BOOK BANNING OFTEN TARGETS DIVERSE LITERATURE.
According to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, the majority of the Top 10 Challenged Books of 2020 feature LGBTQ characters or deal with the harsh realities of race relations.* Censoring such books stifles crucial conversations around social issues and identity, and makes it harder for readers to access inclusive literature.
Banned Books Week, September 18 - 24, 2022, is the annual celebration of the freedom to read. Libraries across the country—and even across the pond—host programs and displays that draw attention to the harms of censorship and the joys of unrestricted reading.
The initiative spotlights the truth about censorship: books are still banned and challenged today, In fact, there's been a dramatic increase in attempts to censor library materials in the last year. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 156 challenges in 2021. In just the last three months of 2021, the number of reported challenges to library, school, and university materials totaled more than 300. Banned books benefit our empathy, our democracy, and our worldview. This Banned Books Week, don’t sit on the sidelines. Learn how to get involved.
*"Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists", American Library Association.
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 (Accessed March 12, 2020)
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