Library: Freedom to Read: More Banned Book Information

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St. Clair County Community College Library
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For more information

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
The Office for Intellectual Freedom is charged with implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association’s basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials.
American Library Association Banned and Challenged Books
The American Library Association promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular, and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them.
Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century
A list of classic books with detailed reasons for why they have been challenged and/or banned.
Banned Books Q&A
The following is a list of frequently asked questions on banned and challenged books.
Banned Books Week.org
The Banned Books Week Coalition is a national alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read.
Books That Shaped America
The Library of Congress, the world’s largest repository of knowledge and information, began a multiyear “Celebration of the Book” with an exhibition on “Books That Shaped America.”
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics medium.
Youth Censorship Database and Map
This map is drawn from cases documented by ALA and the Kids' Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.
National Coalition Against Censorship
NCAC's mission is to promote freedom of thought, inquiry and expression and oppose censorship in all its forms.
National Council of Teachers of English: Intellectual Freedom Center
NCTE encourages school communities to generate, implement, and follow policies and procedures for defending intellectual freedom at the classroom, institution, and system/campus levels to limit and/or address attacks on free expression.

Believe it or not, books are still being banned.

While Supreme Court rulings supporting freedom of speech via the written word had for many years greatly reduced instances of books being banned, recently there has been a rise in books being banned from schools by politicians. In a recent study, "Banned in USA", PEN America, an organization of Poets Essayists and Novelists, found that between July 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022 there were at least 1586 instances of books being banned.

The First Amendment of our Constitution guarantees all of us the freedom to read.

The Library Bill of Rights, a foundational document of the library profession, states libraries should challenge censorship and present all points of view, for the enlightenment of all people.

In 2016, for the first time in Top Ten history, a book was challenged solely because of its author.

Bill Cosby’s Little Bill series was challenged because of sexual allegations against the author.

Challenges continue to target LGBT material, and there is a rise in “sexually explicit” as a challenge category.

The Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles the Top Ten list by documenting public challenges (challenges that are reported in the media), as well as censorship reports submitted through the office’s reporting form.

All artwork, quotes, and statistics courtesy of the American Library Association, www.ala.org.