Every year, in many countries, books are banned and challenged for several reasons, including moral, political, or religious ones. They are challenged by governments, patrons, parents, or numerous organizations.
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American Library Organization has just released a set of materials being a result of the work of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016 lists titles that were most challenged in the United States last year. The list is based not only on censorship reports submitted to the Office for Intellectual Freedom but also by monitoring public media articles covering book bans and challenges.
This year’s list explores a range of genres (young adult, fiction, memoir) and formats (novels, graphic novels, picture books), but they have one thing in common: each book was threatened with removal from spaces where diverse ideas and perspectives should be welcomed.
The 2016 list of the most challenged books starts with Mariko Tamaki’s young adult graphic novel This One Summer. The book was restricted and banned because it includes LGBT characters and drug use.
Sexually explicit content was the reason to challenge Drama by Raina Telgemeier, David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing, Make Something Up by Chuck Palahniuk, and Looking for Alaska by John Green.
A children’s book series Little Bill was challenged because of criminal sexual allegations against its author, Bill Cosby. It happens for the first time in ALA’s Top Ten history that the book was challenged because of its author, not content.
Sexual explicitness, LGBT, violence, and offensive language are the most common reason to challenge books. Who challenges books? It’s mainly parents (42%) and library patrons (31%).
You can find a detailed information on ALA website. The page includes printable images, such as the infographic and the pyramid of transparency. There is also a special video, images to use in social media, and the entire list of books accompanied with reasons to challenge.
Click or tap the infographic to see it enlarged.
More infographics to check out:
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