In 1933, Nazi students burned books in public squares across Germany. The images became iconic symbols of totalitarian censorship—something that happens over there, something Americans would never tolerate.
In 2023, American schools banned more books than at any point in modern history. The censorship doesn't involve bonfires. It's quieter—removal orders, criminal penalties for librarians, entire genres cleared from shelves. But the impulse is the same: control what people can read, and you control what they can think.
The Scale of the Crisis
The American Library Association tracks book challenges and removals. Their data shows an explosion:
"Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries."
— American Library Association, Book Ban Data, 2024
The key word is "government entities." This isn't just parents complaining about individual books. It's coordinated campaigns, often originating with elected officials, targeting entire categories of literature.
PEN America, the free expression advocacy organization, has documented the acceleration:
"During the first half of the 2022-23 school year, PEN America recorded 1,477 instances of individual books banned, an increase of 28 percent compared to the prior six months."
— PEN America, Index of School Book Bans, 2022-2023
And it's getting worse. The 2023-24 school year saw even higher numbers.
What's Being Banned
The banned books follow patterns. PEN America's analysis reveals:
"The movement to ban books that has grown since 2021 is deeply undemocratic, as it seeks to impose restrictions on all students and families based on the preferences of a few parents or community members."
— PEN America, Banned in the USA, April 2023
The most frequently banned categories:
- Books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes (33% of bans)
- Books by or about people of color (40% of bans)
- Books dealing with race and racism in America
- Books containing any sexual content (including classics taught for decades)
- Books about gender identity
The targets aren't random. They're systematic: books that acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ people, books that examine racism honestly, books that present perspectives outside white, straight, Christian norms.
Specific examples from recent bans:
- "Maus" by Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust graphic novel)
- "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison (Nobel laureate's novel about racism)
- "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe (memoir about gender identity)
- "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson (memoir about growing up Black and queer)
- "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (novel about Afghanistan)
- "The Diary of Anne Frank" (graphic novel adaptation)
Yes, Anne Frank. In America. In 2023.
State Laws: Criminalizing Librarians
Individual book bans are alarming. State laws criminalizing the provision of books are something else entirely.
Multiple states have passed laws that threaten librarians and teachers with criminal prosecution for providing "harmful" materials:
Florida: "Don't Say Gay" and Beyond
Florida's HB 1557 (the "Parental Rights in Education Act," known as "Don't Say Gay") restricts discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools:
"In practice, numerous school districts have interpreted HB 1557 as mandating that they should remove books with any LGBTQ+ content from classroom and school libraries."
— PEN America, Analysis of Florida HB 1557 Implementation, April 2023
The law's vague language—prohibiting instruction that is not "age-appropriate"—has led to wholesale removal of books mentioning same-sex parents, transgender characters, or any LGBTQ+ themes. Librarians and teachers, facing potential legal consequences, err on the side of removal.
Missouri: Criminal Penalties
Missouri went further, passing SB 775, which threatened criminal penalties—including potential felony charges—for librarians who provide "sexually explicit" material to minors. The law was so broad that classic literature could trigger prosecution.
The ACLU sued, and courts blocked the law, but the chilling effect was immediate: schools removed hundreds of titles rather than risk criminal liability.
Texas: Bounty System
Texas implemented a system where parents can challenge books and school districts face financial penalties for maintaining challenged materials. The state education agency created lists of books for review, effectively creating government-directed removal lists.
How Bans Work in Practice
The mechanics of modern book banning:
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Organized campaigns: Groups like Moms for Liberty identify target books and coordinate challenges across multiple districts
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Pressure on administrators: School board meetings become battlegrounds, with organized groups demanding removals
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"Review" processes: Books are pulled for "review" that can last months or years—effectively banning through bureaucracy
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State legislation: Laws create criminal liability, causing preemptive self-censorship
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Whole-library removal: Some districts have responded by removing all books pending review, effectively closing libraries
The result: students in some districts have lost access to thousands of books. Librarians have resigned or been fired. Teachers self-censor to avoid controversy.
Federal Data Removal: A Different Kind of Censorship
While book bans make headlines, another form of government censorship operates more quietly: the removal of data from federal websites.
The National Security Archive at George Washington University has documented systematic data scrubbing:
"The Trump administration has removed, altered, or hidden government information across numerous federal agency websites."
— National Security Archive, GWU, February 2025
Climate Data Disappearing
Environmental and climate data has been particularly targeted:
- EPA removed climate change information from public websites
- USDA deleted references to climate change in research documents
- Department of Interior scrubbed climate language from press releases
- Scientific reports were altered to minimize climate findings
The goal is clear: make it harder to access information that contradicts administration policy.
Preservation Efforts
Archivists recognized the danger and acted. The End of Term Web Archive project, a collaboration between research libraries and the Internet Archive, has been racing to preserve government data:
"The End of Term Web Archive exists to capture federal government websites at the end of presidential administrations."
— End of Term Archive (eotarchive.org)
Private archivists have mirrored EPA databases. Scientists have copied climate datasets to servers outside government control. The very need for such efforts—preserving government data from the government—illustrates how abnormal the situation has become.
The First Amendment Question
The First Amendment prohibits government censorship of speech. How are book bans legal?
The answer is complicated:
School libraries are considered "limited public forums" where government has more discretion. The Supreme Court's Pico decision (1982) held that school boards cannot remove books based on disagreement with ideas, but can consider "educational suitability."
The current wave tests these boundaries. Removing every book with LGBTQ+ content isn't about "educational suitability"—it's viewpoint discrimination. But courts move slowly, and books are removed now.
State laws criminalizing librarians raise even clearer First Amendment issues. Courts have blocked some, but new laws keep passing.
Federal data removal raises different questions. Government agencies control their own websites. But removing scientific data to suppress inconvenient facts may violate principles of government transparency and scientific integrity.
The Pattern: What Censorship Reveals
The targets of censorship reveal what censors fear:
- LGBTQ+ books: Fear that children will learn that gay and transgender people exist and deserve dignity
- Books about racism: Fear that children will learn America's actual history
- Books by diverse authors: Fear that perspectives other than the dominant culture will be valued
- Climate data: Fear that scientific consensus will influence policy
- Historical records: Fear that the past will be used to judge the present
Censorship is always about power. Those with power decide what can be known, taught, and remembered.
Martin Niemöller's Warning
Pastor Martin Niemöller, who initially supported the Nazis before recognizing their evil, left a warning that appears in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
— Martin Niemöller, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The book bans start with books about LGBTQ+ people. Then books about race. Then books about history. Then...?
What You Can Do
Book bans succeed when they go unopposed. Here's what works:
- Attend school board meetings: Organized opposition matters
- Support libraries: Library funding and librarian protections are under attack
- File FOIA requests: Demand transparency about removal decisions
- Support legal challenges: Organizations like ACLU and PEN America are fighting in court
- Read banned books: Censorship fails when people access what's forbidden
- Preserve data: Mirror government datasets before they disappear
- Speak out: Silence enables censorship
The struggle over what Americans can read is a struggle over what kind of country we'll be. The censors have momentum. They can be stopped—but only if people who value freedom act.
Primary Sources
- ALA Book Ban Data - American Library Association, 2024
- Banned in the USA Report - PEN America, April 2023
- Index of School Book Bans - PEN America, 2022-2023
- Disappearing Data Report - National Security Archive, GWU
- End of Term Archive - Federal Web Archive Project
- Niemöller Quote - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum