Banned Books Week: Celebrate by Exploring and Reading Challenged Books Across The US

October 1-7 is Banned Books Week.

With the increase in challenges to libraries and school systems to limit access to reading materials, the Durham Tech Library feels it is more important than ever to mindfully reflect on the power that stories have to empower and educate.

Banned Books Week highlights this issue in libraries and society and encourages people to consider the implications of book bans in society. While we strongly believe that parents and individuals have the right to choose to read or not read certain texts, we do not support these current bans that disproportionately focus on marginalized experiences and often apply to recreational reading texts, not assigned or required reading.

Every year, the American Library Association collects data about book challenges and publishes them during Banned Books Week. Check out our video below with the data and explore their website for yourself.