The notion that the mere presence of inappropriate language and allegedly suggestive images is justification for a book’s removal sets a harmful precedent that, for example, a classic work of literature that contains adult language, or an art history textbook that includes a nude, should also be kept away from teens.
Our colleagues at the American Library Association (ALA) this week released their annual list of the ten most challenged books for the year of 2016. What's NCAC's relationship with the book's on the list.
The letter argues that choosing to remove a book citing "community standards" sets a dangerous precedent for future book challenges.
The Arizona school district removed Khaled Hosseini's novel after 5 years on the English curriculum, raising questions about the motivations behind the decision.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 6 other organizations committed to defending the right to read are urging a North Carolina school district to reinstate a children’s book in a 1st grade anti-bullying lesson plan after it was removed following pressure from local Republican lawmakers concerned about its gender-nonconforming themes.
The parents claim that the school taught solely Islamic religious practices in a World Culture and Geography curriculum, ignoring education in other world religions.
The book, Jacob’s New Dress, was pulled after Republican lawmakers complained. For several month a group called Values Coalition has charged the district of using "indoctrinating" materials.
Yesterday, NCAC, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and 6 other free speech and education groups defended Ariel Schrag's acclaimed anthology Stuck in the Middle, which had been challenged in a school library in Oklahoma. NCAC joined CBLDF to ask Schrag for her thoughts on the challenge.
NCAC highlights that Stuck in the Middle is praised for its realistic, un-sanitized depiction of difficult situations that characterize the harder truths of teenage life.
NCAC’s letter to the school district reprimands the school for violating its own book challenge review process, and emphasizes the value of Rowell’s novel.
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, and Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian were flagged for "explicit, graphic" content.
A formal complaint was lodged by a local parent who was offended by the presence of profanity in the book, which includes passages that reference sexual assault.
The Yamhill-Carlton School District in Western Oregon pulled the New York Times bestseller from a school lesson plan without following the school's review process for book challenges.
Terms such as "inappropriate" are vague and over-inclusive, potentially leading to the exclusion of works of undeniable pedagogical value.
NCAC and other free speech groups write to the VA Board of Education in advance of a January 26th meeting to discuss the proposal.
The letter questions the bills breadth, which may end up flagging valuable works of literature that include sexual scenes.
The statement argues that “the suppression of noxious ideas does not defeat them; only vigorous disagreement can counter toxic speech effectively.”
In a follow up letter, NCAC stresses the district that banned TKAM/ Huck Finn needs an innocent-until-proven-guilty approach to book challenges.
Censorpedia currently contains over 1200 individual incidents collected over the years and contributed by students, NCAC staff and volunteers, artists and, potentially, YOU!
In his statement, the author of 'Bad Little Children’s Books' has asked ABRAMS not to print another edition of the book, because it has been so widely misunderstood and misconstrued.
The National Coalition Against Censorship's statement on the 'Bad Little Children’s Books' controversy.
The incident is particularly egregious because Accomack County Public Schools has already temporarily removed these universally acclaimed works.
NCAC has written in defense of Chbosky's oft-challenged novel, which Iowa parents claimed was 'obscene.'
NCAC's letter expresses concern that the "frightening images" stipulation is over broad and may end up excluding valuable literature.
A review committee has been convened to discuss the future of the book in the Dubuque Community school curriculum.
"Young readers need challenging books to help them become empathetic, caring, knowledgeable, thoughtful, and mature adults," Bertin and Davis state. "They’ll tell you that themselves, if you just ask them."
Oklahoma LGBT activists are calling into question a local library policy that limits the placement of LGBT-themed books to sections that hold books on sensitive topics such as drug use, incarceration and sexual abuse.
A daycare requirement to prevent young student's access to "frightening" materials may come at the cost of librarian's literary expertise in choosing student reading.
VOYA dismissed critics of its recommendation. But why are VOYA readers rightly concerned?
NCAC's Executive Director and Millie Davis from NCTE explore why books are challenged in schools and libraries and the common responses to these challenges in a comparison between two surveys.
NCAC spoke to YA author Coe Booth about the recent controversy in Chesterfield, of which her book was at the center, and why reading diverse books can help establish a sense of commonality.
Signed by 6 free speech organizations, NCAC's statement reminds OSF of the meaning behind a banned books showcase, that more speech is always better than less.
TTYL and sequel TTFN by Lauren Myracle were described by Fla. parents as telling kids "to party, drink, cuss, and do other obscene things.”
The bookstore owner was slammed for her "distinct lack of empathy for the experiences of people of color."
The drafted legislation would allow copyright owners to avoid costly federal lawsuits when protecting intellectual property.
Renae Roscart, 15, considers parents who argued for the reading list removal to be "pretending that sexual assault and alcoholism isn’t something that youths encounter."
The Chesterfield County Public School summer reading list contained books that were "pornographic" and contained "vile, vile, nasty language," one mother complained.
A Michigan school board voted last night to keep The Bluest Eye in its AP curriculum.
Parents in Michigan are very upset about a Toni Morrison novel being taught in an AP English class.
A school in Pennsylvania removed an award-winning novel in response to parent's complaints.
