A Confluence of Trends in Library Censorship

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nature of library censorship efforts differed widely between the USA and Canada. Between 2015 and 2021, Canadian libraries most commonly experienced challenges to materials perceived to be racist, while USA libraries dealt primarily with challenges to sexual content and pro-LGBTQIA+ content. However, both countries experienced a notable increase in library censorship movements in the years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This phenomenon, driven in large part by conservative reactionary groups pushing an exclusionary anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-racial justice agenda, has resulted in a precipitous rise in documented challenges to library resources in both countries. The resulting data show that both the nature of challenges and titles challenged have become strikingly similar in recent years. This study examines the data documenting library resistance in the USA and Canada to illustrate how the countries' once distinct library censorship trends have converged, putting LGBTQIA+ resources in both USA and Canadian libraries in jeopardy.