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Banned Book Week: What's It About?

Banned Books Week 2024

What is Banned Books Week?

Banned Books Week is an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read while raising awareness about current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. Librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types have joined together for more than 40 years in shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

  • challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.
  • banning is the removal of those materials.

ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,247 demands to censor library books and resources in 2023. The number of titles targeted for censorship surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022.