Coming Up: Banned Book Week 2023

Take a look at the following list of books.  What do you think they have in common?

A Wrinkle in Time

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Harry Potter series

The Higher Power of Lucky

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Bridge to Terabithia

The Giver

The Giving Tree

To Kill a Mockingbird

Little House on the Prairie

Think you know?  If you said they have all been challenged or censored, you would be correct.  Each of the titles above (and more) are books we have in our library that have been challenged and, in some cases, removed from schools and libraries across the United States.

Each year, during the month of September leading up to Banned Books Week, our library displays these books and the reasons they have been challenged. 

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and highlighting the value of free and open access to information.  Additionally, the week spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools.

Unfortunately, challenges are on the rise.  Each year, the Office of Intellectual Freedom tracks and collects information regarding book challenges. You can go here to see a list of the top ten books challenged each year and the number of total known challenges made.  You can also view the picture below to see some statistics regarding challenges.  

It remains as important as ever that we protect our right to free access to information in both our public libraries and our public school libraries.  Not every adult can afford to buy books from a book store or Amazon and not every child has a parent who is able to drive them to a public library during business hours.

This year, Banned Book Week will be officially celebrated from Oct. 1 – 7.