Help Swem celebrate Banned Books Week (9/21-9/27) by expressing your right to access books without censorship, and have some fun in the process. Visit our display in the lobby which features a selection of the banned books that Swem owns, add your favorite banned book to our interactive title list, and check out a banned book that you've never read before!
The most challenged and/or restricted reading materials have been books for children. Since 1990, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom has recorded more than 10,000 book challenges. A challenge is a formal, written complaint requesting a book be removed from library shelves or school curriculum. About three out of four of all challenges are to material in schools or school libraries, and one out of four are to material in public libraries.
It is thanks to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, and students that most challenges are unsuccessful, and reading materials like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Slaughterhouse Five, and the Harry Potter series, remain available.
Visit https://www.ala.org/bbooks/ for more information and a full list of banned/challenged books.
Information courtesy of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association, and artwork courtesy of the American Library Association.