(NewsNation) — A report from Pen America shows a record number of attempts to ban books from schools and libraries between July 2021 and March 2022.
Several states have passed laws restricting access to books that some say include references to critical race theory, contain content too sexually explicit for children or raise awareness for the LGBTQ community.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association, said this year has seen triple the effort to remove books from schools and libraries.
“Right now we’re at 800 cases of individuals demanding the removal of books from the shelves, and that’s affecting over 1,800 book titles, which is unprecedented,” Caldwell-Stone said. “We have never seen this level of book censorship in the United States in the last 20 years.”
A recent ALA poll found 71% of voters surveyed opposed banning books.
“The claim that is anything touching on gender identity or sexual orientation is inappropriate simply isn’t true,” Caldwell-Stone said. “It’s become a pretext for removing books that don’t meet a particular agenda.”
