Banned Books
Banned & Challenged Books: From the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association. Covers Banned Books Week, Frequently Challenged Books, Resources for Librarians facing challenges.
ALA Freedom to Read Statement: First adopted in 1952 jointly by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee.
Intellectual Freedom Manual / Trina Magi, Martin Garnar.
A compendium of guiding principles and policies. and a resource for day-to-day guidance on maintaining free and equal access to information for all people.
Cited from the ALA Researching Banned or Challenged Books guide.
Banned Books Week
Video by Freadom Fighters, a group founded by Texas librarians.
Check back for information about Banned Books Week at University Libraries. Exhibit information will be updated soon.
Is a book banned or challenged?
Some definitions
Challenge: An attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.
Censorship: A change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes.
Intellectual Freedom: The right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.
Cited from the ALA Researching Banned or Challenged Books guide.