Found a wild stat about banned books in my town's library

I was looking through our local library's records online last night and noticed they had a whole section of books that were challenged but not banned. The number surprised me: 47 different books were formally challenged in our county over the last 3 years, but only 3 got removed. I dug into the reasons and most were about language or LGBTQ topics. The biggest shock was that a kids' picture book about penguins was challenged because someone thought it was about same-sex parenting. Have any of you checked your library's challenge list or seen similar weird complaints?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael_craig8h ago

47 challenges over just 3 years seems like a lot for one county, honestly. That penguin book complaint is hilarious though, like someone really thought a picture book about birds was pushing a secret agenda. I mean, did the complaining person think the penguins were holding flippers or something?

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hall.nora6h ago

So did they think the penguins were secretly pro-capitalism or what?