Librarians are worried. The American Library Association has been compiling data about censorship in libraries for the past 20 years and says attempts to ban books are at an all time high.

Dane County Library Service director Tracy Herold has seen it happen here. Today’s challenges look less like a demand for an outright ban from a single group, and more like anonymous social media chatter stirring up controversy about a library, its staff and its books.

So this week, Dane County libraries are holding Banned Book Con, a series of events honoring the right to read and celebrating the free exchange of ideas. You can meet one of the country’s most banned authors in Madison this Thursday. 

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