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Banned Books Week: Why Banned Books Week?

Banned Books History

Banning books has been a very difficult situation throughout history. People started to ban books due to religion, then moved to politics, then to identity/gender targets, race, and other things. A lot of books were and still are banned due to personal family reasons while some are being taken away or prohibited due to debates in schools and community meetings. Some books that are considered to be banned are still around to this day. Everyone has the freedom to read. We may not all agree about what the books say about a certain person, action, or deed but books are never meant to be burned, censored, or thrown away. Books are there for knowledge and for the imagination to explore territories that the reader may or may not know about. 

Reasons of Challenges

Censorship by the Numbers infographic featuring a word cloud of reasons various books, materials, and services have been challenged.

The Questioning of Book Banning Challenges

Censorship by the Numbers inforgraphic depicting various locations. Text reads: "WHERE DO CHALLENGES TAKE PLACE? 44% School libraries, 37% Public libraries, 18% Schools, 1% Academic/Other. Statistics based on 729 responses. ala.org/bbooks | #BannedBooksWeek

Censorship by the Numbers inforgraphic featuring a pie graph. Text reads: "WHO INITIATIES CHALLENGES? 39% Parents, 24% Patrons, 18% Board/administration, 10% Political/religious groups, 6% Librarians/teachers, 2% Elected officials, 1% Students. Statistics based on 715 responses. ala.org/bbooks | #BannedBooksWeek

Check out the Library's Research Databases for Articles and Other Sources for Banned Books