The Lovely Bones, Of Mice and Men, The Chocolate War, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Forever, The Color Purple, And Tango Makes Three, The Handmaid’s Tale, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite Runner, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – what do all of these books have in common? All of them were among the most commonly challenged or banned books – the targets of efforts to remove them from library collections or school reading lists - in the decade from 2000 – 2009.

Each September, the American Library Association highlights the importance of the freedom to read and of open access to information by drawing attention to the challenging and banning of books across the country during Banned Books Week.

For more information about Banned Books Week, and to view lists of challenged and banned titles, visit the American Library Association Banned Books Week web page at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm [1].