Banned Books Week

October 01, 2010

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, and the importance of the First Amendment. This year, it’s held from September 25 until October 2, 2010. Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information, while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bans of books across the United States.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bans. While some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases, the books were not banned thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections.

Over the past nine years, American libraries were faced with 4,671 challenges.

1,413 challenges due to sexually explicit material

1,125 challenges due to offensive language

897 challenges due to material deemed unsuited to age group

514 challenges due to violence

344 challenges due to homosexuality

109 materials were challenged because they were anti-family

269 were challenged because of their religious viewpoints

Angela H.
Excelsior Springs Branch