Banned Books Week is a yearly event that started in 1982 in response to a sudden growth of books being challenged in libraries, schools and bookstores. We celebrate this week to emphasize the significance of having freedom to seek and express ideas and to bring together the book community.
The books being featured this week have all been challenged or banned in libraries and schools. If a book has been challenged, it means that there have been attempts to restrict access to those materials due to objections from groups or individuals.
Readers of all kinds: educators, librarians, students, authors, publishers and booksellers can use this week to come together and focus their efforts to create open-access to what we read. We can work together to bring awareness to this matter, and what better way to do that than read together!
Here are some books that you may not know have been banned or challenged:
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Some of these books, along with others, will be on display in Library West this month to raise awareness of this event. Check out our display and let us know you are taking part this week by tagging us on Instagram @fgculibrary. The display will be up for the entire month of October, so stop by and pick something out!
