Intellectual Freedom: Banned and Challenged Materials

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based on the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Find out which books made the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2017: A new list comes out in September of each year.
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However, other banned books have existed before this from countries throughout the world. ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in communities across the country. We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools.

Click of link above and peruse the following pages to explore banned and challenged books on ALA lists by topic, genre, time, and audience.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles lists of challenged books as reported in the media and submitted by librarians and teachers across the country.

A challenge is 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. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.

PURPOSE

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees all individuals the right to express their ideas without governmental interference, and to read and listen to the ideas of others. The Freedom to Read Foundation was established to promote and defend this right; to foster libraries as institutions wherein every individual's First Amendment freedoms are fulfilled; and to support the right of libraries to include in their collections and make available any work which they may legally acquire.

Founded in 1969, the Freedom to Read Foundation was the American Library Association's response to its members' interest in having adequate means to support and defend librarians whose positions are jeopardized because of their resistance to abridgments of the First Amendment; and to set legal precedent for the freedom to read on behalf of all the people.

FTRF is a separate organization from the American Library Association, with a separate membership.





FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES

The Freedom to Read Foundation was incorporated in November of 1969. Its charter lists four purposes:
•Promoting and protecting the freedom of speech and of the press;
•Protecting the public's right of access to information and materials stored in the nation's libraries;
•Safeguarding libraries' right to disseminate all materials contained in their collections; and
•Supporting libraries and librarians in their defense of First Amendment rights by supplying them with legal counsel or the means to secure it.

The Foundation's work has been divided into three primary activities:
•The allocation and disbursement of grants to individuals and groups for the purpose of aiding them in litigation or otherwise furthering FTRF's goals;
•Direct participation in litigation dealing with freedom of speech and of the press.
•Education about the importance of libraries and the First Amendment to our democratic institutions.
The Foundation is devoted to the principle that the solution to offensive speech is more speech, and the suppression of speech on the grounds that it gives offense to some infringes on the rights of all to a free, open and robust marketplace of ideas.


See also Freedom to Read Foundation Time Line.







HOW TO CONTACT THE FREEDOM TO READ FOUNDATION

Freedom to Read Foundation
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4226
ftrf@ala.org

James LaRue
Executive Director and Secretary
Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4222
JLaRue@ala.org

Yumeka Brown
Program Officer
Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4223
ybrown@ala.org