Current Trends in Book Challenges and the Right to Read: Nine Academic and Public Librarians Share Their Candid Thoughts

Tadayuki Suzuki, Darryn Diuguid, Barbara Ward

Abstract


While the global pandemic has held the attention of many individuals worldwide, a different kind of pandemic seems to have taken hold in the United States. According to the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), books were challenged three times more frequently during the last four months of 2021 than during a comparable period in the previous year. The office recorded 330 various attempts to censor reading materials during that time. Increasingly, educators and librarians especially are facing challenges, threats, and harassment as they navigate this changing landscape. In fact, in the opening months of 2023 several state legislatures are considering legislation targeting books, reading, and intellectual freedom.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5860/jifp.v8i3.7786

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