Banned Books Week was launched in the 1980s by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the publishing community. During that time, there was a significant increase in the number of book challenges and organized protests. The Supreme Court case, Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982), was also decided and the Court ruled that school officials could not ban library books simply because of their content.

In 1982, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) showcased banned books at their annual trade show, BookExpo America, in Anaheim, California. A display at the entrance to the convention center showed large, towering, padlocked metal cages, containing roughly 500 challenged books stacked inside, along with a large overhead banner warning attendees that some considered these books "dangerous."

As a result of the successful exhibit, ABA, the OIF, and the National Association of College Stores, joined forces and created the "Banned Books Week" initiative we know and celebrate today. Approximately 2.8 billion readers learn of Banned Books Week through mainstream media coverage. "The Banned Books page remains one of the top two most popular pages on the ALA website."

Source: LaRue, J. and Diaz, E. (2017, November 1). 50 Years of Intellectual Freedom: The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom celebrates its history. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/11/01/50-years-office-intellectual-freedom/

Image courtesy of Brownsburg Library