American Library Association releases 2025 Most Challenged Books List as National Library Week Begins; American Library Association (ALA), April 20, 2026

American Library Association (ALA); American Library Association releases 2025 Most Challenged Books List as National Library Week Begins

"Today the American Library Association (ALA) releases its highly anticipated Top 11 Most Challenged Books List of 2025 as part of the 2026 State of America’s Libraries Report, offering a window into the ongoing challenges libraries continue to face head-on.

As the nation’s libraries unite to celebrate the start of National Library Week and communities everywhere recognize the valuable contribution of America’s libraries and the people who power them, library workers around the country continue to grapple with censorship challenges and threats to their livelihood.

ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, the second highest ever documented by ALA. The highest ever documented was 4,240 in 2023.

Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (40%) represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color.

“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” said ALA President Sam Helmick. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”

ALA documented 713 attempts to censor library materials and services, 487 of which targeted books. The Top 11 Most Targeted Titles in 2025 were:

1. Sold by Patricia McCormick

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

3. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

4. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

5. (tie) Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

5. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

8. (tie) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

8. (tie) Identical by Ellen Hopkins

8. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green

8. (tie) Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

In 2025, 92 percent of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials and decision makers, up from 72 percent in 2024. Less than 3 percent of challenges originated from individual parents.

“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” said Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals and communities.”

ALA defines a “ban” as the removal of materials from a library based on the objections of a person or group. A “challenge” is an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group. In 2025, OIF documented 5,668 books banned from libraries (66% of the total challenged). An additional 920 books were censored through access restrictions such as relocation or requiring parental permission. This is both the highest number of titles censored in one year and the highest rate of challenges resulting in censorship from 1990–2025. 

To help inform library workers and the public about censorship issues, OIF recently launched several new and updated resources, including the Censorship Search Portal, which allows people to search OIF’s expansive database to learn about efforts to ban books; the Censorship Cases Bot on Bluesky, which provides real-time updates on the latest book censorship litigation in partnership with the Free Law Project; and the eleventh edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual, which offers up-to-date insights on protecting intellectual freedom, fighting censorship, safeguarding privacy, and more.

Amid the censorship challenges facing the nation’s libraries, National Library Week’s theme of “Finding Your Joy” is an invitation for everyone to explore and discover what sparks joy in them at the library. Throughout the week, Honorary Chair Mychal Threets will elevate the important role libraries and library workers play in schools and communities.

NLW 2026 Celebration Days:

Monday, April 20: Right to Read Day, a day for readers, advocates, and library lovers to take action to protect, defend, and celebrate the right to read.

Tuesday, April 21: National Library Workers Day, a day for library staff, users, administrators, and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.

Wednesday, April 22: National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day), a day to celebrate library outreach and the dedicated library professionals who are meeting their patrons where they are.

Thursday, April 23: Take Action for Libraries Day, ALA is calling on library supporters to contact their congressmembers and voice opposition to the federal book banning bill, H.R. 7661."

ALA is also pleased to share the theme of Banned Books Week 2026 (October 4–10, 2026), “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” This year’s campaign features three illustrations that elevate the ways in which libraries and access to information enrich our lives. The artwork will be unveiled next week, and posters, apparel, and more will be available in the ALA Store and Library Gift Shop on April 30.

To learn more about censorship in libraries and find resources for preventing and responding to book bans, visit ALA.org/BBooks,"

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Saved From Closure by Nonprofit; The New York Times, April 14, 2026

Katie Robertson, The New York Times; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Saved From Closure by Nonprofit

[Kip Currier: What great news to learn that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will not be closing on May 3, 2026! Instead, one of America's oldest newspapers will continue through the non-profit Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. 

Newspapers are still essential sources for access to information. They also promote literacy, free expression, and informed citizenries -- crucial elements of functioning democracies.

Sadly, three print newspapers serving Northwestern Pennsylvania have ceased publication in the past two months -- Clarion News (1840), (Franklin's) The News-Herald (1886), and (Oil City's) The Derrick (1871); The Derrick is continuing as an online only publication.]

"The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which had been set to shut down in May, will keep publishing after all. A nonprofit journalism organization has stepped up to acquire the newspaper, which has survived for more than two centuries.

The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which runs The Baltimore Banner and is financed by the hotel magnate Stewart W. Bainum Jr., said on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the newspaper’s current owner, Block Communications, to buy the assets of The Post-Gazette and run it as a nonprofit. The transaction is expected to take effect on May 4, ensuring there is no gap in publishing.

