Challenged & Banned Books in the Classroom

Each column provides specific information about a book, including a summary of challenges it has faced, reviews, praise, awards and other recognitions, and additional CBLDF resources that educators and librarians can provide to their administrators when they want to add the book to their collections.

Offers guidance for educators developing inclusive and viewpoint-neutral instructional material policies, including sample review policies. The handbook also offers advice for educators navigating book challenges.

Creative ways educators can adjust their curriculum during "treacherous" times

Book Résumés help teachers, librarians, parents, and community members defend books from censorship

As school leaders pull more books off library shelves and curriculum lists amid a fraught culture war, we explore the impact, legal landscape and history of book censorship in schools.

A set of talking points which should be customized to reflect your own voice.

Recommended banned books across levels

This NCTE database contains more than 1,400 book rationales, which are an important resource for educators and school librarians. NCTE members can use these rationales when selecting books to incorporate in a classroom or library, or when defending a text that is being challenged.

Video lessons for Banned Books Week on works of literature that have been banned in the past and may still be challenged today.

High School Inquiry Teaching Guide

Middle School Inquiry Teaching Guide

In this lesson, students examine propaganda and media bias and explore a variety of banned and challenged books, researching the reasons these books have been censored (Gr. 9-12).

Here is a selection of lesson plans that cover various topics related to the First Amendment. Our lesson plans range from elementary to high school and were created by educators for educators.

Students will gather background information about banned books and will explore reasons why they were banned.

It is designed to help teachers support middle and high schoolers in exploring the history of censorship and resistance to gain new insights on current events (Gr. 6-12).