Slideshow about Banned Books prepared for 9th grade ELA class.

1. Banned Books:
All you need to
know and then
some…

2. Take the
Banned Book
Quiz
https://www.aclu.org/other/t
ake-banned-book-quiz

3. 1. What are banned books? What
are challenged books? How long
has this been happening?
2. Why are books banned and who
bans them?
3. Why do we celebrate banned
books and when?
4. How/can we stop books from
being banned?
5. Why are we talking about this
now?

4. 11. What are Banned & Challenged books and how long has this
been happening?
The American Library Association definition:
● A banned book is a book that has been removed from the shelf of a library or school
after going through a lengthy review process, initiated by a book challenge. A
challenged book is a book that some people think should be removed, but hasn't
yet been removed from the shelves of a library or school.

5. 11. What are banned books? What are challenged books? How long has this been
happening?
● Banning and challenging of books has a long history throughout the world.
○ First instance traced back to China in 213 BC.
○ Nazi Book burning.
○ Read more about the history of book burning here.
● Hundreds of books are challenged and banned each year in the United States
alone.
● The American Library Association keeps statistics on those incidents which are
forwarded to the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom.

6. 2. Why are books banned and who challenges them?
● “Books are the embodiment of ideas and if
you hold extreme beliefs you cannot tolerate
anything that contradicts those beliefs or is in
competition with them”
● Books can be challenged or banned for many
reasons. Most reasons in this country include
obscene language or sexual descriptions,
offensive language, unsuitable for age level,
homosexuality, racism, and religion. Reasons
for other countries to ban books may include
charges that the ideas of the book speak
against the interests of the state (i.e.
political).
● Books usually are challenged with
the best intentions—to protect
others, frequently children, from
difficult ideas and information

7. 2. Why are books banned and who challenges them?
● Parents are by far
the largest group
to request a book
removed from a
school library or
reading list, or
from the shelves of
a public library.

8. 13. Why do we celebrate banned books and when?
● In the United States, your right to read what you want is protected
by the First Amendment. In a free society, the author and reader
are protected. When books are challenged/banned, our “rights”
are taken away from us.
● Celebrating banned books reminds everyone that our rights can
be infringed upon, and when they are, we have the right to
protest!
● In the United States, Banned Books Week is celebrated in
mid-September every year. There are many different ways to
celebrate banned books.

9. 4. How/can we stop books from being banned?
● Buy, borrow and read banned
books!
● Talk to people (your family and
other adults and peers) about
what you like to read and why
● Schools and libraries of all types
have policies that are readily
available if someone tries to
challenge a book, and there are
procedures that are followed
when a challenge is officially
made.

10. 5. Why are we talking about this now?ool Response
Policies and access…
● The first half of 2022 saw the largest
number of book challenges and bans ever
recorded. Most of the challenges and bans
were in schools. The trend has continued
to grow across the country.
● The books being challenged are typically
about race, sexuality and gender.
● Challenges appear to be based on political
views and efforts to restrict what students
should learn about systematic racism and
the history of the US as well as sexuality.

11. Interactive book ban map
SSource: Pen America

12. Interactive book ban map
I think a parent can say, well, I don't want my child to read this. I
can respect that. But what gives you the right to bar all children
from reading it? To bar all children from seeing a life that
imitates theirs? It bars them from seeing someone who looks
like them exist on the page and triumph over something. I don't
know if folks really realize what they're doing when they're doing
book bans, and the effect that it has. … Anytime a book that
features someone who looks like you is banned, it says that
you're not worthy. You don't deserve to exist. You're not as
important as other things. Your life is not important. That's
wrong and it's dangerous.
–Varian Johnson, author of The Parker Inheritance (2 bans), What
Were the Negro Leagues (1 ban) and My Life as a Rhombus (1
ban).

14. Further Readingool Response
ACLU Defend Every Student’s Right To Learn
American Library Association Banned Books Week
American Library Association Banned Books by Year
NEA It’s Banned Book Week! Celebrate the Freedom to Read!
Pen America Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools (Where Are Book
Bans Happening?