Record number of demands made to ban or censor books in 2022: Report

A record-breaking 1,269 demands were made to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since the American Library Association began collecting data over 20 years ago, the association said.

A record 2,571 unique books were targeted for censorship in 2022, a 38% increase from 2021 when 1,858 titles were targeted.

"Of the overall number of books challenged, 90% were part of attempts to censor multiple titles," the ALA said. "Of the books challenged, 40% were in cases involving 100 or more books."

In 2021, there were 729 attempts to ban or restrict library materials, up from 156 attempts in 2020, according to the ALA.