{"id":422,"date":"2026-05-15T17:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422"},"modified":"2026-05-15T17:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:33:54","slug":"colorado-public-libraries-record-25-drop-in-book-challenges-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422","title":{"rendered":"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n

Colorado libraries recorded a 25% decrease in challenges to their books, materials, events and exhibits in 2025 compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n

Read more Crash closes southbound lanes of U.S. 85 in Brighton, could stay closed for hours<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, public libraries across the state reported 43 challenges to their books, materials, events and exhibits and two challenges to Internet policies, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education\u2019s Library Research Service.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the state recorded 60 challenges, the data showed.<\/p>\n

The decrease comes after years of skyrocketing attempts from conservative movements across Colorado and the country to ban or restrict access to public library books, programs or displays, typically targeting those with LGBTQ or race-related themes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law designed to protect the state\u2019s libraries and their employees from partisan book-banning battles.<\/p>\n

The law required libraries to establish written policies for acquiring, retaining, displaying and using library resources \u2014 and governing how to handle requests to remove books or other resources.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too early to know the impact of the law, but Nederland Community Library director Elektra Greer said, ideally, the legislation would be responsible for fewer censorship attempts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor anyone disillusioned in today\u2019s world, and who feels their voice doesn\u2019t matter, Colorado\u2019s recent intellectual freedom legislation from 2024 and 2025 is proof that citizen advocacy works,\u201d Greer said. \u201cEarly data from 2025 shows a significant decline in book challenges \u2014 something Coloradans should be proud of. So don\u2019t just read about heroes and heroines who stand up for what they believe in \u2014 become one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Between 2021 and 2022, the state documented a 500% increase in the number of challenges to materials or services provided by Colorado public libraries, from 20 to 120.<\/p>\n

Stacked up against national data, Colorado public libraries appear to be outliers in decreasing challenges. The American Library Association\u2019s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented attempts to censor more than 4,200 unique titles nationwide in 2025, nearly 2,000 more titles than 2024 and only five fewer than 2023\u2019s record number of attempts.<\/p>\n

Most of those challenges came from large \u201cpolitically-driven entities working across jurisdictions,\u201d according to a recently released report from the American Library Association looking at the state of American libraries in 2025.<\/p>\n

Read more Dire Colorado budget, business wins and veto threats mark Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 final legislative session<\/a><\/p>\n

About 91.7% of challenged titles in 2025 were targeted by \u201cpressure groups and government decision makers,\u201d according to the ALA report, while 2.7% came from parents and 1.4% originated from individual library users.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Shana Wade, associate library director at Mesa County Libraries, said the Western Slope library district\u2019s challenge data has been all over the map. In 2023 when the ALA documented record book-banning attempts, the district recorded 13 challenges. In 2024, there were two. Last year, Mesa County Libraries documented 21 challenges.<\/p>\n

However, 14 of those 21 challenges were dedicated to one collage in a community art show featured at the Grand Junction library that portrayed President Donald Trump with Hitler-like features, Wade said.<\/p>\n

In previous years, Wade noticed a more concentrated effort to challenge books with LGBTQ themes.<\/p>\n

When a person challenges a library book, Wade said they\u2019re asked to fill out a form that asks, among other questions, whether they\u2019ve read or viewed the material in its entirety. The library will then review the material, read reviews about it, research its intended audience and circulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come in waves,\u201d Wade said, referring to the challenges.<\/p>\n

Mesa County Libraries were already largely aligned with the policies the new state law required, Wade said, but they did make one addition in light of the law: only Mesa County residents can submit challenges to their library district, and they are limited to five challenges per year.<\/p>\n

The strain of dealing with challenges has made Wade question whether the libraries should put effort into contested exhibits like pride displays in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we also hear on the other side how meaningful it is that we show signs of being welcoming and accepting, so it just kind of adds another layer of questioning or needing to reassure each other or have time to respond to some of these complaints and listen to the comments,\u201d Wade said. \u201cIt can be a bit draining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Pueblo officer fatally shoots suspect after car chase<\/a><\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado libraries recorded a 25% decrease in challenges requesting to ban books, materials, events and exhibits in 2025 compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025 - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025 - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Colorado libraries recorded a 25% decrease in challenges requesting to ban books, materials, events and exhibits in 2025 compared to the previous year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T17:33:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"headline\":\"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T17:33:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422\"},\"wordCount\":734,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Colorado News\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422\",\"name\":\"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025 - Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T17:33:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=422#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025 - Colorado Springs Moverss","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025 - Colorado Springs Moverss","og_description":"Colorado libraries recorded a 25% decrease in challenges requesting to ban books, materials, events and exhibits in 2025 compared to the previous year.","og_url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422","og_site_name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T17:33:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"headline":"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025","datePublished":"2026-05-15T17:33:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422"},"wordCount":734,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp","articleSection":["Colorado News","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422","name":"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025 - Colorado Springs Moverss","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-15T17:33:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b6ff6c793611242a7a56a45c9efd1984.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=422#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colorado public libraries record 25% drop in book challenges in 2025"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/","name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}