Banned & Challenged Books

About Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.

The SCF Libraries support free and open access to information.

We celebrate Banned Books Week each year in September to draw national attention to the harms of censorship.

Banned or Challenged?

There is a difference between "challenging" and "banning" a book:

• 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.

Read more in the American Library Association's website.

Resources:

• About Banned Books Week:  http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned
• List of Frequently Challenged Books:  http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks
• Banned Books Q & A: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned-books-qa

Questions about the SCF Libraries collections?

The SCF Libraries have a Collections Development Policy with a criteria to select books for the collection.

Contact any SCF Librarian if you have questions about our policy.