Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read, and highlights the value of open access to information. 

The 2017 Banned Books Week celebration will be held from September 24 - 30. 

Banned Books Week was first organized in 1982 in response to a surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries.  More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982.  

According to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, "a challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or a group.  A banning is the removal of those materials." 

The ALA notes that "challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others."

In September look for:

• Banned Books Week display, first floor of the Library. Find out why a specific book was challenged. Would you be willing to go to jail for a banned book?  What about censorship and music? Or websites or films blocked from viewing? 
• Read a banned book!  Choose one book or more to check out and read.  Words have power!
• BBW Posters created by students in the Spring 2017 Applied Graphic Design course
• Mugshots on campus TVs. Watch for OCCC people you may know and a favorite banned book of their own

Or look up a banned book from this list of OCCC's collection! 

Need to write an essay or argument paper?  Try these two fabulous article databases for gathering ideas and facts about banned books and censorship topics.