It’s Banned Books Week! Banned & Challenged Books are On Display.

From September 24 through October 1, the Bentley Library joins libraries around the country in observing Banned Books Week. During Banned Books Week, we celebrate the freedom to read by bringing attention to efforts to curtail that freedom. From classics to children’s books to nonfiction, hundreds of books are challenged in the US each year for a host of reasons, with the most frequent from 1990 to 2010 being sexually explicit content, offensive language, and violence. Real numbers are much higher since so many challenges are never reported to the American Library Association, which has been tracking challenges since 1990. Most challenges take place in schools, school libraries, and public libraries, but academic libraries are not immune to questions about controversial materials, and academic libraries’ dedication to research and free inquiry means that we have a particularly strong obligation to protect access to ideas and information of all kinds.

Stop by the library to view our display of banned and challenged books. You’ll find a sampling of classic and contemporary titles that have been at the center of controversy at schools and libraries in the United States and abroad, along with a description of why each title was challenged.

You can celebrate Banned Books Week in many ways:

 

One thought to “It’s Banned Books Week! Banned & Challenged Books are On Display.”

  1. Although I’m always surprised at how many books that have been important to me have been banned, I’ve never noticed before how well-represented women are on this list. Makes me want to know more about why.

Comments are closed.