Book challenges across the country hit a record high in the last academic school year as public schools and libraries have been targeted by continued efforts to censor books, according to new reports released this week.

Although book censorship isn't a new issue, the United States has seen an escalation in book bans and attempted bans since 2021. A majority of the targeted books were written by or about a person of color, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or a woman, according to reports released from the American Library Association and PEN America, a free speech advocacy group.

The ALA and PEN America reports noted that the challenges come amid a growing climate of censorship. Unlike most book challenges in the past, recent efforts have sought to remove or restrict multiple titles instead of a single book, the reports said.

And the challenges continue to spread through "coordinated campaigns by a vocal minority of groups" and "increasingly, as a result of pressure from state legislation," according to the PEN America report.

Incidents over the last two years have drawn national attention and scrutiny from advocates who say book bans are an attack on students' freedoms and people's constitutional rights. Educators and librarians have been put in the spotlight over book censorship disputes, as some have faced attacks or threats for publicly defending access to these materials.

"The freedom to read is an essential democratic principle. Children deserve to see themselves, their families, and communities in books," Kasey Meehan, PEN America’s Freedom to Read project director and lead author of the report, told USA TODAY. "Children who encounter a story that is different than their own can build empathy and understanding, and are better prepared to live in a diverse democracy."

"This is why we should not see book bans, which have escalated dramatically in the last year and a half, simply as a concern for parents and teachers, but for all of us invested in the next generation of active, informed citizens in a democracy," Meehan added.

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ALA, PEN America findings revealed dramatic increase in book bans

In the first eight months of 2023, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom reported nearly 700 attempts to censor library materials — challenging more than 1,900 "unique" or individual titles. The number of titles targeted marked a 20% jump from the same time period last year, according to the ALA report.

While school libraries and classrooms have long been the predominant target for book removals, the ALA said 2023 reports showed a near-equal division between schools and libraries open to the general public. Challenges to materials in public libraries accounted for 49% of incidents documented, compared to 16% in 2022, the ALA said.

The ALA defines a challenge as a "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." But the association noted that report is "only a snapshot of book censorship throughout the year" because the data is compiled from media accounts and reports submitted by librarians, leaving many incidents undocumented.

The PEN America report found that book bans in public K-12 schools have only continued to intensify in recent years.

In the last academic school year, from July 1, 2022, to June 31, 2023, the advocacy organization recorded more than 3,000 instances of book bans in US public school classrooms and libraries. Book challenges rose by 30% in the 2022-23 academic year, compared to bans in the 2021-22 school year.

PEN America defines a challenge as any action taken against a book that removes or restricts access to the material.

Most challenged books were written by or about women, people of color or LGBTQ+ people, according to the report. And targeted books often contained material that was perceived as “sexual" or "age inappropriate," the report said.

Overall, the report found that more than 1,500 unique book titles were removed in the last school year. The organization reported that book bans happened in 153 districts across 33 states.

Over 40% of all book bans occurred in school districts in Florida, according to the report. Compared to any other state, Florida had the highest number of book bans, with over 1,400 recorded cases, and the largest number of school districts to remove books.

Florida was followed by Texas, which had 625 book bans; Missouri, which had 333 book bans; Utah, which had 281 book bans; and Pennsylvania, which had 186 book bans, the report said.

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Recent book challenge incidents

Disputes over book challenges have caused attacks against teachers and librarians over the last year. And recent challenges have often originated from conservative organizations that have pushed for nationwide banning efforts and called for more parental control over school materials.

At Chapin High School in South Carolina, some students alleged that a teacher made them feel "ashamed to be Caucasian" for assigning Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me," a letter to his son about his perception of being Black in America. The school removed the book from the syllabus.

At Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District in Texas, a teacher was removed from an eighth grade classroom after allowing students to read an adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank," which included sexual content. The district said the book was not approved to be read in the class.

In Front Royal, Virginia, a county board of supervisors voted to withhold a large percentage of funding for the Samuels Public Library in response to conservative complaints about books with LGBTQ+ characters.

Some attacks have also affected the ALA. The ALA's opposition to bannings has led some communities to withdraw their membership.

“These attacks on our freedom to read should trouble every person who values liberty and our constitutional rights,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a press release Wednesday. “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.”

Contributing: The Associated Press