DID YOU KNOW …

• 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982, according to the American Library Association (ALA).
• The Banned Books Week campaign was launched that same year, in response to the large uptick in challenges to books in schools, bookstores, and libraries across the country.
• Usually these challenges are targeted at books, but they can also include DVDs, databases, displays, and art exhibits.

 What is challenged book? It’s one that has been sought to be removed or otherwise restricted from public access, typically from a library or a school curriculum.

According to research by the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, of the 416 books challenged or banned in 2017, here are the 10 most challenged books of 2017:

Resources

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, ala.org/bbooks/NLW-Top10

One big censorship story occurred in 2017 when The Hate U Give was removed from all school libraries in the Katy Independent School District (Texas). A 15-year-old student collected 3,700 signatures on an online petition, spoke out at a school board meeting, and started a book club about the YA author. Angie Thomas called the student “the real Starr Carter” after the heroine of her novel. The Hate U Give would ultimately be returned to the school library, but students can only check it out with parental approval.

On a side note – this librarian is super excited for the movie release this October…

Dankowski, T. (2015, October 1). By the numbers: Banned Books Week. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/NLW-Top 10