Every class since 1982 , the American Library Association ( ALA ) has hostedBanned Books Weekto fighting censorship and illustrate “ the note value of spare and open admission to info . ” The theme of 2024 ’s cast out Books Week — which runs from September 22 to September 28 — is “ release Between the Lines , ” a nod to the freedom we discover in books .
The message is open - ended enough to allow for personal interpretation . It could be the exemption to hug and express your own identity element after seeing yourself represented in a story — or the freedom from fill up - mindedness that you win through read about experiences unlike your own . Whatever the suit , it ’s a freedom threatened when books are banned .
To help lift cognisance around the matter , the ALA ’s Office of Intellectual Freedom track andpublishes dataon challenge to library depicted object across the country . In 2023 , there were 1247 demands for censoring , a 65 percent increase from the previous year and the gamy bit in some two decades of information assemblage . Of the 4240 Koran titles single out — up from 2571 in 2022 — virtually one-half “ represent[ed ] the voices and know experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC somebody , ” per the ALA .
Seven of the top10 most challenged booksof 2023 were targeted for have LGBTQIA+ contentedness ( among other reasons ) , including the first - spot closer : Maia Kobabe ’s memoirGender Queer , which log 106 challenges . All 10 Holy Scripture were “ arrogate to be sexually denotative , ” careful wording that acknowledges intimate explicitness is often a matter of impression ( and suggests that the ALA does n’t necessarily share these opinions ) .
The leaning go the gamut from beloved novels like Toni Morrison’sThe Bluest Eyeto educational nonfictional prose likeLet ’s Talk About It : The Teen ’s Guide to Sex , Relationships , and Being a Humanby Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan . you may see what else made the list ( and why ) below , and learn more about Banned Books Weekhere .
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