BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Banned Books Week 2024 lasts from Sept. 22- 28. According to the Banned Books Week website , the goal of the week is to highlight the importance of free and open access to information.
Based on preliminary data collected by the American Library Association, the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 attempts of library censorship from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 , with 1,128 books challenged throughout these cases.
In 2023, the ALA tracked 695 attempts of library censorship, including 1,915 challenged books. 17 states saw attempts to censor over 100 titles. These states were Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin…