Truxal Library Special Topic Guide: Banned Books Week 2023
Let Freedom Read. October 1 - 7, 2023
Additional Resources about Censorship
Foundational Texts
- Library Bill of RightsThe American Library Association produced this guiding document in 1939.
- The Freedom to Read StatementIn reaction to censorship and suppression of McCarthyism era, librarians and publishers issued this statement affirming commitment to the free flow of ideas in publishing. In summer 2023 the original creators reaffirmed their commitment to this statement.
Selected Books and eBooks about Censorship
20 Years of Censored News –by Call Number: PN4736 .J46 1997ISBN: 9781888363517Publication Date: 1997-10-07
Banned books : challenging our freedom to read –by Call Number: Z658 .U6 D69 2014ISBN: 9780838986882
Burning the books : a history of the deliberate destruction of knowledge –by Call Number: Z659 .O94 2020ISBN: 9780674241206Publication Date: 2020-11-17
Censored and Banned Literature –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781642650280Publication Date: 2019-05-30
Censorship and the Limits of the Literary –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781628920116Publication Date: 2015-08-27
Censorship in America –by Call Number: Z658.U5 H84 1999ISBN: 9781576070574Publication Date: 1999-08-09
Censorship of the movies; the social and political control of a mass medium –by Call Number: KF4300 .R3 1970ISBN: 9780299047344Publication Date: 1970-04-01
Creative Expression and the Law –by Call Number: KF4288 .W45 2021ISBN: 9781538127063Publication Date: 2021-06-22
Dare to speak : defending free speech for all –by Call Number: JC591 .N67 2020ISBN: 9780062966032Publication Date: 2020-07-28
Dirt for Art's Sake: Books on Trial from "Madame Bovary" to "Lolita" –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780801460371Publication Date: 2010-12-15
Free Speech: a Very Short Introduction –by Call Number: JC591 .W37 2009ISBN: 9780199232352Publication Date: 2009-04-15
Free Speech and Censorship: A Documentary and Reference Guide –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781440865381Publication Date: 2022-02-15
Free Speech and Censorship: Examining the Facts –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781440861796Publication Date: 2019-05-03
Giving offense : essays on censorship –by Call Number: Z657 .C658 1996ISBN: 9780226111742Publication Date: 1996-04-15
Historical Dictionary of Censorship in the United States –by Call Number: KF4770.A59 H87 1985ISBN: 9780313238789Publication Date: 1985-11-19
How Free Speech Saved Democracy –by Call Number: KF4772 .F56 2022ISBN: 9781586422981Publication Date: 2022-04-26
The infodemic : how censorship and lies made the world sicker and less free –by Call Number: JA85 .S536 2022ISBN: 9781735913681Publication Date: 2022-04-26
Judging Obscenity: A Critical History of Expert Evidence –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780773525184Publication Date: 2003-04-17
Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780816082315Publication Date: 2011-08-30
Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780816082308Publication Date: 2011-08-30
Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780816082292Publication Date: 2011-08-30
Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780816082285Publication Date: 2011-08-30
Not in Front of the Children: 'Indecency,' Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780813543888Publication Date: 2007-09-11
The People V. Ferlinghetti: The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg's Howl –by Call Number: KF224 .F4 C65 2019ISBN: 9781538125892Publication Date: 2019-03-24
Read dangerously : the subversive power of literature in troubled times –by Call Number: PE64 .N34 R43 2022ISBN: 9780062947369Publication Date: 2022-03-08
The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America –by Call Number: KF4772 .C67 2020ISBN: 9780062999719Publication Date: 2020-09-15
Silenced in the Library –by Call Number: Z1019 .J37 2017ISBN: 9781440843945Publication Date: 2017-08-18
Trigger Warning: Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech? –by Call Number: JC591 .H86 2015ISBN: 9780008125455Publication Date: 2015-06-18
True Stories of Censorship Battles in America's Libraries –by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780838993620Publication Date: 2012-01-27
The Ulysses trials : beauty and truth meet the law –by Call Number: PR6019 .O9 Z579 2016ISBN: 9781843516682Publication Date: 2016-06-16
Writers under Surveillance: the FBI files –by Call Number: PN4738 .W84 2018ISBN: 9780262536387Publication Date: 2018-09-18
Library photo courtesy of Barry Halkin Photography