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Banned Books Week: Banned Books at Maxwell Library

October 1-7, 2023 Celebrating the Freedom to Read for 41 years

First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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Maxwell Library's Banned Books

According to the American Library Association there were over 1200 book challenges in 2022, representing 2571 unique titles . Many of the recent challenges come from groups and organizations and target books about race, racism, and books with LGBTQ+ themes. Schools and libraries should ensure that they have current collection development and reconsideration policies in place.

Following is a selected list of books from Maxwell Library's catalog that have been banned or challenged in the United States.

Find a Book

Maxwell Library Catalog

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Search for your favorite banned book here!

Or request a free Brooklyn Public Library ecard to get access to their full ebook collection. Available to those between the ages of 13-21 through their Books Unbanned initiative

Why do books get banned?

Word Cloud Reasons for Challenges

Banned Books in the News

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Secondary Sources

These works will provide more information about book banning and censorship.

Banned Book Week September 18-24 2022 Celebrating 41 Years of Freedom to Read

                Photograph of Judith Krug
Judith Krug (1940-2009) founder of Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is sponsored annually by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association and others to ensure that no one person or group dictates what others can read.