The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom:As Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., in If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.If we are to continue to protect our First Amendment, we would do well to keep in mind these words of Noam Chomsky:If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.Or these words of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (" Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. and a challenged book as one that "has been requested to be removed from a library, classroom, etc." The ALA promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions, even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular, and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them.
According to the American Library Association (ALA) , a challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them. We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools. ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in communities across the country. This list of the most commonly challenged books in the United States refers to books … The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information. A banning is the removal of those materials. 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If someone questions or requests that a book be removed, that is called “challenging” a book. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.Throughout history, more and different kinds of people and groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose, who, for all sorts of reasons, have attempted—and continue to attempt—to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs. The definition of a challenged book is a book that a person or a group of people that desire a book be denied access to the community. We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools. For more information on ALA's efforts to raise awareness of censorship and promote the freedom to read, please explore United for Libraries (Trustees, Friends, Foundations)Information Technology & Telecommunication ServicesOffice for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services (ODLOS)Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR)Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange RT (EMIERT)Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT)225 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1300 Chicago, IL 60601 | 1.800.545.2433 A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. According to its organizers, this weeklong … All content ©2010 - As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty:If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Intellectual freedom - the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular - provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. A book that it "challenged" is when a group of people get together, make petitions, and try to get a certain book removed from a library of school. See Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language. No. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. … We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools. The definition of a challenged book is a book that a person or a group of people that desire a book be denied access to the community. What is a Challenged or Banned Book? Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information.
A banning is the removal of those materials. Launched in 1982, Banned Books Week, an annual end-of-September event sponsored by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, focuses on books that are currently being challenged as well as those that have been banned in the past and highlights the struggles of writers whose works fall outside some of society's norms.