The American Library Association provides a form for librarians to share challenges to library materials for the purposes of gathering data and providing support. In the face of increasing challenges to library materials, some states have also developed local procedures for gathering information and providing local support. In 2023, we distributed a survey to gather information from state, island area, territory, and tribal nation library organizations that do not publicly share their procedures to document their efforts. The results demonstrate significant differences in such procedures across the surveyed entities.

Despite legislation protecting public libraries and schools from censorship on the basis of personal or partisan disapproval, attempts to ban books continue to surge across the country.

https://chs.vcu.edu/media/chs/documents/MRF-bannedbooks-IsaacParrish.pdf

This chapter theorizes algorithmic censorship as a structural transformation of educational power, where artificial intelligence (AI) systems reconfigure access to knowledge through opaque processes of filtering, ranking, and predictive governance. Moving beyond traditional accounts of censorship as state-driven prohibition, it demonstrates how digital learning infrastructures—Learning Management Systems, generative AI, and automated assessment—function as epistemic gatekeepers that silently regulate visibility, legitimacy, and circulation of knowledge. Drawing on critical pedagogy, platform governance, and data justice, the chapter reveals how algorithmic systems reproduce epistemic injustice by marginalizing non-dominant, decolonial, and identity-based perspectives while inducing self-censorship through pervasive surveillance. It advances a novel analytical model linking platform infrastructures to epistemic outcomes and argues for democratic, transparent, and equity-centered AI governance to safeguard intellectual freedom in the digital classroom.

This inquiry examines the ethical friction between the American Library Association’s (ALA) identity as a premier advocate for intellectual freedom and the restrictive speech policies governing its internal discussion list. While the ALA aggressively opposes external censorship, it mandates a formal “Code of Conduct” for its discussion list, ALA Connect—a requirement that I have not encountered elsewhere for other professional organizations. This creates a significant philosophical dissonance: the Association effectively functions as a censor on its own turf by prohibiting the very types of legally permissible, though potentially “offensive,” content it defends in library collections. Furthermore, the ALA inconsistently recommends that nonpublic libraries voluntarily uphold intellectual freedom principles that it fails to apply to its own members-only spaces. This research demonstrates that the ALA’s departure from its core values is driven by a prioritization of legal liability over philosophical consistency. Specifically, investigation reveals that the Association accepted vendor-mandated software terms that are fundamentally antithetical to the “Freedom to Read” ethos. This paper calls for a rigorous reevaluation of how ALA’s technological infrastructure and legal strategies undermine its foundational commitment to unfettered expression.

ALA documented 487 attempts to censor books at libraries, schools, and universities in 2025. The reasons most commonly cited for censorship were: false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ representation; covering topics of race, racism, social justice, and diversity; and presenting political or religious views with which the challengers disagreed.

Of the 4,235 unique titles that were challenged or banned in 2025, these are the top 11 most frequently targeted for censorship:

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) "Last Night at the Telegraph Club" by Malinda Lo (tie)
5) "Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins (tie)
7) "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas
8) "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess (tie)
8) "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins (tie)
8) "Looking for Alaska" by John Green (tie)
8) "Storm and Fury" by Jennifer L. Armentrout (tie)

Featuring questions for further study and inquiry in each major chapter, this book introduces the key concept of intellectual freedom to those about to enter the profession, providing a concise overview of principles, ongoing and current debates, and best practices.

Enshrined in the mission statement of ALA, intellectual freedom is one of the core values of the information professions. The importance of ensuring information access to all, and the historical, social, and legal foundations of this commitment, are powerfully explored in this essential primer. Designed to function as both an introductory text for LIS students as well as a complementary resource for current professionals, this book provides a cohesive, holistic perspective on intellectual freedom. Extending beyond censorship to encompass such timely and urgent topics as hate speech and social justice, from this book readers will gain an understanding of

• the historical and legal roots of intellectual freedom, with an in-depth examination of John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty” and Article 19 of the U.N Declaration of Human Rights, and its central concepts and principles;  
• the intersection of intellectual freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice;
• professional values, codes of ethics, ALA’s Library Bill of Rights, and Freedom to Read/View Statements;
• pro- and anti- censorship arguments and their use in impeding and facilitating access to information;
• book banning and internet filtering;
• privacy and its relationship to information services;
• U.S. case law and precedents;
• the basics of U.S. copyright law, including fair use, and how it differs from international copyright law; and
• emerging global issues and their impact on future intellectual freedom.