Banned Books Week 2024

Graphic with an open book and text "Free Between the Lines". Text: "Banned Books Week, Sept. 22-28, 2024. ALA.org/bbooks".

This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.

Illustration of a smiling person with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks wearing a black jacket over a blue top.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone
Director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

The theme for Banned Books Week 2024 is “Freed Between the Lines.” We can find freedom in the pages of a book — but book bans and censorship threaten that freedom, along with many other rights and institutions. During Banned Books Week 2024 and beyond, let’s share our love of right to read and the freedom found in books. Let’s be Freed Between the Lines!

The American Library Association (ALA) 1,247 demands to censor library books and resources in 2023. The number of titles targeted for censorship surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest levels ever documented by ALA in more than 20 years of tracking. Of the record 4,240 unique titles targeted for censorship, the most challenged and reasons cited for censoring the books are listed below:

Image of the book "Gender Queer" with text: "#1 Most Challenged Book of 2023, LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
Image of book cover 'All Boys Aren't Blue' and text: "#2 Most Challenged Book of 2023. LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
Image of a book cover titled "This Book is Gay" by Juno Dawson, ranked as the #3 most challenged book of 2023.
Image showing "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" as the #4 Most Challenged Book of 2023 for explicit content, drug use, and profanity.
Image text: "#5 Most Challenged Book of 2023 - Flamer by Mike Curato. LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
Text showing "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison as the #6 most challenged book of 2023 for explicit content and EDI themes.
Yellow book cover of "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" ranked #7/8 most challenged book of 2023 by ALA for explicit content.
Red and beige graphic listing "#7/8 (TIE) Most Challenged Book of 2023" with "tricks" by Ellen Hopkins cover.
#9 Most Challenged Book of 2023: "Let's Talk About It" by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. ALA.org/bbbooks.
A book labeled "#10 Most Challenged Book of 2023" titled "Sold," claimed to be sexually explicit and about rape.
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