This guide provides an overview and resources related to banned and challenged books.
American Library Association (ALA ) Advocacy: Banned & Challenged Books
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE)
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF)
Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF)
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Intellectual Freedom Center
PEN America: The Freedom to Write
Unite Against Book Bans (an ALA initiative)
The American Library Association (ALA) defines a banned book as a book that has been removed from the shelf of a library or school. According to ALA, a challenged book is a book that a person, group, or authority thinks should be removed, but is still on a library or school's shelves.
Since 1982, Banned Books Week has rallied librarians, booksellers, authors, publishers, teachers, and readers of all types to celebrate and defend the freedom to read. As we commemorate 30 years of Banned Books Week and enter the 31st year of protecting readers' rights, ALA unveiled this timeline highlighting one significant banned or challenged book from each of the years 1982 through 2012.
If you can buy a book on Amazon, is it banned? Danika Ellis of Book Riot explains why "ban" is the correct term for the movement to remove books from libraries.
Additionally, Heather Kelly of the Washington Post explains why banning books from libraries is harmful, even if an "enterprising teenager" might find the book online.