This week (October 5 to 11) is Banned Books Week UK. It’s a parallel campaign to Banned Books Week in the USA and has been relaunched this year by Index on Censorship.

Attempts to censor books in schools, libraries and bookshops across the US are widespread, sometimes backed by legislation, and well-documented.

And while there have been high-profile examples of attempts to get books removed in the UK, it’s not always clear whether these are isolated incidents or if books are more generally under threat.

How many challenges are UK libraries getting?

Complaints about books have risen slightly in the most recent financial year, but requests for removal are more stable.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show councils and library services across the UK recorded 69 complaints in 2022/23, 67 in 2023/24, and 75 in 2024/25.

There were 65 requests for removal in 2022/23, 52 in 2023/24, and 64 in 2024/25.

However, the number of titles included in the complaints and removal requests has jumped.

In 2024/25, people complained about at least 105 titles and wanted at least 98 titles to be removed from libraries¹.

That was up from complaints about 55 titles in 2022/23 and 62 in 2023/24, as well as 54 removal requests in 2022/23 and 51 in 2023/24.

What gets the most complaints?

Over the three years:

Most complained about authors:

• Juno Dawson (14)
• Harry Woodgate (11)
• Susan Kuklin (9)
• Helen Joyce (8)
• Honor Head (8)

Authors with most removal requests:

• Juno Dawson (10)
• Harry Woodgate (9)
• Honor Head (9)
• Susan Kuklin (8)
• Helen Joyce (7)

Most complained about books:

• Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out – Susan Kuklin (9)
• Grandad’s Pride – Harry Woodgate (9)
• Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality – Helen Joyce (8)
• This Book is Gay – Juno Dawson (5)
• Welcome to St Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure – Lewis Hancox (5)

Books with most removal requests:

• Grandad’s Pride – Harry Woodgate (9)
• Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out – Susan Kuklin (8)
• Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality – Helen Joyce (7)
• This Book is Gay – Juno Dawson (5)
• Irreversible Damage: Teenage Girls and the Transgender Craze – Abigail Shrier (4)

There may be some worrying trends

Alongside individual complaints and removal requests covering several books at a time, the types of books have also changed. Both these things may suggest attempts to censor content around particular themes.

Books targeted were much more likely to have had LGBTQ+ content last year.

The number of such titles mentioned in complaints jumped from 11 in 2022/23, making up a fifth of books complained about, to 60 in 2024/25, or three-fifths of the total. Similarly, requests were made to remove 10 LGBTQ+ books in 2022/23, rising to 58 in 2024/25.

In 2022/23, there didn’t appear to be a particular type of book more likely to draw complaints² and removal requests.

People complained about books containing “casual racism” and books about Black Lives Matter. Books with positive depictions of trans people were as likely to draw complaints as books with anti-trans content.

However, there may be some double counting going on³.

The inclusion of a large number of LGBTQ+ books in 2024/25 may come from a single complaint, with a big list, to Libraries West, which oversees services for several councils in the South West. The complaint, removal requests and list of books appears to have then been passed to the individual councils.

In its FOI response, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council said: “The only request to remove books from our shelves was received in July 2024. We are a member of a regional library consortium, and the request was received by the consortium, and not directly by ourselves.”

Why might this be a concern?

A complaint with a big list of books someone wants removed seems more reflective of a campaign to censor content around particular topics.

Campaigns targeting particular books or types of content potentially lead to libraries dealing with more complaints, including those from people who aren’t library users. Campaigns and pressure groups often seek to get elected officials to add their voices to the complaints.

Increased attention and pressure could mean libraries may choose not to promote some titles or to buy more books on certain topics. There may be a risk of overall policies on what to stock being reviewed.

The American Library Association (ALA) found pressure groups (26%), elected officials (10%), and board members and administrators (36%)⁴ were behind 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries in the USA. Parents only accounted for 16% of demands and 5% came from individual library users.

The 120 titles most frequently targeted for censorship during 2024, according to the ALA, were all identified websites that provide tools for activists to demand the censorship of library books⁵.

But complaints to libraries about books are still rare

Three in five councils in the UK said they hadn’t recorded any complaints or removal requests in the past three years (133 out of 218). Ten councils or library services didn’t provide a response to the FOI.

A lack of recorded complaints and removal requests doesn’t necessarily mean councils have received none. 

Informal complaints, such as those made in person, may not be included. Though it’s less likely serious attempts to get books removed (especially any that were successful) would go unrecorded.

For example, Cambridgeshire Council said it had no requests to remove stock recorded but if people had made in-person complaints they would have been encouraged to use the council complaint’s process⁶.

Are books being banned?

Books are rarely taken off the shelves following complaints. 

Of 210 requests for books to be removed over the three years, only 17 titles were taken off the shelves. Eight were removed in 2022/23, three in 2023/24, and six in 2024/25

A further six books were moved to other areas of the library after a complaint (e.g. from children’s to young adult’s). Five titles were replaced with updated versions with contentious content removed.

The UK’s Banned Book List

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

It appears several of the request for removal may have come from recalls by publishers when books were withdrawn (and then potentially re-issued without problematic content). Possibly complaints drew attention to these recalls.

Fife Council said there was no complaint, but its libraries decided to remove Billy and the Epic Escape by Jamie Oliver. The book drew criticism from Indigenous Australians that it is “offensive and harmful”, and was withdrawn by its publisher.

Other books weren’t removed, but replaced with updated versions.

