On Monday, the American Libraries Association released its annual State of America’s Libraries report. The report discusses statistics and library trends—proving how important libraries are in America. They also included the top banned books of the year. This past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 354 challenges to library (including schools and universities) materials and services. Some of these requests resulted in restrictions and removing multiple titles from a library's collection. In all, 416 books were targeted. Read more about these findings and see the whole list here.
This year, HarperCollins has two books included in the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2017:
#7: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#8: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
You can also find videos and detailed explanations for why they were challenged here. Read the complete State of America's Libraries report here.
Let's speak out for banned books by starting a conversation, using the hashtags #NationalLibraryWeek and #Top10!
-Lainey