The premiere installment of the Library Insights Summit (LIS) hosted by Foreword magazine took place on Friday, June 23, 2023, at McCormick Place on opening day of the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago. The program featured presentations from distinguished library and publishing professionals, including keynotes by former ALA President Sari Feldman and New York Times bestselling author Kate DiCamillo. Nearly 100 book industry representatives and librarians were in attendance.

Additional points worth noting for independent publishers from the speakers included the category gaps librarians experience such as indigenous and LGBTQ+ content; the quest for books about “simply boys” in the YA category; the importance of good, clean, early metadata; the surprising number of rural libraries across the country and their budgetary struggles; the value of librarian and publisher partnerships beyond book banning efforts; and the myriad options of e-book pricing models that pose significant challenges to all.

But book banning clearly took center stage, with lively discussions about how publishers can work with libraries as partners to navigate the challenging environment. Featured panelists Lisa Varga (Virginia Library Association and ALA Policy Corps), Skip Dye (Penguin Random House), Heather D. Hutto (Bristow Public Library, OK), and John Bracken (Banned Book Club) each offered compelling evidence that the battle against bans will be won through legislative and grassroots efforts. They encouraged participation in PEN America’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative and shared a comprehensive Banned Books Resource Guide, which can be found using this QR code:

Some Statistics

Why is this so important to author publishers and independent presses? Consider these statistics:

• ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books in 2022, the highest number since they began compiling data 20 years ago.
• This number is nearly double the number reported in 2021.
• 2,571 different titles were targeted for banning.
• LGBTQA+ titles are among the most challenged titles.
• At any given time, half of the top 10 most challenged books list is from an indie press.

The majority of book challenges take place in public libraries (48%), followed by school libraries (4%), schools (10%) and other public institutions (1%). The ALA advocacy pages note that prior to 2020, most challenges came from a single parent. But in 2022, 90% of challenges were multiple titles, of which 40% were requests to remove or restrict more than 100 library books all at once.

 

While book bans have an unfortunately long history, we can track these recent assaults to a politically conservative movement with hyper-organized groups using social media to rally members by providing lists of books which are then used to create a mass challenge that often devastates shelves in public and school libraries. Their removal wish lists include books about race, history, gender identity, and sexuality. Beyond the name-calling, online harassment, and social media attacks, direct threats are being made to librarians. I was mortified at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference to check in with a rural librarian who had only weeks prior been subjected to this for the first time. With eyes welling up during the telling, she shared that she had been driving home in tears every day since then.

Book bans are a threat to us all, not just as publishers but as parents, grandparents, neighbors, and community members. Reading is a critical life skill, and books are great tools for understanding life. Individuals and parents should be allowed to decide what to read and what their children should read.

What Can You Do?

In addition to tips you might find helpful in the resource guide noted above, the Unite Against Book Bans organization has a great Action Toolkit to help you amplify and support the freedom to read. It includes talking points, decision-makers and media to contact, grassroots organizing, social media tools, and branded materials like yard signs.

As Feldman pointed out in her keynote address at LIS, we are indeed in a crisis situation with banned books. Reading is a right, and something we should be able to guarantee to all humans forever.

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