Libraries in Plymouth removed ‘contentious’ editions of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl and replaced them with updated versions and copies of The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams were replaced in Birmingham after criticism about ‘casual racism’ relating to a Chinese boy in the book.

All Cats have Asperger Syndrome by Kathy Hoopmann was replaced with All Cats have Autism in Hertfordshire.

Some books stayed in libraries but were moved to different sections. This is My Family by Pat Thomas and Lesley Harker was moved to the junior section, Tintin books were moved from children’s to young adults in Brighton and Hove, and Queer by Meg-John Barker was moved to the adult section in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

What’s stopping libraries banning books?

Stock policies and the librarians who defend them.

Library services have stock policies that set out how they decide what books (e-books, CDs, DVDs etc) they buy and what they take off the shelves.

Broadly, that’s making sure they have books lots of people will want to read, as well as a wide range of books that reflect diverse communities and cover different views.

A number of responses cited Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP) guidelines: ‘The function of a library service is to provide, as far as resources allow, all books, periodicals etc. other than the trivial, in which its readers claim a legitimate interest. 

“In determining what a legitimate interest is, the librarian may safely rely on one guide only – the law of the land. If the publication of such matter has not incurred penalties under the law it should not be excluded from libraries on any moral, political, religious or racist grounds alone, to satisfy any sectional interest.”

This largely underpins why there seem to be very few books removed from libraries after complaints. Or as Wrexham Libraries said: “Our role is to stock a comprehensive range of reading materials for individuals and communities that we serve, our role is not to censor”⁷.

For children’s books, libraries aim to provide a range of books to meet children’s needs, and leave it to parents and guardians to make decisions about what they think is suitable for their children.

But books do get removed

Several of the removals over the past three years have been related to recalls by publishers, which may be one of the instances where libraries do remove books.

Libraries don’t have infinite cash or infinite shelf space. Other books that were removed may have been reviewed in line with stock management policies – books may be considered for removal if they’re old, out of date, in poor condition or haven’t been borrowed in a while.

But it’s not clear all the books removed were taken off the shelves for the above reasons. So getting information on what was removed and why is important.

What next?

Worried about this? Join your local library and start borrowing some books. Partly because it’s a great thing to do but it helps show book selections are meeting the needs and interests of the community.

In terms of trying to track this going forward. It’s getting more information on why removals that did happen happened. It’s seeing what books get removed from stock, regardless of complaints⁸. It may also be useful to see how widely available some commonly complained about books are.

Image by Olha Ruskykh on Pexels

1. Why ‘at least’? Well, Libraries NI, after not answering the initial request and then needing the ICO to get involved, decided to withhold the information about the titles of books under Section 43(2) Commercial Interests.
   Yes, they were the only ones to do this, no, it doesn’t make any sense, yes, I need to get round to asking for an internal review. As such it’s not clear if each complaint or request removal only refers to one title. ↩︎
2. And sometimes, complaints are just complaints. Among the issues raised to Herts libraries were a lack of books in different languages and on specific topics, not being able to borrow all the titles in a book series, and a request for books for those with dyslexia to be shelved separately. ↩︎
3. It’s hard enough to set data standards when you do official collections across public bodies and issue them all with guidance on what to include or not. It’s even harder trying to do it via FOIs.
   Given public bodies can and will misinterpret what they need to include for official data, there’s plenty of space here for counting a request for removal with a list as one or counting each book on the list individually. Also request for removal is open to interpretation (as we’ll see…) ↩︎
4. A book by current US Health Secretary RFK Jr was complained about in the Orkney Islands, but appears to still be on the shelves. ↩︎
5. Occasionally libraries in the UK get caught up in book ban campaigns in the US.
   Kingston Libraries, in south west London, received a complaint about Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin, objecting to sexual content in a book in the teen section, and claiming it had been promoted on the library’s Facebook page.
   The referred to Facebook page was actually Kingston Library in New York state, and the complaint had been sent to many library authorities as part of what was thought to be a targeted campaign. 
   Kingston Libraries response: “…the book has not been banned and material will not be rejected just because it is considered controversial. In line with CILIP’s Freedom of Access to Information statement and our Stock Policy, access should not be restricted on any grounds except the law. 
   “Beyond Magenta is deemed suitable reading material for teenagers as it describes the experience of transgender teenagers in their own words and from their own knowledge and perspective, and is aimed at readers of a similar age.” ↩︎
6. Some complaints come in a very roundabout way.
   Solihull Council was contacted by the press as a member of the public had complained to them about a very specific part of a single illustration in ‘How to Win at Feminism’ by Reductress.
   The person was demanding that the book be removed from Solihull’s library shelves (apparently, they also thought it should be withdrawn from every UK library and burned) but had not approached the library service prior to contacting the press, nor had they used the formal complaints procedure.
   Solihull Libraries declined to remove the book as it was an adult non-fiction title shelved in the adult non-fiction section, well away from the children’s area. ↩︎
7. Though a particularly good response to a complaint came from Cardiff relating to Wales since 1939 by Martin Johnes: “The customer was advised that the author is a Professor of Modern History who specialises in Welsh history and has based his opinion on his research”. ↩︎
8. One worrying possibility is people just disappearing books they don’t like. Croydon libraries received a complaint about Love Lessons by Jacqueline Wilson, due to perceived inappropriate content. It said at the time, two copies of the book were stocked according to the catalogue. However, both of these were subsequently found to be missing following shelf checks by staff. The catalogue records were subsequently removed. ↩︎