Struggle for control of public libraries in full swing across the Deep South
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By Dwayne Fatherree, SPLC
No one used to envision libraries as battlefields. But in 2025, that’s what they have become.
Across the South over the last decade, control of what happens on bookshelves has turned into a pitched battle, with white supremacist and Christian nationalist groups on one side facing off against an unlikely coalition of progressives, educators, Black leaders and drag queens on the other.
Just two months into a second Trump presidency and its scorched-earth policy against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the culture wars are heating up the stacks.
According to an analysis of banned books from PEN America released on Feb. 27, more than a third (36%) of the 4,218 books banned during the 2023-2024 school year featured characters or people of color. Measuring only history books or biographies, that number rises to 44%. More than a quarter (26%) of the banned history and biography titles focused specifically on Black people, according to the analysis. And a quarter (25%) of all the banned books included LGBTQ+ people or characters.
Legislation from ruby-red legislatures is poised to tilt the scales in favor of censorship. In Alabama, a bill has been introduced that would subject librarians to a $10,000 fine if they receive a request for a book removal and do not take action on it. Louisiana lawmakers passed a law in 2024 that allows parish (county) governments to dismiss their library boards without cause.
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“While some of the initial attention has been focused on LGBTQ books,” said Sam Boyd, a senior supervising attorney in Florida with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Democracy: Education and Youth litigation team, “there has been an effort to restrict books featuring Black characters or written by Black authors. And these attacks have certainly created a chilling effect on educators and schools.”
Keep reading to learn how library books spread knowledge of Black history–and why some want to control that knowledge.
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