Launched in the 1980s with help from the American Library Association, Banned Books Week is a celebration of the freedom to read that now reaches nearly 3 billion readers every year.

The freedom to read is a key piece of intellectual freedom – the crucial freedom to hold, receive, and disseminate ideas from all points of view without restriction. Intellectual freedom is very important to libraries – they are committed to providing the ideas and information, in a variety of formats, to allow people to inform themselves.

Despite the success of Banned Books Week, censorship (the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons find objectionable or dangerous) still occurs and books are still being banned and challenged across the United States and the world.

Librarians, teachers, students, and community members must continue to stand up and speak out for the lifelong freedom to read and against censorship.

Read on to learn about some important banned books, some reasons why they were challenged or banned, and how you can read them for yourself!