Topline
Municipal public libraries are reaching a “breaking point” amid rising ideological attacks, censorship and political interference, a new PEN America report shows, and the institutions are at risk of crumbling under the pressures of employee abuse, ideological warfare and financial strain.
Cecil Reedy takes notes out of a book at the Houston Central Public Library.
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Key Facts
PEN America on Tuesday released a study focused on the expanding threats to public libraries that found book bans and programming censorship once limited largely to K-12 school libraries has bled into their public counterparts.
The report says city and county public library systems are now the targets of escalating threats to workers, harassment, censorship efforts and increasing efforts to defund local public libraries.
The institutions have faced a coordinated movement to suppress certain content on shelves (largely focused on LGBTQ+ identities, race, racism and historical narratives involving minority communities, the report says) and advocacy groups saw single-year record spikes of up to 4,240 unique book titles that were formally targeted or requested for removal nationwide.
The report found book displays have been contested, story times and author events canceled, reshelving has been mandated and some libraries have faced attempts to slap warning stickers on books with certain content.
The study documents a sharp escalation in direct, hostile tactics targeting public library workers, ranging from verbal abuse at town hall meetings to physical threats, doxxing and intimidation aimed at forcing self-censorship—which has worked.
To avoid public outcry and harassment, librarians and educators are increasingly refraining from purchasing, displaying or recommending controversial books in the first place, PEN America says, effectively keeping controversial books off shelves without anyone having to file a formal challenge.
The report also details how defunding is being weaponized, noting an uptick in both municipal officials threatening to vote down local tax levies that fund libraries and state lawmakers introducing bills making public library funding conditional on compliance with content restrictions.
WHAT DOES LIBRARY CENSORSHIP LOOK LIKE?
Five titles were removed from the New York Public Library’s Roosevelt Island branch after being arranged in a display for “Read Palestine Week.” Public libraries in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts were forced to cancel Drag Story Time after receiving bomb threats. Missouri’s secretary of state and attorney general have threatened to cut state funding for a library that held a storytime featuring the titles “Rainbowsaurus” (about a family searching for a rainbow dinosaur) and “Big Wig” (about a child that dresses up in drag for a costume contest). Libraries in Texas, Kentucky and Michigan have moved books from the children’s and young adult sections to the adult section for containing LGBTQ+, race, gender identity or sexual content.
WHERE ARE LIBRARIES BEING CENSORED?
Nationwide, but most heavily in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri and Iowa.
WHAT ARE THE MOST CHALLENGED BOOKS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES?
- “Sold” by Patricia McCormick
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
- “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
- “Empire of Storms” by Sara J. Maas
- “The Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo
- “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
- “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
- “A Chockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess
- “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins
- “Looking For Alaska” by John Green
- “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer L. Armentrout
According to American Library Association data.
Key background
There are more than 17,000 individual public library buildings and outlets in the United States, most of which are primarily supported through local city and county property taxes. Beyond municipal tax revenue, libraries rely on federal grants, local “Friends of the Library” non-profit groups and private philanthropists to fund community outreach and specialty programming. According to the American Library Association, roughly 90% of funding for U.S. public libraries comes from state and local government dollars. Public libraries provide significant economic returns to their communities, and cost–benefit studies suggest every $1 of public investment in libraries yields $4 to $5 in direct economic value to the local community. Increased public investment in libraries directly improves children’s reading comprehension, test scores and high school completion rates, and national surveys show that nearly half of all visitors who use library computers do so to access job training, submit employment applications or file government forms.
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