Book bans and challenges: March 26, 2025

Here's the latest news on book bans, challenges, and other literary obstacles — and efforts to fight back against them.

• It's been twenty years since John Green released Looking for Alaska, his first novel; it went on to become one of the most-banned books in the US (Book Riot).

• A federal judge has temporarily blocked Iowa's book-ban law, a challenge to which was brought by authors including John Green and Jodi Picoult, for a second time (The Guardian).

• The Alabama Public Library Service Board of Trustees has voted to defund the Fairhope Public Library; it's the first such move under a new state law that seeks to restrict patron access to certain materials (Book Riot).

• Lisa Varga will be the next associate executive director of the American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy office in Washington, DC (Publishers Weekly).

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