Challenged and Banned Books

"It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers." -- Judy Blume

Censorship refers to the act of examining books, plays, videos, or other materials in order to suppress parts thought to be objectionable on moral, political, or other grounds. The issue is of particular importance to young readers, as a majority of challenges reported each year are to books, videos or other materials in schools or school libraries. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict material, based on the objections of a person or group, and is much more than an expression of an individual's or group's point of view; rather, it is an attempt to remove material from either the curriculum or the library, and as a result, threatens to restrict the access of others. A banning is the actual removal of the material from the classroom or library. (Source: American Library Association http://www.ala.org/bbooks/challeng.html)

Want to learn more? Visit the links below:

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 (How many have you read?)
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm

Banned Book Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm
Established by the American Library Association in 1982 and observed annually during the last week in September, Banned Book Week serves as a reminder of the importance of our freedom to read. Visit this ALA site first to learn more about issues relating to censorship.

Banned Books and Censorship: Information and Resources
http://libraries.luc.edu/about/exhibits/banned/index.shtml

Censored, by George Suttle
http://GeorgeSuttle.com/censorship/censors-all.shtml
This site features loads of links to general resources, information about censorship of books and other media, free expression and U.S. law, and much more.

The Censorship Pages
http://www.booksatoz.com/censorship/
This site, created and maintained by Books AtoZ, features extensive links to articles, information and quotations about censorship.

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
(Who received this year's Jefferson Muzzles?)
http://www.tjcenter.org/

ARTICLES ABOUT CENSORSHIP

Common Sense and Censorship: Thoughts About Young Adult Literature, by Kelly Burgess
http://teenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/censorship.htm

"Other Days, Other Ways: American Book Censorship 1918-1945", by James J. Martin, originally published in THE JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL REVIEW, vol. 10: no. 2, pp. 133-141.
http://ihr.org/jhr/v10/v10p133_Martin.html

QUOTATIONS ABOUT CENSORSHIP

Anti-Censorship Page: Quotes on Freedom of Speech and Censorship
http://cgd.best.vwh.net/home/anticens.htm

Nonstop English: Quotations about Censorship
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/reading/quotations/k_Censorship.asp

Welcome to the Quote Garden! Quotations about Censorship
http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html