Banned & Challenged Books
Created by Lydia Guterman. Last updated: April 1, 2022.
For this assignment, you will choose a banned, censored, or challenged book to read independently. After reading, you will determine whether or not its contents merit censorship and/or to what extent. This page features resources to help you get started with thinking about book bans, censors, and challenges.
The American Library Association (ALA) defines a challenged book as an attempt "to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group." A banned book is when a book challenge is successful and the the book is removed from the intended location (school, public library, etc). You can learn more about the ALA's stance on book banning on their website.
Locating a book
In addition to the books we've pulled for your class, here are just some of the other places you can find books:
In our library catalog!
If there's a book you want but we don't have it or someone else has it out, you can also find e-books and audiobooks on Sora.
At Robbins Library (700 Mass Ave) ➔ check out their online catalog.
Lists of Banned & Challenged Books
These are just some lists we’ve found that feature banned and challenged books.
As Book Bans Target LGBTQ+ Writers and Writers of Color, Here’s What Banned Books We’re Reading (March 2022)
50 Banned Books to Read Now (While You Still Can) (January 2022)
Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books Lists (through 2020)
100 Most Frequently Challenged Books by Decade (through 2019)
Illinois Library Association Banned Books Week (through 2016)
Books about Banned & Challenged Books
Check our library catalog for actual challenged and/or banned books, as well as works on the author and other related works. These are a few great surveys of banned book cases:
Silenced in America: Banned Books in America (2017) [I'm an e-book!]
Books Under Fire: A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children's Books (2015)
Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries (2002)
120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World History (2005)
Online Resources about Banned & Challenged Books
Gale, one of the many databases that you can access through the library, has a series called Opposing Viewpoints which features already-vetted articles on contemporary social issues.
They have an entire Book Banning collection! There are many recent articles against book banning, as well as other resources.
There are also articles you can find through Google searching. Here’s one: Banning Books Like 'Maus' Is Part of Sanitizing History (Teen Vogue 2022)
Researching Banned & Challenged Books
Do you want to SEARCH this kind of content? Here are some tips for searching, whether you’re in Google or a library database.
Use quotation marks to find complete phrases, especially proper names and titles. For example:
“hunger games”
“the poet x”
“and tango makes three”
Combine keywords to get articles that match each of your important concepts. For example:
vonnegut AND banned
"harry potter" AND challenged
By adding the “AND” you are limiting your results to sources that include both of the terms.
Target your Google search to specific domains by doing entering your search term followed by "site:[domain]". For example:
Play around. Both ala.org and ila.org are great for this assignment.
Check your spelling when you are searching. Sometimes a misspelled word prevents you from finding all of the resources you can!
These documents outline policy for book challenges and selection in Arlington Public Schools, for your info: