When Douglas Lord became a librarian 30 years ago, he said calls to ban books in Connecticut "were completely unheard of."

Today, the number of challenged books is at a record high, according to national data, with challenges in Westport, Brookfield, Fairfield, Darien and other Connecticut communities.

Lord, now the president of the Connecticut Library Association, said there are about 35 active challenges in public and school libraries that the association knows of, about double 2022's figure.

He said there are probably about the same number they don't know of since it is difficult to know how often books are challenged in schools across the state each year.

"I've recently learned that a lot of school challenges can be anonymously submitted," he said. "It gets really dicey when an especially powerful or upset parent/group throws their influence around behind the scenes and books just go away with no public notice."

He said this frequently happens.

"I really feel for the school media specialists who get up every morning with the best of intentions and wind up getting caught up in that crossfire," Lord said.

There were 2,532 national instances of books banned in the 2021-2022 school year, with 1,648 unique book titles, according to PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to defending free speech.

The American Library Association tracks the data on a calendar year basis. Its report released in March, showed a record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship in 2022, which is a 38 percent increase over the 1,858 unique titles that were targeted for censorship in 2021, the previous record.

In that time period, the data shows that Connecticut did not officially ban any books, and the state with the most bans was Texas.

Lord said a book ban occurs when a governmental agency, such as a board of education or municipality, intentionally removes a book, though it is rare in Connecticut, but challenges are at an all time high.

"Schools and libraries have reconsideration policies that administrators go through in order to determine if books or other materials are suitable," Lord said.

Lord said the association believes the challenged books are part of a larger, organized effort.

"Many challenges and the movement in general have been traced back to political organizations and political action groups," he said.

Eric Scoville, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said though the state has developed position statements, content standards and frameworks to assist districts in curriculum development, "it is ultimately up to local school districts and their boards to determine which books best support the learning needs of their students and families."

"In alignment with the K-12 Universal Curriculum Design Principles, these decisions are best made through stakeholder engagement, including educators, administrators, and members of the public including, parents and other stakeholders, as appropriate," he said.

Since the control is local, the State Department of Education does not collect information about local level book utilization.

Lord said the Connecticut Library Association is a member-driven organizations of about 750 people.

He said the association will do what it can if a member or resident asks for help in getting involved in a challenged book process.

"But we all have our normal day jobs in addition to committee work," Lord cautioned. "We do make resources available and the American Library association website has lots of information that can help librarians and people."

"Since Connecticut is such a proudly parochial state, each town and school district has its own set of policies and procedures that needs to be followed," Lord added. "Some have three steps, while others have six steps, and still others have nine steps to these protocols. So it is up to each individual community to make those determinations. Rest assured the librarians involved in those decisions are professionals who use a wealth of judgment and care when assisting their communities."

The most banned books

Of the challenged books, Lord said LGBTQ+ and BIPOC "stories, authors, and voices are very clearly targeted."

He also said two of the top nonfiction titles being brought up in Connecticut are "Gender Queer" and "Let's Talk About It."

"Gender Queer" is listed as the number one challenged book for 2021 in the American Library Association Top 10 Most Challenged Books List released each year.

The data shows most of the challenged books, being 41 percent, focused on LGBTQ+ themes, protagonists or prominent secondary characters. The second most, 40 percent, focused on protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color.

According to PEN America, "Gender Queer" was banned in 41 districts across the country.

"Gender Queer" is one of the books under review in Westport to remain in the Staples Library. That, along with "This Book is Gay" and "Flamer" were challenged by a parent who said the books are sexually explicit and stereotypical toward the LGBTQ+ community. At the most recent meeting on April 3, the committee unanimously voted to uphold each book, though it has to continue through a review process, with an official decision from the superintendent, which can be appealed.

Controversy arose in Westport after "This Book is Gay" and "Gender Queer" were included in a Staples library book display in honor of banned book week in September 2022.

"This Book is Gay" is also on the top 10 banned books list. "Flamer" is not, but it was nominated for a Nutmeg Book Award in 2023.

In Brookfield, "This Book is Gay" is also being challenged for its content. Challengers in town have called it "pornographic," and the parent in Westport objected to its depictions of sex.

Brookfield's complaints arose at an April 5 Board of Education meeting, where more than a dozen residents talked about its content, though it was not on the agenda. According to the school catalogue, it is available as an e-book through the high school library.

Also in 2022, a teen graphic novel called "Let's Talk About It" faced scrutiny in Fairfield because of its sexual nature. However, this was at the town's public library, not a school one. The Board of Trustees voted to keep the book on shelves.

In Darien, a book called "Julián Is a Mermaid" was challenged in 2022. The book was read in a second grade classroom, with a parent bringing it to the Board of Education's attention, saying it was inappropriate for that age group for its themes about gender. However, the district announced it would keep the book in a memo sent to parents, saying it met the district's values of diversity, inclusion, acceptance and empathy.

Officials and locals speak out

At a Ferguson Library event about banned books on April 13, state Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, brought up the PEN America data, adding that 49 percent of banned books are for young adults, and 19 percent were picture books, which the data shows.

"We're seeing this play out now, and for me, it's extraordinarily frightening," she said about book bans.

In an interview, Maher said, "Any attempt to ban books is dangerous, because 'the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society,'" which is a quote from the American Library Association Freedom to Read statement.

State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, said in an interview that he is unaware of any current or attempted book bans in Stamford, but he is in support of Stamford's decision to become a Book Sanctuary City.

There is a bill currently in the General Assembly that would create "sanctuary libraries,"which gives extra money to libraries that aren't banning books.

In 2022, Stamford became the second city in the country to become a Book Sanctuary City. Being one, according to the Ferguson Library, "provides opportunities to expand access to banned and challenged books as well as provides support and protection for the freedom to read."

"More generally, I support our LGBTQ community against hate and prejudice and will not stand for any demonization of it," Blumenthal said. "LGBTQ individuals — especially trans kids — face heightened risk of harm, whether from bullies, anti-LGBTQ violence, lack of acceptance, or suicide."

Blumenthal said any school instruction or discussion on sexuality and gender identity should be age appropriate, adding parents should also be involved in their children's education. He said he supported the library and school officials and their efforts to make parents more aware of the curriculum.

"Banning books hurts the very same people that advocates believe that they are protecting," said state Rep. Hubert Delany, D-Stamford.

He said youth need to see characters in books that look like them.

"They serve as a living reminder that their future can look like them, and that our institutions are invested their future," he said. "It is of the upmost importance that we do not deprive our the children of the opportunity to see themselves in literature."

Blumenthal, who used to represent Darien until redistricting this January, said he condemns the online targeting of Darien educators that happened last year, alongside an attempt to ban the book "Julián Is a Mermaid."

Darien resident Corey Frate called the challenge of that book an "unfortunate targeting."

"These are not the things we want to see Darien in the news for," he said. "It is abhorrent that some place would, really, shoot themselves in the foot and defund libraries than allow them to have a single book with a rainbow on the cover."

He added that he is grateful to live in Connecticut, where institutions like libraries and its values are affirmed by legislators.

"Our students, library officials and educators deserve to teach and learn without being dragged into politics," Blumenthal said. "We must continue to stand up against efforts, here and across the country, to censor or ban books from our libraries."