Banned Books Week is an annual event promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International that celebrates the freedom to read. Held since 1982, the final week of September every year is dedicated to the discussion of books frequently banned or challenged. Books have been burned, removed from libraries and schools, and debated because of their content. Banned book week was established to celebrate the written word and the freedom of thought and expression that reading can bring about.
Below are some frequently challenged books that the Ohio County Public Library keeps on the shelves. For a more complete list of frequently banned or challenged books, a history of banned books week, or the most commonly banned or challenged books each decade, feel free to visit the American Library Association’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1925
Page Count: 200
Listen Time: 6 hours
Call #: F FITZG, ACD FITZG
Availability: OCPL- book & audio, Libby- eBook & audio
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1982
Page Count: 304 pages
Listen Time: 8 hours
Call #: F WALKE, ACD WALKE
Availability: OCPL- book & audio, Libby- eBook
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1937
Page Count: 219
Listen Time: 7 hours
Call #: F HURST, ACD HURST
Availability: OCPL- book & audio, Libby- eBook & audio
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1960
Page Count: 324
Listen Time: 12 hours
Call #: F LEE, Fpb LEE, ACD LEE
Availability: OCPL- book & audio, Libby- eBook & audio
Native Son by Richard Wright
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1940
Page Count: 504
Call #: F WRIGH
Availability: OCPL- book, Libby- eBook
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1987
Page Count: 324
Listen Time: 12 hours
Call #: F MORRI
Availability: OCPL- book, Libby- eBook & audio
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
Genre: Classic Fantasy Literature
Published: 1954, 1955
Books in Series: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King
Page Count: 527, 447, 385
Listen Time: 19 hours, 17 hours, 18 hours
Call #: F TOLKIE BK. 1,2,3 , ACD TOLKIE BK. 1,2,3
Availability: OCPL- book & audio, Libby- eBook & audio
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1939
Page Count: 479
Listen Time: 21 hours
Call #: F STEIN
Availability: OCPL- book, Libby- eBook & audio
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1963
Page Count: 179
Call #: F VONNE
Availability: OCPL- book, Libby- eBook
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Genre: Classic Literature
Published: 1946
Page Count: 439
Listen Time: 21 hours
Call #: F WARRE, ACD WARRE
Availability: OCPL- book & audio, Libby- eBook
Note: Kentucky Author
Out of the Stacks 
Leave a comment