October 5 was the beginning of "BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2025". Below is a couple of lists of the most frequently challenged books.
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Banned Boks Week is an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read and highlights the value of free and open access to information. The theme of this year's event is "freed between the lines".
The Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged books list is compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and is based on or derived from communities across the United States. To see the ten most frequently banned in 2024, check here.
Legendary actor, author, and activist George Takei is the Honorary Chair of this year's "BANNED BOOKS WEEK". He is joined by youth honorary chair Iris Mogul. You can learn more about them and activities throughout this week by visiting the banned books week events page here.
"Books are an essential foundation of democracy,” said Mr. Takei. “Our ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ depends on a public that is informed and empathetic, and books teach us both information and empathy. Yet the right to read is now under attack from school boards and politicians across America. I’m proud to serve as honorary chair of Banned Books Week, because I remember all too well the lack of access to books and media that I needed growing up. First as a child in a barbed-wire prison camp, then as a gay young man in the closet, I felt confused and hungry for understanding about myself and the world around me. Now, as an author, I share my own stories so that new generations will be better informed about their history and themselves. Please stand with me in opposing censorship, so that we all can find ourselves — and each other — in books.”
His award-winning New York Times bestseller They Called Us Enemy (Top Shelf Productions, 2019) uses both words and images to depict Mr. Takei’s childhood as one of 125,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned in concentration camps by the U.S. government during World War II. This graphic memoir has been targeted by censors multiple times since publication, most recently in Monroe County School District in Tennessee, where it was among nearly 600 titles removed in an attempt to comply with the state’s vaguely-worded Age-Appropriate Materials Act.
You can also view previous lists by year as well at OIF. The list of the most banned books for 2025 will be available in April of 2026. However, some books have been repeatedly banned or challenged throughout history. If you're curious about the most frequently banned books of all time in America, here is a list of the "Ten of the Most Frequently Challenged Books in American History":
- Call Number: PR6029.R8 N49 1984Publication Date: 1984Reason: pro-communism ideas, sexuality
- Call Number: PS1305 .A1 1996ISBN: 0585363447Publication Date: 1999-01-01Reason: racism
- Call Number: PS3537.A426 C3 1979ISBN: 0316769533Publication Date: 1951-07-16Reasons: offensive language, unsuited for certain age groups
- Call Number: PS3573.A425 C6 1982ISBN: 0156028352Publication Date: 2003-05-28Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for certain age groups
- Call Number: PS3511.I9 G7 2000ISBN: 9780684830421Publication Date: 1996-06-01Reasons: reference to drugs, sexuality, and profanity
- Call Number: PS3551.N464 Z466 1997ISBN: 9780394429861Publication Date: 1970-01-12Reason: sexually explicit
- Call Number: PR6013.O35 L63 2003ISBN: 9780399529207Publication Date: 2003-10-28Reason: profanity, sexuality, racial slurs, and excessive violence
- Call Number: PS3537.T3234 O2 2002ISBN: 9780142000670Publication Date: 2002-01-08Reasons: offensive language, racism, violence
- Call Number: PS3561.E667 O5 2002ISBN: 9780670030583Publication Date: 2002-01-28Reasons: profanity, unsavory theme, sexuality, and racism
- Call Number: Adult PS3562.E353 T6 1982ISBN: 9780061743528Publication Date: 2010-05-11Reasons: offensive language; racism
If you would like more information about banned and challenged books, contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom at (800) 545-2433, ext. 4220, or oif@ala.org. Another god source of information on banned books is the "Libraries and Center for Academic Technology" site by Butler University: https://libguides.butler.edu/c.php?g=34189&p=217684
How about you? How many of these banned books have you read? How do you feel about the idea of banning books in schools and libraries?
