Between October 5 - 11, 2025, join us for Banned Books Week, an annual event highlighting the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas while drawing attention to the harm of censorship and attempts to remove or restrict access to books.
The American Library Association documented 821 attempts to censor materials and services at libraries, schools, and universities in 2024. The most common reasons for challenges were false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes; and dealing with topics of race, racism, inclusivity, equity, and social justice. Of the 2,452 unique titles that were challenged or banned in 2024, here are the top 10 most frequently targeted.
Below are the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 (and links to get them through SKYCTC Learning Commons!):
All Boys Aren't Blue
by
Why this book matters: bit.ly/allboysBR
Gender Queer: a Memoir
by
Why this book matters: bit.ly/genderBR
Bluest Eye
by
Tied for third Why this book matters: bit.ly/bluestBR
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by
Tied for third Why this book matters: bit.ly/wallflowerBR
Tricks
by
Why this book matters: bit.ly/alaskaBR --- Coming soon to SKYCTC Learning Commons, click here to submit a WKU Courier Request to read now
Looking for Alaska
by
Tied for sixth Why this book matters: https://bookresumes.uniteagainstbookbans.org/looking-for-alaska-by-john-green-fiction-young-adult/ --- Available as eBook or in print!
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
by
Tied for sixth Why this book matters: bit.ly/earlBR ---Available as eBook or in print!
Crank
by
Tied for eighth Why this book matters: bit.ly/crankBR
Sold
by
Tied for eighth Why this book matters: bit.ly/soldBR
Flamer
by
Why this book matters: bit.ly/flamerBR
Banned Books Week 2025 will be held October 5 - 11.
The theme of this year’s event is “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.”
Current efforts to ban books and information held in schools, libraries, archives, and bookstores are a truth close to fiction – namely, the depiction of extreme censorship by an oppressive regime in George Orwell’s cautionary and prescient tale 1984. The Banned Books Week 2025 theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights.
Artwork courtesy of BannedBooksWeek.org, part of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom in partnership with the Banned Books Week Coalition.
The Most Challenged Books of 2025 list will be announced in April 2026. Check out the Top 10 Most Challenged Books Archive for lists and data going back to 2001, as well as the 100 most challenged books of past decades.