Colorado libraries recorded a 25% decrease in challenges to their books, materials, events and exhibits in 2025 compared to the previous year.
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’s Library Research Service.
In 2024, the state recorded 60 challenges, the data showed.
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.
In 2024, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law designed to protect the state’s libraries and their employees from partisan book-banning battles.
required libraries to establish written policies for acquiring, retaining, displaying and using library resources — and governing how to handle requests to remove books or other resources.
It’s too early to know the impact of the law, but director Elektra Greer said, ideally, the legislation would be responsible for fewer censorship attempts.
“For anyone disillusioned in today’s world, and who feels their voice doesn’t matter, Colorado’s recent intellectual freedom legislation from 2024 and 2025 is proof that citizen advocacy works,” Greer said. “Early data from 2025 shows a significant decline in book challenges — something Coloradans should be proud of. So don’t just read about heroes and heroines who stand up for what they believe in — become one of them.”
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.
Stacked up against national data, Colorado public libraries appear to be outliers in decreasing challenges. 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’s record number of attempts.
Most of those challenges came from large “politically-driven entities working across jurisdictions,” according to a from the American Library Association looking at the state of American libraries in 2025.
About 91.7% of challenged titles in 2025 were targeted by “pressure groups and government decision makers,” according to the ALA report, while 2.7% came from parents and 1.4% originated from individual library users.
Shana Wade, associate library director at Mesa County Libraries, said the Western Slope library district’s 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.
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.
In previous years, Wade noticed a more concentrated effort to challenge books with LGBTQ themes.
When a person challenges a library book, Wade said they’re asked to fill out a form that asks, among other questions, whether they’ve 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.
“They come in waves,” Wade said, referring to the challenges.
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.
The strain of dealing with challenges has made Wade question whether the libraries should put effort into contested exhibits like pride displays in June.
“But 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,” Wade said. “It can be a bit draining.”
