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Banned and Challenged Books

A guide to select resources at the Jim Dan Hill Library relating to book bans and challenges

The First Amendment

In the United States, your right to read what you want is protected by the First Amendment. In a free society, the author and reader are protected.

Source: USF Libraries: "The First Amendment" 

Further resources for research and instruction

Intellectual Freedom, Censorship, and Legal Aspects

Book Bans and Challenges in the News and on the Web

Classification of titles

Educator Resources 

Consider, too, the array of additional news items and podcasts available on the topic

Search for Newspaper Articles with your UW-Superior Account

If you want to try to find out why a book was challenged, search newspapers for the title of your book and "banned" or "challenged" to find specific cases. Example: "gossip girl" and (banned or challenged)

To narrow your results, add words like "school" (since that's where many challenges are made) or "parents."

Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library: "Online Newspapers"

Search for books and book descriptions with your UW-Superior Account