2025 Banned Books Week

The American Library Association's Banned Books Week is October 5 - 11, 2025. Because that week falls during our Fall Break week, the library will have Instagram posts, a libguide, and this blog post to recognize the week.

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For more than 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, writers, journalists, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or for restriction in libraries and schools. 

This year's theme is "Censorship is so 1984 -- Read for your Rights" referring to George Orwell's cautionary tale 1984. George Takei of Star Trek fame is the 2025 honorary chair for Banned Books Week. The youth honorary chair is Iris Mogul.

The annual library guide to Banned Books Week can be found at library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek  The guide has resource information, graphics, and more details about the week and the honorary chair.

Find the list of the top challenged books for 2024 on the Forbidden: List of Banned Books page of the guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek/forbidden

• All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
• Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images 
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
  Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, rape, drugs, profanity 
• Flamer by Mike Curato
  Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
• Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
  Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
  Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit 
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
  Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women 
• Crank by Ellen Hopkins
  Reasons: Drugs, claimed to be sexually explicit 
• Sold by Patricia McCormick
  Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, rape
•  Flamer by Mike Curato
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Find more information at the guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek

As depicted in the graph, the number of unique titles challenged in 2024 was lower than the highest number that happened in 2023. Various factors contributed to the decline.

 

2023 Banned Books Week

 

The American Library Association's Banned Books Week is October 1 - 7, 2023. Because that week falls during Fall Break, the library is launching Banned Books Week awareness a week early.

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For more than 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, writers, journalists, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. The theme for this is "Let Freedom Read."

The annual library guide to Banned Books Week can be found at library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek

Reading advocate, writer, and television and film star LeVar Burton will lead this year’s Banned Books Week as the honorary chair. Burton is the first actor to serve as honorary chair of Banned Books Week. “Books bring us together. They teach us about the world and each other. The ability to read and access books is a fundamental right and a necessity for life-long success,” says Burton. “But books are under attack. They’re being removed from libraries and schools. Shelves have been emptied because of a small number of people and their misguided efforts toward censorship. Public advocacy campaigns like Banned Books Week are essential to helping people understand the scope of book censorship and what they can do to fight it. I’m honored to lead Banned Books Week 2023.”

Find the list of the top challenged books for 2022 on the Forbidden: List of Banned Books page of the guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek/forbidden

The list has 13 books because three books tied for 10th place.

• Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images
• All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit
• Flamer by Mike Curato
  Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
  Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
  Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, rape, drugs, profanity
• Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
  Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term
• Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
• This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
  Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women
• A Court of Mist and Furry by Sarah J. Maas
  Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit
• Crank by Ellen Hopkins
  Reasons: Drugs, claimed to be sexually explicit

Find more information at the guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek

Four favorite Banned Books from KLIC Librarians

The 2021 Banned Books Week is September 26th  - October 2nd! Check out our Banned Books Week guide! Books unite us; censorship divides us. #BannedBooksWeek #bannedbooks #bannedbookslist

In this post, we have four librarians with their favorite banned books!

First up is librarian Dwight Hunter: "Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich is my favorite banned book. Ehrenreich went undercover working jobs in various locations; jobs described as unskilled. During this undercover reporting, Ehrenreich discovered and revealed a section of American full-time workers who were barely getting by, had to make life and death choices, and were only one thin thread away from being in the worst of situations. This book was banned because of drug use, charged as politically inaccurate, offensive language, and its political and religious viewpoints."

Librarian Andrea Kincaid shares her favorite #bannedbook, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

"The American Library Association states the book was 'banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity'.

Nearly every woman I know has been a victim of sexual assault, and many of them were assaulted as girls. This extremely important and valuable book represents the feelings of loss and violation that I and so many of the women I know have experienced as a result of sexual assault. Our bodies are not political!"

Our Dean of Library Services, Susan Jennings, shares one of her favorite #bannedbooks, To Kill a Mockingbird.

"To Kill A Mockingbird is Harper Lee’s masterpiece. Told from the perspective of the child, Scout, Lee recounts her life in her sleepy Southern hometown rocked by the trial and wrongful conviction of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man, for the rape of a young white woman.  Banned over the years for the subject matter of sexual violence, profanity, and racial slurs, To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the first works of fiction to deal with matters of race, integrity in the face of overwhelming odds, violence, and acceptance and reconciliation of others that have been outcasts."

