The ALA has long championed the freedom to read, viewing censorship as a violation of the First Amendment.
According to the American Library Association (ALA), censorship is “a change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes.”
In libraries, censorship of materials are known as “challenges” and/or “bans.” A “challenge” is a request, demand, or action – usually from a sincerely concerned person or group – to remove material they deem objectionable from library shelves. A “ban” is the actual removal of said material from the shelves. Challenges usually stem from a desire to protect children from “difficult ideas or information.” These can include materials that may contain sexually explicit situations, or offensive or objectionable language.
Under the First Amendment, we have the right to, among other liberties, read what we choose. The ALA incorporates the spirit of the First Amendment into the Library Bill of Rights, Policy III, which reads: “Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.” The ALA continues to field hundreds of challenges every year from parents and religious and civic groups attempting to remove books from the shelves they deem objectionable.
Read about the ALA's numerous programs and events that champion Freedom to Read here.
To the left and right are the top ten books that were challenged in public and school libraries in the U.S in 2013 and 2014, although many of these books have been challenged in the past. Click on any image to learn more about the book's challenge, or click on the video below to view a more comprehensive list.