Censorship

A recent CBS News/YouGov poll showed Americans do not support removing books about race from schools and believe that students should be taught the history of race and racism in the United States.

You know things are bad when LeVar Burton can’t get through a read-aloud. The actor and beloved “Reading Rainbow” host dropped by The Daily Show With Trevor Noah with a serious message on censorship.

A look at censorship attempts across the country includes book complaints in Florida, Kansas, and North Carolina, and book-targeting legislation in Indiana, Tennessee, and Georgia. 

The National Coalition Against Censorship creates a Book Challenge Crisis Hotline and Youth Censorship Database and Map in response to the rising censorship attempts across the county; We Need Diverse Books offers new educator grants; Cook Prize nominees announced; and more news. 

Amanda Jones, 2021 School Librarian of the Year, was supported by her principal and district leadership while handling a challenge to the award-winning book.

SLJ asked readers to report censorship and received dozens of submissions to our tips hotline. Here are just a few of the stories librarians shared.

A New Jersey school librarian offers a revealing account of her experience at the center of an attempt to remove books from her library. She also presents ideas for the ongoing fight against censorship.

Martha Hickson "is putting herself on the line and giving librarians strength to hold fast to their views and their values and push back against these attacks,” says Chris Finan, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. 

It started with Leander parents who were concerned about curriculum.  What happened next epitomizes the wave of other book challenges sweeping the country.