Librarian Andy Foskey recommends his favorite #bannedbook:

"Alice Walker's The Color Purple brings me to tears every time I read it. And I have read it at least three times. It has been banned and challenged over issues related to language and sexuality, but to me those objections miss the point. Life is not always easy, and the characters in this book persevere under the most distressing circumstances. It gives me hope that despite everything wrong in the world that there can still be joy and happiness."

Banned Books Week 2019

September 22-28, 2019 is Banned Books Week. The 2019 theme is "Censorship Leaves us in the Dark: Leave the Light On!" Censorship succeeds when no one talks. Each year libraries across the country observe Banned Books Week. This annual event is sponsored by the American Library Association. Check out their page at ala.org/bbooks.

Check out our Banned Books guide at library.chattanoogastate.edu/bbw

The top types of censorship include vandalizing pages, hiding resources, and more.

Do read a banned book! Check out our banned books display near the library entrance.

Banned Books Week 2018

September 23-29, 2018 is Banned Books Week. The 2018 theme is "Banning Books Silences Stories. Speak Out!" Censorship succeeds when no one talks. Each year libraries across the country observe Banned Books Week. This is an event by the American Library Association. Check out their page at ala.org/bbooks

Check out our Banned Books guide at library.chattanoogastate.edu/bbw

The American Library Association produced a video about the top ten challenged books in 2017:

Forbidden Books - Banned Books Week

Each year, the American Library Association sponsors Banned Books Week. This year, Banned Books Week is September 24 - 30. Find out more information about Banned Books Week from the ALA at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned

Read the library's Banned Books Week guide at  library.chattanoogastate.edu/bbw

Library Blog Team: Our Eight Selected Banned Books for 2017

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Call Number: YA PZ7.G8233 Lo 2007
Banned: Offensive language, sexually explicit
Description: Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie; Ellen Forney (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV PZ7.A382 Ab 2007
Banned: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
Description: In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Call Number: PS3511.I9 G7 1953
Banned: Offensive language, sexual references
Description: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Call Number: HD4918 .E375 2001
Banned: Drugs, charged as politically inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint
Description: Our sharpest and most original social critic goes "undercover" as an unskilled worker to reveal the dark side of American prosperity. Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them.

Beloved by Toni Morrison
Call Number: PS3563.O8749 B4 2004
Banned: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Call Number: PS3537.A426 C315 1991
Banned: Offensive language, sexually explicit
Description: Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Call Number: PS3557.U846
Banned: Profanity, sexual content
Description: A fisherman is killed in the early 1950s and deep resentment remains with residents of Japanese ancestry who lost so much within internment camps. Can a newspaper reporter overcome the destruction of his love life to save the man who married the love of his life?

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Call Number: PS3573.A425 C6 2003
Banned: Offensive language, sexually explicit
Description: Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate.

Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

In honor of Banned Books Week, KLIC is reviewing Saga: Volume 1 written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. Saga has been challenged and censored repeatedly since it was published in 2012. The American Library Association lists several reasons for challenges including: anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. But Vaughan's Saga has also been awarded three Eisner awards including Best Continuing Series, Best New Series and Best Writer and a Hugo award for Best Graphic Story.

If science fiction tales of intergalactic space travel, star-crossed lovers, and magic intrigue you, pick up Saga: Volume 1 today. Alana and Marko are from opposites sides of a war that has been fought for ages, when they find each other on the brutal battleground planet, Cleave. Alana helps Marko escape and together they desert their posts. They also create something new, with the birth of their daughter Hazel. Leaders on both sides are disgusted with their actions and want to put an end to the entire family. Alana, Marko, and Hazel must find a way to survive Cleave and make their way to safety. But where can they find a home when the solar systems' best assassins and militaries are tracking them?    

Celebrate Banned Books Week by picking up this graphic novel or another from our display. Don't be "read-stricted!"

Read-Stricted. Banned Books Week!

Books are being banned or challenged in libraries nationwide every year. The American Library Association and KLIC highlight these books in September to bring awareness to phenomenal books that you can chose to read (or not to read). Stop by our entryway display to check out classics, children's/young adult, graphic novels, and recently challenged novels.

Learn more about Banned Books week on our guide and on the American Library Association webpage.

Banned Books Week 2014

Books are being banned or challenged in libraries nationwide every year. The American Library Association and KLIC highlight these books in September to bring awareness to phenomenal books that you can chose to read (or not to read). Stop by our entryway display to check out classics, children's/young adult, graphic novels, and recently challenged novels. 

Learn more about Banned Books week on our guide and on the American Library Association webpage.