Connecticut is among 10 states — including Texas, Florida and Virginia —that have more than 100 challenges to books in the first eight months of this year.
Sam Lee, the co-chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee for the Connecticut Library Association, said many titles had been challenged more than once.
“These attacks on libraries will continue to erode people’s freedom to read and inquire,” Lee said. “It will kill curiosity, be detrimental to literacy and ultimately destroy the health of our democracy. It will compromise people’s trust in public services.”
Lee also noted that there have been threats of harm against librarians, driving them away from the profession.
Between January and August 2023, there were at least 695 requests for reconsideration of materials nationwide, according to data from the American Library Association. This is a 20% increase compared to last year.
These requests consist of 1,915 unique titles, which officials say they tend to have themes around LGBTQ+ and racial hardships. Some of the books include ”Flamer” by Mike Curato, “Blankets” by Craig Thompson and “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson.
“These attacks on our freedom to read should trouble every person who values liberty and our constitutional rights,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
“To allow a group of people or any individual, no matter how powerful or loud, to become the decision-maker about what books we can read or whether libraries exist, is to place all of our rights and liberties in jeopardy,” she added.
Connecticut librarians also called on the legislature to regulate e-book contracts. “Our budgets are strained because we have to keep rerenting Harry Potter at the same exorbitant prices over and over again,” said Ellen Paul, the executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium.
“What really gets us is that these e-books are paid for with tax dollars,” she added. “What would you think if the Department of Transportation had to pay six times more for asphalt than your general driveway contractor, and then after two years, all of our roads disappeared.”
These trends, both of book banning and e-book price gouging, have been occurring for decades and have only been getting worse with each passing year, according to libraries.
