Visit the Web site for the American Library Association’s “Frequently Challenged Books”: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks. The list is compiled by the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and organizes the books targeted for censorship in American libraries and schools by decade and by year. It also groups books into categories: Children’s Books, Young Adult Books, Classics, and Books with Diverse Content.
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Turn to a peer sitting near you and pick all or a few categories to analyze together: year, decade, Children’s, Young Adult, Classics, and Diverse Content. Consider the books on these lists that you have read, perhaps in school or independently. Why do you think they were challenged? How can we be respectful of some people’s concerns but still ensure access to books?
Take some notes in the box below, and prepare to discuss your findings with the rest of the class.
Use the space below for notetaking.