Resources

Faced with book censorship in your community?  Want to learn more about your right to read? The Kids’ Right to Read Project offers information and resources for responding to book challenges and bans.  This information is not intended as legal advice.  If you are embroiled in a censorship controversy, we hope you will consult the resources below for guidance — if you need additional assistance, please contact us, ncac [at] ncac.org.

Take Action!  Use the Book Censorship Toolkit to find tips for responding to challenges and a sample letter opposing book censorship. You can also read about types of objections against books and model complaint policies and procedures.

Learn about book censorship.  NCAC’s Guide to the First Amendment in Schools includes a collection of fact sheets on free expression in schools and addresses a wide variety of censorship issues that students, educators, and parents face.

• On teachers’ rights
• On parents’ rights
  
• On promoting First Amendment values at school
  

Read a banned or challenged book.  Celebrate Banned Books Week!  Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. To find out more:

• Visit www.bannedbooksweek.org.
  
• Read ABFFE’s Banned Books Week Handbook
  

Additional Resources:

• NCAC, in collaboration with NEA, “The Ideas that Define and Unite Us: Public Education, Democracy, and Free Speech”
• The National Council of Teachers of English, “The Student’s Right to Read”
  
• The American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom (ALA-OIF)
• PEN American Center, Freedom to Write Program
• Kids' Right to Read Project, LGBTQ Right to Read Resource
• Scholastic's Reading Bill of Rights: "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life."