What is Banned Books Week? Find out why these famous books were banned and how!

This year, Banned Books Week (BBW) ran from September the 18th to the 24th. BBW is dedicated to celebrating the freedom of reading, to seek and express ideas. This first started in 1982 and has been going on until this day.

You may ask what are banned books? Banned books are essentially books that have been challenged by a group of people who either disagree or find the book’s contents inappropriate. The process of banning a book isn’t all that difficult, as long as the person or people who challenge the book make a strong argument and get others to agree. Then this is reviewed and the book can be removed from libraries. 

There are a few reasons why people want to get books out of libraries; for example, the books may be sexually explicit, have offensive language, have inappropriate subjects for minors, have LGBTQ+ content, racism and so much more. The reason for this is because the people challenging the books believe it protects minors from learning about these topics and keeps them unaware of all the bad stuff our world has to offer. Some believe that challenging or banning certain books does not allow students to have discussions in a safe environment, such as a classroom. 

Celebrate reading by reading challenged or banned books such as The Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Lord of the Flies, or Looking for Alaska.