Use the following databases to find articles related to banned or challenged books/censorship. To access, click here and then go to the name of the database https://libraryguides.uwsp.edu/az.php
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DATABASE NAME |
ARTICLE TYPE |
BEST FOR… |
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Newspaper Source Plus (Ebsco) |
Newspapers |
Brief articles about specific challenges from school districts. Good for current challenges. |
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Access World News (Newsbank) |
Newspapers (including international papers) |
Good resource for current banned books issues and challenges. |
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Academic Search Ultimate (Ebsco) |
Scholarly & Popular Articles (multidisiplinary) |
In-depth and scholarly articles on censorship and challenges. |
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ERIC (Ebsco) |
Education database that includes professional and scholarly articles |
Education-related articles that include information on challenges from and for an educators perspective. |
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LISTA (Ebsco) |
Library-related literature from scholarly and trade publications |
Includes School Library Journal and American Libraries and other literature from the profession that discussed challenges books from school and public libraries. |
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Professional Development Collection (Ebsco) |
Trade-related articles on Education |
Includes articles on pedagogical theory and practice. |
The 2022 Theme for Banned Books Week is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” It is a telling theme as the American Library Association (ALA) reported that there were 681 documented attempts to ban or restrict library resources in schools, universities, and public libraries this year, one of the highest documented reports of challenges in over 20 years.
Banned Books Week began in the 1980's following the landmark 1982 case Island Trees School District vs Pico, which ruled that school officials can't ban books in libraries simply because of their content. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) created a display at their annual convention of challenged books in a padlocked cage, and after the success of the display began the event known as Banned Books Week in partnership with the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom and the National Association of College Stores.
Each year the American Library Association lists the Top 10 most challenged books, along with records of frequently challenged books and resources for fighting censorship.
