Was just doing research for a book I #amwriting and discovered that in the U.S., over 1600 #books were banned in school libraries in 2022 -- as compared to just 175 being "challenged" in 2015 (books that are challenged are rarely banned, according to the American Library Association, so the numbers of banned books that year were much lower).

In 2022, 41% of books were banned for LBGT content. 40% had BIPOC characters.

Citations:
2022: https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/

2015: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/statistics/2015infographiclong

Banned in the USA

PEN America's report on school book bans offers the most comprehensive look at banned books in the 2021–22 school year, with counting more than 2,500 bans.

PEN America
@annaleen I'm writing a best-novels-ever listbook just now, and have been coming across this notion of books being challenged and banned in the US. I'm really shocked! Can't believe it happens in the UK, but maybe it does. USA really isn't the land of the free it claims to be!