Banned Books Week, held this year from September 18 - 24, is an annual event sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), celebrating the freedom to read. We invite you to learn about censorship and fight for your freedom to read. "Books encourage boundless exploration and allow readers to spread their wings. Stories give flight to new ideas and perspectives. Reading—especially books that set us free—expands our worldview. Censorship, on the other hand, locks away our freedom and divides us from humanity in our own cages" (https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks).
ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracks the number of challenges (attempts to censor) that take place each year. The office "tracked 729 challenges to library, school and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals" (https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned).
We invite you to learn more about the dangers of censorship by checking out a book from our display and answering our sticky-note discussion board questions.
Books You Might Not Know Have Been Challenged or Banned
Learn More About Censorship
Censorship is defined as "the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security" (Oxford Dictionary). While not new, there has been a recent rise in requests for removing materials from academic and public libraries. Learn more about the dangerous effects of censorship by exploring the recommended resources below.
John Scopes went on trial for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution; nearly 70 years later, an Illinois English teacher was confronted by protesters who demanded that J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye "not be assigned for reading"—adding that their demand should not be interpreted as "censorship or banning books." Whatever it’s called, it means that books are under attack—from "Cinderella" to Huckleberry Finn. This program looks at how teachers can prepare themselves against attack, and looks at those who, in the name of religion or equality or whatever cause, are aiming the censor’s gun at teachers and books. (20 minutes)
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