The deal is a rare spot of good news for the media industry, which has endured waves of metropolitan and local newspaper closures and widening local news deserts around the country for the past two decades. A 2025 report by Northwestern University found that more than 130 papers had shut in the preceding year alone.

The Post-Gazette is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States, tracing its history back to The Pittsburgh Gazette, which was founded in 1786. It has been owned by Block Communications since 1927, and has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes. Its closure would have made Pittsburgh one of the largest metropolitan areas without a major newspaper."

Small Kansas town gets its first library after mysterious donation; CBS, April 4, 2026

[Video] CBS; Small Kansas town gets its first library after mysterious donation

"Frontenac, Kansas, is a community of 3,000 residents. When its city administrator received a mysterious $4.6 million dolllar donation from a couple whose dying wish was for a library to be built, the town sprung into action to solidify its legacy."

Mysterious donation gives small Kansas town its first public library; CBS News, April 4, 2026

 Elissa Candiotti , CBS News; Mysterious donation gives small Kansas town its first public library

[Kip Currier: Incredibly inspiring story underscoring the positive impacts that one person -- or in this case two people, a librarian and her husband -- can have on the world.

Keep this story in mind and pass it along to anyone who questions the value of and need for libraries in our communities.]

"For over 140 years, the small town of Frontenac, Kansas had almost everything its 3,000 residents needed – except a public library. 

All that changed when city administrator John Zafuta got an unexpected phone call in 2019. 

"It was a surprise," Zafuta said. "An attorney told us that we were the sole beneficiary of the Tavella family trust."

Richard and Jeanette Tavella had both grown up in Frontenac before moving north to Kansas City, where Jeanette worked as a librarian until her death in 2019. Richard had died the year before. The couple wanted to use their parting gift to write a new legacy in their hometown. The town would receive $4.6 million from their estate, and use it to build Frontenac's first public library...

Building a space for community 

Seth Nutt, a teacher, historian and Frontenac native, was brought on as the library's director...

Today, its shelves hold over 17,000 titles. The library also hosts activities catered to different age groups, including story time for children, cooking classes for teens and book clubs for adults. It's also home to the McKay Street Coffeehouse and the Heritage Hall Museum. The museum is the first dedicated exclusively to Frontenac's history, and is also overseen by Nutt. 

"You hear people debate, do you need a library, do you not? And once you see it, and once you see how involved the community is with it, we've definitely needed it," said fire lieutenant and building inspector Justin Ziesenis, who had brought his six-year-old daughter to the library to pick out books. 

"I think it has made a difference in this community. It's drawing more people here, and more students are getting involved with reading books," said eighth-grader Rylinn Girth-Barnow, who had come to the library for a cooking class."

‘We’re losing accessibility’: America says goodbye to the mass-market paperback; The Guardian, February 24, 2026

David Smith, The Guardian ; ‘We’re losing accessibility’: America says goodbye to the mass-market paperback

[Kip Currier: Since 2020, I've taught a "required core course" for the graduate students in the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. The course is LIS 2040: The Information Professional in Communities. I posted the note (copied below) for my students, with the excerpt from a 2/24/26 Guardian article about the decline of access to mass market paperback books, as accessibility and breaking down barriers are key thematic topics in the course.

My 2025 Bloomsbury book Ethics, Information, and Technology has a chapter on Access. Accessibility -- in its various manifestations -- is a recurring issue throughout the book's other chapters, such as those exploring ethical issues of Intellectual Freedom, Intellectual Property, Open Movements and Traditional Knowledge, Social Media, Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies, and more.]

[Kip Currier: The most important take-away in my LIS 2040 course is how we as information professionals (and in our capacities as individuals in our personal lives, too) can help to break down barriers that individuals and communities face. This Guardian article on the demise of the mass market paperback Links to an external site.implicates the ability of people to access information and has a whole host of ramifications, like affordability of books, literacy rates, and platforms for diverse authors and genres.

In the second half of the term, we'll be thinking extensively about ways that we can all work to mitigate and break down barriers of many kinds.]

[Excerpt]

"The so-called ‘pocket book’ sold in supermarkets is being phased out across the US, the latest sign of an ongoing shift in how people are choosing to read

Shelly Romero has early memories of going to her local supermarket and picking pulp fiction off the shelves. “We were very working class; my mom was working two jobs sometimes,” she recalls. “The appeal of books being cheaper and smaller and able to be carried around was definitely a thing.”

For generations of readers, the gateway to literature was not a hushed library or a polished hardback but a wire spinner rack in a supermarket, pharmacy or railway station. There, amid chewing gum and cigarettes, sat the mass-market paperback: squat, roughly 4in by 7in and cheap enough to be bought on a whim.

But the era of the “pocket book” is drawing to a close. ReaderLink, the biggest book distributor in the US, announced recently that it would stop distributing mass-market paperbacks. The decision follows years of plummeting sales, from 131m units in 2004 to 21m in 2024, and marks the end of a format that once democratised reading for the working class...

"They had that democratic aspect to them where you can just find them anywhere and it always felt like it was the pick ‘n’ mix candy-type store where there is something here for everyone, whether it’s the Harlequin romance novel or something very pulpy like a sci-fi or horror novel that you could quickly get.”...

“We’re definitely losing accessibility and that’s a huge thing right now, especially in this country, whether it’s libraries being defunded, book bannings happening, one person saying let’s get rid of 200 books because I don’t want my child to read diverse authors."

The secret Afghan women’s book club defying the Taliban to read Orwell; The Guardian, February 19, 2026

Azada Raha, from Rukhshana Media, The Guardian; The secret Afghan women’s book club defying the Taliban to read Orwell

"Most of the books the five women have discussed since they started the reading circle last June are classics, and most deal with issues of power, suffering, and the place of women, though they have embraced variety. The works they’ve read include George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Zoya Pirzad’s I’ll Turn Off the Lights and Symphony of the Dead, also by Abbas Maroufi.

Most of the books can be found online and downloaded free, although occasionally they borrow books from libraries.

They meet every week for an hour-and-a-half at the home of one of the members, varying the location to avoid scrutiny in a country where women’s freedoms have been severely curtailed."

Give newborns automatic library cards, authors urge; BBC, December 15, 2025

Kerena Cobbina, BBC; Give newborns automatic library cards, authors urge

"A group of leading authors are calling for every newborn baby to be signed up for a library card automatically at birth. 

Writers including Sir Philip Pullman, Richard Osman and Kate Mosse have backed the proposal by think tank the Cultural Policy Unit (CPU), which says a universal, lifelong membership issued at birth would boost literacy.

"A lot of people still feel that [libraries are] not for them," Mosse told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, but said automatically giving out cards could show that "every single young child that's born is welcome".

The CPU proposal would see membership linked directly to birth registration, so library cards would be waiting for newborns at their local library."

‘Deeply concerning’: reading for fun in the US has fallen by 40%, new study says; The Guardian, August 20, 2025

Benjamin Lee, The Guardian ; ‘Deeply concerning’: reading for fun in the US has fallen by 40%, new study says

"“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” Sonke said. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.”

While all groups saw a decline, there were bigger drops among certain groups such as Black Americans, people with lower incomes or education levels, and those in rural areas. More women than men also continue to read for fun.

Daisy Fancourt, study co-author, said: “Potentially the people who could benefit the most for their health – so people from disadvantaged groups – are actually benefiting the least.”

The study also showed that those who read for pleasure have tended to spend even more time reading than before and that the number of those who read with their children hasn’t changed.

“Our digital culture is certainly part of the story,” Sonke said of explanations to the figures. “But there are also structural issues – limited access to reading materials, economic insecurity and a national decline in leisure time. If you’re working multiple jobs or dealing with transportation barriers in a rural area, a trip to the library may just not be feasible.”

Last year in the US, sales of physical books rose slightly after two years of declines. Adult fiction was the main driver, with Kristin Hannah’s The Women leading the pack.

The literacy level in the US is estimated to be about 79%, which ranks as 36th globally."

From bottles to bricks: A library built with recycled bottles; Peace Corps, August 13, 2025

By Liz S., Peace Corps; From bottles to bricks: A library built with recycled bottles

"Uganda’s rural communities face significant challenges in literacy rates and reading comprehension skills.

As a Peace Corps Education Volunteer, I witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by students in rural communities due to limited access to reading materials. Determined to make a difference, I embarked on a mission to create a library at a primary school in the Central Region of Uganda. With the help of the community, local organizations, and a Peace Corps small grant, we built an eco-brick library that has become a hub for learning and community engagement. The library has not only improved students' reading skills but also fostered a culture of discipline and community involvement.

Envisioning a school library

Once we set the goal of improving students' access to reading materials, a new challenge emerged: physical space. The primary school, a small school with a large student population, didn’t have an extra classroom or storage area for books. But there was the abundance of unused land surrounding the school. There was space—just not enough classrooms. That’s when the idea of creating a library building emerged. After discussing the idea with my supervisor, we decided to pursue a Peace Corps grant to fund the construction. The next step was determining the materials for the library.

