Tagged Banned Books
Happy Birthday to Kurt Vonnegut (and Kilgore Trout?)
Yes, I am one of those: I keep a list of books saved in my phone—books that I will eventually read once I reach that magical point of life when I stop desiring new books and therefore stop adding to the dang list—and…
Banned Books Week | What Gets Censored?
As we reach the end of our celebration of Banned Books Week 2019 , I’ve been thinking about what kinds of books are typically banned in the United States these days, as well as what kinds aren't. Every year, the American…
Banned Books Week | LGBTQ+ Tween and Children's Edition
Another year, another Banned Books Week ! Each year the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Most Challenged Books in order to "inform the public about censorship in…
Banned Books Week | A Year Without Net Neutrality
"We wanna be free! We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. We wanna be free to surf the net. We wanna be free to visit websites and access information freely without being hassled by The Man!" It seems fitting to paraphrase…
Beyond Banned Books | Exploring Threatened Themes Further
In the United States, many banned books are favored by teachers and students for the same reasons others want to hide them from view. What an educator sees as a difficult and important topic—the stuff, one might say, of life…
Banned Books Week | Celebrate Your Freedom to Read!
Hey, library lovers! Another Banned Books Week is upon us, this year extending from September 22-28, as libraries around the country join forces with the American Library Association (ALA)’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)…
Banned Books Week | Conflagration
As we close out our Banned Books Week 2018 coverage , here's a "Fun" fact: According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom , at least 46 of the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100…
Banned Books Week | LGTBQI+ Picture Books
Many subjects can cause the challenge or ban of a book, especially a book intended for children. Most challenged and banned book instances occur in school libraries and are brought forth from parents. Books are here to teach and…
Banned Books Week | Internet Censorship and Banned Websites Awareness Day
Not only does Banned Books Week celebrate and advocate for the fREADom to express and share all types of knowledge of the written word, but also raises awareness of another type of censorship that takes place—the overly…
Banned Books Week | National Comic Book Day and The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
You probably already know about Free Comic Book Day , celebrated annually on the first Saturday in May at your local comic book store and also at your local library – but do you know about National Comic Book Day ? Each year…
Banned Books Week | What Do You Mean We Can't Read That?
This year, Banned Books Week runs from September 23 to September 29 and in true book-and-idea lovin’ fashion, the Free Library is ready to celebrate the freedom to express and share all types of knowledge—even ideas that…
National Library Week: Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2017
In honor of National Library Week , we’re celebrating not just our beloved Free Library and its amazing librarians and staff, but the role of libraries in the 21st century. Chief among these roles is promoting freedom of…
From Banned to the Big Screen: Banned Book Adaptations
We've spent the past week here on the blog celebrating Banned Books and the f READ om to read whatever you want—banned, challenged, or not. If there's one thing possibly more controversial and/or overblown than the very…
Children’s Banned Books: from Nudity to the Occult to LGBTQ+
If you were to view the most frequently challenged or banned books each year, you may notice that 5 of the 10 most challenged books are usually children’s books. In 2016, This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki made the list and also won…
Turning the Heat Up on Banned Books: Book-Free Dystopian Societies
We’ve been celebrating banned books this week, giving big readerly hugs to books that have been challenged, banned, or censored in some way. The Free Library—joined by our fellow book-loving librarians, teachers, publishers,…
Young Adult (Best!) Banned Books
Banned books—more like the best books , am I right? Some of the most frequently challenged books (at least according to the American Library Association’s list of Frequently Challenged Books ) happen to be Young Adult…
Celebrating—That's Right, Celebrating!—Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and brings national awareness to censorship of literature. This week puts a spotlight on books that have been challenged or whose access has been restricted in schools or…
Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2016
It is National Library Week ! First sponsored in 1958, it is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. It is also a time for the library community to look…
Happy Birthday, Louise Fitzhugh!
Louise Fitzhugh is perhaps best known for her novel Harriet the Spy , published in 1964 and lauded today as a classic children’s fiction work. Both written and illustrated by Fitzhugh, Harriet tells the story of an aspiring…
Banned Books Week with the Free Library
This week, as we join the American Library Association (ALA) in recognizing Banned Books Week , we are reminded that the Free Library of Philadelphia—and all public libraries—serves as a beacon of informational freedom in…