(NEW YORK)— PEN America issued the following comment today on the relocation of 30,000 books in Livingston Parish, LA public libraries while librarians read through young adult titles to decide which may contain unacceptable sexual content.
Sabrina Baeta, senior program manager in PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said: “Any public library relocating 30,000 books from its young adult to adult section is simply astonishing. What’s happening in Livingston Parish libraries shows the harrowing impact that vague legislation and a manufactured moral panic around obscenity can have on a community. Even if only temporary in the long run, readers of YA books will lose access to shelf after shelf of books; not to mention the immense burden it places on the librarians tasked with reviewing more than a lifetime of reading materials.”
PEN America has documented the steep rise in book bans in schools since 2021. The censorship has been mobilized by a well-funded coordinated network of conservative groups. During the last 2023-2024 school year, more than 10,000 instances of book bans were documented. Together with state laws and policies that erase so-called “divisive” topics from classrooms, this “Ed Scare” has led to education censorship unseen since the 1950s-era Red Scare.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, STrimel@PEN.org, (201) 247-5057