BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Banned Books Week 2024 lasts from Sept. 22- 28. According to the Banned Books Week website , the goal of the week is to highlight the importance of free and open access to information.
Based on preliminary data collected by the American Library Association, the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 attempts of library censorship from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 , with 1,128 books challenged throughout these cases.
In 2023, the ALA tracked 695 attempts of library censorship, including 1,915 challenged books. 17 states saw attempts to censor over 100 titles. These states were Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Although the number of reports has declined from 2023 to 2024, the ALA stated the number of attempts to challenge and censor books continues to surpass the numbers before 2020.
According to the ALA, the top 10 most challenged books of 2023 were as follows:
- “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
- “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky
- “Flamer” by Mike Curato
- “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
- “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
- “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
- “Sold” by Patricia McCormick
Read Freely Alabama is a volunteer activist group that focuses on opposing censorship in Alabama libraries. On Saturday, the final day of Banned Books Week, Read Freely Alabama hosted an event at The NewSouth Bookstore in Montgomery.
“Join us and connect with other concerned Alabamians over refreshments,” Read Freely Alabama stated in a Facebook post. “We will discuss what effect the new APLS code changes have on Alabama libraries, the pre-filed ‘Jail Librarians’ bill, and practical ways you can advocate for your local library!”
At this event, Alabama-based library activists and supporters of the cause gathered to discuss banned books and the current state of Alabama libraries.
One organizer, Angie Hayden, explained the impact of events like these.
“I think that’s where the change happens,” Hayden said. “That is the very definition of grassroots mobilization, and that’s what we are, and that’s what we have been from the beginning. And it has really been so effective that it shocked us.”
Justice Department sues Alabama for violation of Quiet Period Provision Christina Garner explained the importance of books being available in libraries.
“A lot of people think it’s not banning because you can just go buy it from Amazon. Not everyone can, and I don’t think that I should have more access to books just because I can afford to buy something from Amazon,” Garner said. “Not everyone has access to Wi-Fi at home, not everyone has access to air conditioning at home. They deserve a safe, comfortable place to go so that they can have their kids — you know — safe place to study, to work on their homework, to do homeschooling activities. And it’s not hard to say that the library should be for everyone.”
At the event, members of Read Freely Alabama also discussed the Miller Test, a test that the U.S. Supreme Court established to determine obscene material.
“There is not a single book in a single library in the state that fails the Miller Test,” said Jessica Hayes. “Every one of the books that have been challenged have passed the Miller Test because they are not obscene.”
The three sections of the Miller Test are as follows:
- Whether the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, finds that the matter, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests
- Whether the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, finds that the matter depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way
- Whether a reasonable person finds that the matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
According to Read Freely Alabama, these are the top 25 challenged books in Alabama:
- “Forever” by Judy Blume
- “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
- “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
- “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
- “Being You: A First Conversation about Gender” by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli and Anne/ Andy Passchier
- “The Pronoun Book” by Chris Ayala-Kronos
- “Calvin” by JR Ford and Vanessa Ford
- “Bye Bye, Binary” by Eric Geron
- “Door by Door: How Sarah McBride Became America’s First Openly Transgender Senator” by Meeg Pincus
- “The Meaning of Pride” by Rosiee Thor
- “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
- “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins
- “Different Kinds of Fruit” by Kyle Lukoff
- “Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell
- “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
- “I Am Margaret Moore” by Hannah Capin
- “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo
- “My Rainbow” by Trinity and DeShanna Neal
- “Red: A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall
- “The Haters” by Jesse Andrews
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
- “Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin
- “Bumped” by Megan McCafferty
- “Felix Ever After” by Kacen Callender
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