Banned Books Week 2018

The last week of September means it's Banned Books Week! Going strong for more than three decades, Banned Books Week came about as a response to an increase in challenges and organized protests after a US Supreme Court case ruling stated that school officials cannot ban books in libraries just because of questionable content. Since that time, Banned Book Week has become a celebration of the fact that in a majority of cases, challenged books remain available to all who seek them.

The American Library Association tracks the number of challenged and banned books each year, and again this year, the ALA has put together the Top 10 Challenged Book of 2017.

Want to see Top 10 lists dating back to the year 2000 and even earlier? CLICK HERE to access the ALA's website listing books and the reasons behind the challenges. Keep in mind that these lists only represent a small portion of book challenges. The ALA reports that "Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges--documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries--remain unreported and receive no media."

So why are books challenged? The infographic below shows a variety of reasons. Often books are challenged because of explicit language (profanity, sexuality) or because of topics deemed "inappropriate" by the challenger, such as political bias or religion, LGBTQ issues, or violence.

Want to know more? Take a look at the video below, and visit the ALA's website devoted to Banned Books Week. Feeling adventurous? Maybe even stop by the library to take a look at some of these challenged or banned books!