This week, two lists of books were published that offer an interesting, though incomplete, snapshot of what’s going on at American libraries these days. NPR’s Anastasia Tsioulcas reported on the American Library Association’s annual list of the most-challenged books of 2025. These are titles targeted for removal or restriction at libraries, mostly by organized movements – “pressure groups,” government officials and decision makers. (The organization reports that only 2.7% of the documented challenges originated with individual parents.)

If you’ve followed the plot of book bans over the past few years, these titles are likely familiar. Topping the list was Sold by Patricia McCormick, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. Gender Queer has made this list a lot. All three books deal with sexual themes, though in very different ways. And according to the ALA, 40% of the materials challenged last year were representations of LGBTQ+ people and those of people of color.

But Gender Queer also appeared on another big list this week: Brooklyn Public Library’s 250 most influential books in U.S. history, released in honor of its 250th birthday. BPL’s writeup calls Maia Kobabe’s memoir about identity and community “didactic” and “sweet,” noting the way it’s “incidentally becom[e] one of the faces of our current political climate in regard to book banning and trans rights in America.” As a list-lover and Brooklyn resident, I had a lot of fun scrolling through BPL’s picks – and found some childhood favorites on there. A Wrinkle in Time and Holes, anyone? I was charmed to see memoirs from Anthony Bourdain and Patti Smith too – good stuff.

I think grabbing a book to read off either of these lists would be an appropriate way to close out National Library Week. And while you’re at it, two questions for you: First, what’s your earliest – or fondest – library-related memory? (Mine involves a tiny, secret doorway that opens up into the children’s room at the public library in Burlingame, California.) And what’s the most recent book you checked out from your local branch? Let us know at bookoftheday@npr.org.