CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- This week is Banned Books Week, the annual event by the American Library Association to get people talking about attempts to remove books from public schools and libraries.
The Chicago-based American Library Association is drawing attention to censorship attempts; and the ALA's Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom Deborah Caldwell-Stone said books are often targeted for censorship because of young audiences that may read them.
"We certainly agree that parents have a right to guide their own child's reading, but they don't have a right to impose their own choices on other families or control what other children read in the community, especially when those other families have other values, other interests and they want to have access to that information," Caldwell-Stone said.
The Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom tracked 156 challenges last year to 273 books in schools and libraries. Caldwell-Stone said among those are Stamped, The Hate U Give, and All American Boys.
"These are all books that are either about Black-American history or that reflect the experiences of Black Americans and ordeal with police violence; and they have all been very frequently challenged," Caldwell-Stone said.
She said reading about different cultures and experiences is valuable.
"You learn about other people's lives. You gain empathy by reading about other people," Caldwell-Stone said.
Additionally, classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were also challenged.
The ALA said challengers cited sexually explicit language, anti-police views, transgender characters, and fake news as some of the reasons to ban books.
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