Each year, the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom records hundreds of attempts by individuals and groups to have books removed from libraries’ shelves and from classrooms. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 377 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2019. In all, 566 books were targeted.
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or group; banning is the removal of those materials.
Banned Books Week, which spans from September 27 to October 3, 2020, is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. BBW spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools, and brings together the entire book community, including librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers, in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas — even those some might consider unorthodox or unpopular.
Learn more about why books are challenged here.
Readers across the country and around the world will participate in a Stand for the Banned Read-Out during Banned Books Week 2020.
Visit the American Library Association’s Stand for the Banned Read-Out playlists to view videos from past participants which include videos from Judy Blume, Chris Crutcher Stephen Chbosky and Dav Pilkey, as well as actors Jeff Bridges and Whoopi Goldberg!
Click here to review lists of the most frequently challenged books in previous years.
