Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us
Banned Books Week 2022
Banned Books Week 2022 will be held September 18 – 24. The theme of this year’s event is Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us. Banned Books Week is the annual celebration of the freedom to read.
The event is sponsored by a coalition of organizations dedicated to free expression, including the American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Council of Teachers of English, National Book Foundation, and is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.
The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracks attempts to ban or restrict access to books across the United States and to inform the public about censorship efforts in our libraries and schools. In 2021, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services, affecting 1,597 books. The office also noted a focus on demands to remove books that addressed racism and racial justice or those that shared the stories of Black, Indigenous, or people of color. A list of banned and challenged titles can be found on the ALA website.
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