"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Showing posts with label Censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Censorship. Show all posts

Monday, September 28, 2026

Banned Books Week

Next week is "BANNED BOOKS WEEK". Americans will highlight the annual event October 4 - 10 with the theme “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read,” featuring artwork by Hyesu Lee, Loveis Wise, and Mikey Burton.

Honorary chairs include:

  • Bess Kalb (author of the Buffalo Fluffalo series)
  • Tony Weaver, Jr. (Weirdo)
  • Youth honorary chairs: Marshall Romero and Azeemah Sadiq
    bannedbooksweek.org                                                                                                                                  Key Events and Activities

Organizations such as ALA, PEN America, and the American Booksellers Association will host events, panels, screenings, and community actions. Examples include:

  • Virtual and in‑person discussions on censorship
  • Screenings of The Librarians documentary
  • Panels featuring banned authors
  • Community action events like Let Freedom Read Day on October 10, 2026
    pen.org

Resources and Participation

  • ALA Store: Posters, bookmarks, stickers, and merchandise
  • Digital kits: Available for libraries, schools, and bookstores
  • Physical kits: Distributed to participating bookstores (limited supply)
  • Advocacy tools: Templates, guides, and resources to support intellectual freedom
    bookweb.org

Context: Book Challenges

The 2026 campaign also responds to rising censorship:

  • ALA tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, with 5,668 titles banned—the highest number ever recorded.
  • Nearly 92% of challenges were initiated by organized pressure groups.
    bannedbooksweek.org

Banned Books Week 2026 serves as a major annual effort to defend intellectual freedom and highlight the escalating challenges to the right to read. 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. You can also view previous lists by year as well at OIF. 

The list of the most banned books for 2026 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 the 100 most frequently challenged books by decade | Banned Books. If you'd like to know the books that were most challenged of 2025, click here. Ten of the most frequently banned in high schools:












  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
    Call Number: PS3573.A425 C6 1982
    ISBN: 0156028352
    Publication Date: 2003-05-28





















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?
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Monday, October 6, 2025

2025 Banned Books Week

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":












  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
    Call Number: PS3573.A425 C6 1982
    ISBN: 0156028352
    Publication Date: 2003-05-28





















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?
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Monday, September 23, 2024

2024 Banned Books Week

September 22 is the beginning of "BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2024". It lasts through September 28. 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 2023, check here.

Ava Duvernay is the Honorary Chair of this year's "BANNED BOOKS WEEK". She is joined by youth honorary chair Julia Garnett. You can learn more about them and activities throughout this week by visiting the banned books week events page here.

You can also view previous lists by year as well at OIF. The list of the most banned books for 2024 will be available in April of 2025. 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 Most Frequently Challenged Books in American History":












  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
    Call Number: PS3573.A425 C6 1982
    ISBN: 0156028352
    Publication Date: 2003-05-28





















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?
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