender Queer » by Maia Kobabe.

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