The community’s first eco-brick building

I proposed using eco-bricks, plastic bottles filled with soil that act as building blocks. Not only are eco-bricks an environmentally friendly solution to plastic waste, but they also offer an educational opportunity for students to learn about conservation. The Peace Corps grants coordinator connected me with Ichupa Upcycle Project, an organization founded by a former Peace Corps Volunteer that supports eco-brick projects in Uganda.

Building the library: A community effort

Over the course of the next year, school staff and I worked alongside the Ichupa team to build the library from the ground up. The workers oversaw the construction and educated students on plastic pollution. Meanwhile, I worked with parents and teachers to collect plastic bottles, which we used to create eco-bricks. Every week, school children and community members gathered to fill bottles with soil. The eco-bricking process became a community-wide effort, with everyone contributing in whatever way they could."

All Nations LibGuide: Introduction, 2025

 

All Nations LibGuide: Introduction

"Librarians will continue to ensure that everyone has equal access to information. It is one of the tenets of librarianship, and it is something that we are here to do as trusted service professionals in our communities." 
—Cindy Hohl, Dakota of the Santee Sioux Nation, American Library Association President 2024-2025

The All Nations resource guide highlights the impact of Indigenous Librarianship and the importance of serving the library and information needs of Indigenous and Native peoples. It contains information on equitable access to information, literacy, welcoming spaces, and sustainability for future generations of library staff and patrons. The collection of resources throughout the guide are primarily Indigenous-centric and includes scholarly works from allies and non-Native librarians in tribal and mainstream libraries. As sovereign nations, the guide includes references to treaties and federal and state resources. 

This introductory page features a guide on terminology, allyship, stereotypes, and land acknowledgments, as well as digital maps for use in learning and teaching and an informative video on why treaties matter."

E-books are on the line as Congress considers future of library funding; USA TODAY, July 29, 2025

 Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY ; E-books are on the line as Congress considers future of library funding

[Kip Currier: Why is it okay for Trump and members of the GOP to secretly fund nearly a billion dollars to retrofit a Qatari plane, but it's not okay with them for public libraries to continue to receive IMLS grants that provide access to books, summer reading programs, and services that promote literacy and educated work forces? 

There's something fundamentally unethical -- and adverse to the common good -- about supporting measures that give billionaires more and more money, while cutting funds to museums and libraries that improve the lives of millions of Americans every day.

If you care about reading, education, libraries, and museums, let your legislators know NOW!]

[Excerpt]

"States' libraries to lose as much as half their funding

The Institute for Museum and Library Services, a tiny, little-known federal agency, provides grants to states that account for 30% to 50% of state library budgets, according to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

For decades it has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved funds through grants to state libraries in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and to library, museum and archives programs. It serves 35,000 museums and 123,000 libraries across the country, according to its website.

The impact of losing the money will be different in each state because each spends its portion of the funding differently.

Some will have to fire staff and end tutoring and summer reading programs. Others will cut access to electronic databases, end intra-library loans or reduce access to books for the deaf and blind. Many will have to stop providing internet service for rural libraries or e-book access statewide.

With the expectation that Congress won't buck Trump and fund the museum and library services institute, the future of these backbone "compassionate" library services is now under discussion across the nation, said John Chrastka, founder of EveryLibrary, a nonprofit that organizes grassroot campaigns for library funding and blocking book bans."

Indonesia’s stunning microlibraries draw young readers – in pictures; The Guardian, June 2, 2025

 Photos by Muhammad Fadli and others, text by Joan Aurelia, The Guardian; Indonesia’s stunning microlibraries draw young readers – in pictures

"There is an ambitious effort under way in Indonesia to build a network of microlibraries across the country."

ALA Receives Major Gift to Fund Scholarships; American Libraries, December 9, 2024

American Libraries; ALA Receives Major Gift to Fund Scholarships

"James W. Lewis, of Washington, D.C., fondly remembers trips to the public library in his hometown of New Bern, North Carolina. As a preschooler, Lewis’s parents would take him to the library, housed in the historic John Wright Stanly House.

From those early memories to his more recent involvement serving on the Board of Trustees of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL), Lewis has maintained a special connection to libraries.

Lewis has made the largest individual bequest to the American Library Association in the Association’s history. The approximately $25 million bequest is truly transformational and will fund scholarships for aspiring librarians, ensuring future generations of highly educated and committed librarians prepared to meet the informational needs of their communities, according to Leslie Burger, ALA interim executive director.

Lewis’s gift will fund library school scholarships for students with demonstrated financial needs. These scholarships will benefit legions of young people who would otherwise be unable to pursue professional librarianship."

