Tagged Banned Books
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…
Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2015
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…
Borrow a Banned Book Today: The Librarian of Basra
A small group of parents in Florida are threatening to ban a children’s book close to our hearts. The book in question? The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter. This librarian remembers reading it aloud to day care centers and…
Banned Books Week 2014
This week marks 30 years of celebrating Banned Books Week . Well, maybe celebrating isn't the right word. I do think the message of "celebrating" something like the idea of banning books or other forms of media is a…
Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009
September 25 - October 2 is Banned Books Week, sponsored by the American Library Association. Banned Books Week calls attention to issues of censorship while celebrating the freedom to read. Tonight--Wednesday, September…
Banned Books Week
This week, libraries across the country are "celebrating" Banned Books Week. Beginning in 1982, the American Library Association, along with booksellers, publisher and authors, has set aside the last week in…