148 Titles Challenged In Book Bans In Maryland In 2020-23

MARYLAND — Readers in Maryland may not find some of the books they want to check out of their school and public libraries because of what the American Library Association characterized as a surge in censorship.

Some 4,240 book titles were targeted for censorship in 2023. That’s up 65 percent from the previous all-time high of 2,571 titles targeted for removal from libraries in 2022, according to a report Thursday from the group’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

In Maryland, there were 13 attempts to ban or restrict books in 2023, with 148 titles affected, the report said.

A separate report from PEN America said the most often banned books in school libraries in the 2022-23 school year were “Tricks,” “The Bluest Eye,” “Looking for Alaska,” “A Court of Mist and Fury,” “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Thirteen Reasons Why,” “Sold,” “Crank,” “Identical” and “Empire of Storms.”

Some form of book banning exists in 33 states, according to the PEN America report.

Nine books of the 58 books removed from Carroll County public schools’ libraries in September after challenges from the Carroll County chapter of Moms for Liberty have been permanently removed from the district's libraries, the Baltimore Sun reported last month. The books removed include “Doing It,” by Hannah Wilton; “Red Hood,” by Elana Arnold; and “A Court of Mist and Fury,” and “A Court of Wings and Ruin,” by Sarah J. Maas.

The classic “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut will be remain in high schools but was removed from middle school shelves, the Sun reported.

The county school board approved early this year a policy to exclude all books with “sexually explicit” content.

In response, The Freedom to Read Act was introduced by Democrats in the Maryland General Assembly to set a statewide standard for library content. The bill would prohibit public and school libraries from barring material based on an author’s origin, background or views, as well as for partisan, ideological or religious reasons, the Sun said.

Overall, the American Library Association documented 1,247 demands last year to censor library books, materials and resources as culture warriors targeted public as well as school libraries in their campaign for more parental say in what children read.

Last year, the number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased 92 percent from the previous year. Challenges at public schools were up 11 percent from 2022.

Almost half (47 percent) of the challenged titles dealt with LGBTQ+ or BIPOC (Black, indigenous and other people of color) individuals and themes.

The surge was driven by groups and individuals who sometimes demanded that dozens or even hundreds of titles be removed from library shelves in a single request, the report said.

In 17 states, activists sought to censor books more than 100 times in 2023. They were Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Organized campaigns to ban books are far from over and require an equal effort by those who oppose them, according to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

“We must all stand together to preserve our right to choose what we read,” Caldwell-Stone said in a news release.

“Each demand to ban a book is a demand to deny each person’s constitutionally protected right to choose and read books that raise important issues and lift up the voices of those who are often silenced,” she continued. “By joining initiatives like Unite Against Book Bans and other organizations that support libraries and schools, we can end this attack on essential community institutions and our civil liberties.”