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 details about ALA’s tracking of book bans and challenges in 2025, as well as news from Iowa, North Carolina, and Washington.
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ALA’s new State of America’s Libraries Report reveals 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, marking the second-highest total on record
On April 20, the American Library Association (ALA) released the 2026 State of America’s Libraries Report, offering a window into the ongoing challenges libraries continue to face head-on.
The reports finds that ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, the second highest ever documented by ALA. Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (40%) represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color.
ALA defines a “ban” as the removal of materials from a library based on the objections of a person or group. A “challenge” is an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group.
ALA also documented 713 attempts to censor library materials and services, 487 of which targeted books. In 2025, 92% of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials and decision makers, up from 72% in 2024. Less than 3% of challenges originated from individual parents.
“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” said Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “They were part of a well-funded, politically driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals and communities.”
North Carolina lawmakers propose LGBTQ book ban
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City (N.C.) Schools officials said last week that books in their libraries comply with state law—as do processes aimed at vetting the appropriateness of titles in the stacks—but that didn’t convince Republican state lawmakers who had called them in to testify on the issue—now lawmakers are proposing a statewide ban on some books, reports WRAL News.
State Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, alleges that some of the books in the district’s elementary schools are in conflict with a 2023 law that Republican sponsors titled the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which limits instruction on gender identity, sexual orientation and sexual activity in kindergarten through fourth grade.
Jones’s proposal, House Bill 1043, seeks to expand the parents’ bill by banning access to books with those themes in elementary school libraries statewide. The bill seeks to allow parents to seek financial damages from schools that don’t comply. It also would allow the state to withhold state funds if a district doesn’t comply with inquiries from the state auditor.
Appeals court allows Iowa to enforce book bans, restrictions on LGBTQ topics in classes
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled April 6 to allow Iowa to enforce a ban on LGBTQ books and topics in public school classrooms after a lower court judge issued a temporary ban on the law last year, reports The Hill. The state has been fighting LGBTQ groups and publishing companies since 2023, when the law was signed that K-12 libraries could not have books that depict sex acts.
A lower court judge issued a preliminary injunction against the law, saying it was overly broad and could include books with “undeniable political, artistic, literary, and/or scientific value,” such as George Orwell’s “1984.”
The three-judge panel reversed this decision and another that said schools could not block the “promotion” or provide programs “relating to gender identity.” The case will go to the lower court to continue litigation while the state is now allowed to enforce the law until a final ruling is reached.
“This ruling is a setback, but it is not the end of this fight,” said Nathan Maxwell, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit against Iowa’s law. “Iowa’s SF 496 is a cruel and unconstitutional law that silences LGBTQ+ children, erases their existence from classrooms, and forces educators to expose vulnerable students to potential harm at home. We will continue to use every legal tool available to protect these young people. They deserve nothing less.”
Thousands of youths got a Seattle Public Library card in campaign against book bans
More than 28,000 young people across the U.S. have gotten a Seattle Public Library (SPL) card as part of a campaign that combats book censorship, reports the Seattle Times.
In 2023, SPL joined Books Unbanned, a program that allows youths to receive a free library card to access e-books, even if they don’t live in Seattle. The program was started by Brooklyn Public Library in 2022, aimed at those with less-funded library systems where book bans have increased in recent years. Boston Public Library, Los Angeles County Library, Long Beach Public Library, and San Diego Public Library also participate.
Anyone aged 13 to 26 in the U.S. can apply for an SPL card and access its digital catalog through the Libby app.
“The way we combat censorship and book banning is to put more out there than they can ban,” SPL Chief Librarian Tom Fay said.
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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