Children's & Young Adult Literature Collections

The ALA Statement on the Freedom to Read believes that every American community must guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. In spite of this, the freedom to read has been persistently under attack by private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. The ALA believes publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings. Access to reading materials must not be controlled by anyone else’s opinions or ideas. After all, the freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. The following are the propositions by the ALA Statement on the Freedom to Read:

            1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.

            2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.

            3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.

            4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.

            5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.

            6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people's freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.

            7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a "bad" book is a good one, the answer to a "bad" idea is a good one.

Additional reading about the ALA Freedom to Read can be found in the link below.

Top 10 of the Most Challenged Book Titles for 2021

• Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images
• Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
• All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
• Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
  Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit
• This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
  Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.
• Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
  Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit