Banned Books Week was started in 1982 by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers and the National Association of College Stores to raise awareness of censorship problems in the United States and abroad. For the past 25 years, it has remained the only national celebration of the freedom to read.

Book censorship of all kinds – even book-burning – continues today. Challenges may come from parents, teachers, clergy members, elected officials, or organized groups, and arise due to objections to language, violence, sexual or racial themes, or religious viewpoint, to name just a few. In 2006, the ALA counted 546 challenges, mostly in schools. Many other cases go unreported.

This year, six books challenged in a Howell, Michigan, high school were referred to the FBI for investigation after a local group agitated for the books' removal from the English curriculum.  The challenged books included Toni Morrison's Beloved, Richard Wright's Black Boy, and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five.  School officials in Miami-Dade County, Florida continue to insist that Vamos A Cuba (A Visit to Cuba) by Alta Schreier be removed from school district libraries because they think the book paints too favorable a picture of Cuba. 

Banned Books Week is celebrated during the last week of September by booksellers, librarians, authors, readers, students and other friends of free expression. Some create banned book displays. Others stage public readings of challenged titles or sponsor discussions of free speech issues. We explore some of the many ways that booksellers can observe Banned Books Week in this handbook.

We hope the Banned Books Week Handbook will inspire you to celebrate the freedom to read and to come up with new ideas for dramatizing the issue. If you do participate, we hope you will tell us about your experience so we can expand and improve the handbook. When you’re ready, click on the link, We’re Listening!

Thanks for your support!