Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This update includes news from North Carolina, Florida, and the U.S Supreme Court and a look at PEN America’s recent book ban report.
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North Carolina county dissolves library panel over refusal to ban trans book
The board of commissioners in Randolph County, North Carolina, dissolved Randolph County Public Library’s entire library board of trustees in response to that board refusing to remove a single book featuring a transgender child character from the shelves, reports Truth Out.
The book in question, Kyle Lukoff ‘s “Call Me Max,” features a trans boy who says he wants to be called a name that better matches his gender identity. In response to a parent’s complaint about the book, the Randolph County trustees voted in October to keep the book available, with some trustees reportedly commenting that removing or relocating the book would be a “slippery slope” toward censorship.
In response, the Randolph County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 on December 8 to dissolve the library board and its governing bylaws entirely.
The commissioners’ vote means that the commission itself will likely have to appoint new members to the library board of trustees. Critics condemned the decision as being extraordinary.
“It’s a pretty dramatic response to wanting to have diverse and inclusive books on shelves,” said Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program at PEN America.
Lukoff shared in a social media post his distress at the trustees being removed.
“A library’s entire board of trustees was fired and replaced because they refused to ban one of my books. It’s so terrible,” Lukoff said on Instagram. “I just feel so bad for the people who live in that community and love their library.”
Authors John Green, Jodi Picoult Top PEN America’s Banned Books List
On December 16, PEN America released a new report detailing the top 52 most frequently banned books so far this decade. Compiling data from PEN’s index of school book bans from 2021–2025, the list shows that districts across the country have repeatedly targeted specific titles, many of which relate to race and racism, reflect LGBTQ+ identities, or concern sexual abuse and violence.
At the top of the list is John Green’s YA novel “Looking for Alaska” (Dutton, 2005), with 147 instances of banning, followed closely by Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen “ (Atria, 2007), a novel about the unfolding of a school shooting that has amassed 142 bans.
The Supreme Court has opened the door to a new era of book bans
Suzette Baker and Amanda Jones write in Time: “Imagine that you decided to go to your local library to check out a book but you couldn’t find it on the shelf. You ask the librarian for help locating it, but they inform you it’s not available—not because someone else has checked it out, but because the government has physically removed it after deciding they don’t want you to read it.
“This isn’t the plot of a dystopian novel, it’s the reality that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed…”
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to not hear arguments in the book ban case: Leila Green Little et al. v. Llano County. In leaving the Fifth Circuit ruling in place, the Court effectively granted state and local governments in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas the authority to determine what materials people can and cannot read.
“This means people in these states do not have the same First Amendment rights as the rest of the country,” Baker and Jones write. “And that should raise alarm for everyone.”
Hundreds more books removed from Florida schools
About 400 books were “removed or discontinued” from Florida public schools in the 2024-25 school year by school boards across the state, according to a report by the Florida Department of Education, reports the Tallahassee Democrat.
No books were removed or discontinued in 56 of Florida’s 67 counties, or almost 84%, but more than half of the books that were removed were in one county alone: Clay County, southwest of Jacksonville.
The number of books removed is down from roughly 700 the year before.
The removals are happening to remain in compliance with a law (HB 1069) signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 which has been used to sweep thousands of books from Florida’s school libraries. The law was partially struck down by a federal judge in August, who ruled that the law was so vague it’s unconstitutional. There are three overarching appeals to federal lawsuits playing out in the courts all related to Florida’s book removals.
Take action
Alarmed by the escalating attempts to censor books? Here are six steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.
- Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
- Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
- Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
- Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week.
- Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement and visit our Fight Censorship page to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community
- Become a Supporter of the American Library Association and help ALA fight for libraries and everyone’s freedom to read.
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