Hello I’m Sari Feldman, President of the
American Library Association (ALA).
Today the ALA will release its 2016 State
of America’s Libraries Report which provides
details on library trends from the past year.
One of the report’s highlights is an analysis
of book challenges recorded by ALA’s Office
for Intellectual Freedom, and the release
of its Top Ten List of Most Challenged Books.
The OIF maintains a confidential database
of challenges and bannings reported by libraries,
schools and the media.
A book challenge is a formal request to remove
a title from a library collection, curriculum,
or bookstore.
Each year the OIF compiles and releases a
top ten list of challenged books in order
to inform the public about censorship and
how the banning of titles impacts libraries,
schools and most importantly individual freedom
to read.
Thank you, Sari, for that great introduction.
I'm Deborah Caldwell Stone, Deputy Director
for the Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Each year, the staff of the Office for Intellectual
Freedom and myself work very hard to address
these issues of book censorship.
We collect, together, the data that's necessary
to put together the Top Ten List of Most Challenged
Books every year.
We're so excited about this that all of the
OIF staff is joining together to introduce
this year's Top Ten.
Starting at number 10 is "Two Boys Kissing,"
by David Levithan.
At number nine is "Nasreen’s Secret School:
A True Story from Afghanistan," by Jeanette
Winter.
At number 8 is "Habibi," by Craig Thompson.
"Fun Home," by Alison Bechdel is at number
7.
"The Holy Bible" is in at Number 6.
Number 5 is "The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time," by Mark Haddon.
At number 4 is "Beyond Magenta: Transgender
Teens Speak Out," by Susan Kuklin.
At number three, "I Am Jazz," by Jessica Herthel
and Jazz Jennings.
Number 2 is "Fifty Shades of Grey," by E.L.
James.
And the number one most challenged book of
2015 is “Looking for Alaska,” by John
Green.
For additional information regarding today’s
list, or the ALA’s State of America’s
Libraries report, please visit ala.org.
Thank you for joining us today.
If you'd like more information about this
year's Top Ten list or challenged books in
the United States, visit our website at ala.org.
And remember, keep on supporting the freedom
to read.
Thank you.
