A Quick History…
Banned Books Week was launched in the 1980s by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. The 80s were a time of increased challenges, organized protests, and the Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) Supreme Court case, which ruled that school officials can’t ban books in libraries simply because of their content. Books are still being banned and challenged today in both school libraries and public libraries. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials from the library. Not all challenged books end up getting banned, but Banned Books Week rolls off the tongue easier than Banned and Challenged Books Week. In 2018, the American Library Association received reports of 347 book challenges but not all challenges get officially reported so it is fairly safe to assume that number could be a bit higher. You will notice the info-graphic featured below has the number of 531 which is including non-book materials challenges (to library programs, online resources, or movies).
Check out the Top 10 Most Challenged Books by year here.
At AAPLD…
Materials for children and young adults are among the most frequently challenged; which is why we have a Banned Books Week display in the youth department in addition to the adult department’s display upstairs. Book challenges do not come from just one specific group of people — realistically any book could offend someone. As a public library, we have books for everyone in the public, so this is an important topic to talk to children about. What a child checks out or reads is ultimately up to their parents. We provide the materials for kids from ages 0-14 at all sorts reading & developmental levels. Just like every child is different, every parent’s philosophy is different so it is up to the parents to make that final decision.
We like to celebrate Banned Books Week at AAPLD by highlighting some of the most famous or most frequent children’s books to be challenged. That does not mean we are banning them! It just means that they have been challenged at some point somewhere in the United States so maybe you should give them a read.