Why the nonprofit behind Little Libraries is tackling banned books, including in Nashville; The Tennessean, September 25, 2024

Angele Latham, The Tennessean ; Why the nonprofit behind Little Libraries is tackling banned books, including in Nashville

"The national network of Little Free Libraries — tiny cupboards perched outside homes holding free books — is partnering with Banned Books Week, PEN America and the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom to raise awareness of literary access for all with an interactive map displaying all little libraries across the country, overlaid with the number of book ban attempts made in each state.

Although the libraries may be small in size, they are not small in number. The network, which began in 2009, now boasts over 70,000 stations around the world, with 1,369 in Tennessee alone.

Little Free Libraries Executive Director Greig Meitzer said the web of libraries — and the access they provide — perfectly represents the ideals and goals behind Banned Books Week.

“Book access is kind of a core aspect of our mission,” he said. “Getting more books to more people, and especially a broad range in diversity of books, gives people increased opportunities to find themselves in a book, to read and get excited.”"

What Libraries Need to Know about the Digital Equity Act; American Libraries, December 28, 2021

Michelle Frisque, American Libraries ; What Libraries Need to Know about the Digital Equity Act

Tips to maximize support and funding for your library’s digital inclusion goals

"What does the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) mean for libraries?

Signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, IIJA includes a historic investment in advancing digital equity and an opportunity for libraries to leverage and expand their roles in that work.

The Digital Equity Act (DEA), a provision within IIJA, includes a federal investment of $2.75 billion over five years to promote digital equity, literacy, and inclusion initiatives at the local, state, and national levels. Libraries of all types will be eligible to apply.

As DEA states, broadband connections are critical for participation in society, the economy, civic institutions, health care, education, and digital careers."

Vandals destroy Little Free Library inside children’s memorial garden in Hermitage; WKBN, July 10, 2020

Dave Sess, WKBN; Vandals destroy Little Free Library inside children’s memorial garden in Hermitage 

The Little Free Library was started to remember Danielle Greenburg, a children's librarian who was passionate about literacy

"The Butterfly Garden is dedicated to children who passed away. Greenburg was a children’s librarian, passionate about literacy. Team Danielle was started in her memory.

“As of this week, have donated over $300,000 to Sarcoma Research,” McIntire said.

And that work will continue.

The library was open to all. Take a book, read a book, put it back for the next person. The Little Free Library will definitely return.

“That’s something that will be a priority and putting back into place and refill it with some books,” said Ryan Voisey, with Buhl Park.

“So we’ll fix it and hope they’ve had enough of us and go somewhere else,” McIntire said.

There have been many promises of donations already to rebuild and restock the Little Free Library at Buhl Park. The children’s programs that are held there will continue as well."

"A Mind Needs Books..."--George R.R. Martin

Kip Currier: While thinking about some recent news stories about censorship and intellectual freedom, I reflected on this George R.R. Martin quote I saw on a sign outside Kramer's Books in Washington D.C.'s DuPont Circle last month...

Long Overdue: Why public libraries are finally eliminating the late-return fine.; Slate, 2/6/17

Ruth Graham, Slate;

Long Overdue: Why public libraries are finally eliminating the late-return fine.

"Free public libraries are so interwoven into American life that it can be hard to appreciate their radical premise: Anyone in town can take home any book, for free. Overdue fines have always operated as a hedge on that communal trust, the nagging little stick that comes with the big, beautiful carrot. Fines imply that a library’s mission is not only to encourage reading but to perform a kind of moral instruction. But does it make sense for libraries to perform both of those jobs? “We’ve had 150 years to try to teach customers timeliness or responsibility, and I don’t know that that’s our greatest success story,” said Losinski, a few days after his library system abandoned late fees. Reid put it more simply when she explained the message she wanted residents of High Plains to take away: “We trust you.”"

Don't mourn the loss of libraries – the internet has made them obsolete; The Telegraph, 3/29/16

John McTernan, The Telegraph; Don't mourn the loss of libraries – the internet has made them obsolete:

"The truth, and it is a sad truth for former librarians like myself, is that the public are voting with their feet. Councils are only following the lead of the public with library closures.

We can, and should, still love books, but we should not be sentimental about libraries, because they are a means to an end. Access to information is now widely available via smartphones: three quarters of us have one, it was one in five in 2010. Library and information services have to be designed with that reality in mind.

The true inequality remains access to books and reading. Children who grow up with and around books do better educationally than those who don’t. That is where childcare, nurseries and schools are the key. Libraries must adapt to the changing habits of adults, where there is a clear and irreversible trajectory there. But they must never abandon children."