Reporting a Challenge
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To report a challenge, please print the Challenge Database Form (link, PDF; Word and RTF links below) or the Online Challenge Database Form, complete it, and fax it to OIF, Office for Intellectual Freedom, at 312-280-4227.
For assistance with actual and possible challenges to books, Internet access, magazines, and other library materials, you also may contact Deborah Caldwell-Stone, OIF Deputy Director, Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 4224, Fax: 312-280-4227, dstone@ala.org, or OIF, Office for Intellectual Freedom, 800-545-2433, ext. 4223.
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.
Since 1990, the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom has maintained a confidential database on challenged materials. ALA collects information from two sources: newspapers and reports submitted by individuals, some of whom use the Challenge Database Form (PDF) or the Online Challenge Database Form. All challenges are compiled into a database. Reports of challenges culled from newspapers across the country are compiled in the bimonthly Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom; those reports are then compiled in the Banned Books Week Resource Guide. Challenges reported to the ALA by individuals are kept confidential. In these cases, ALA will release only the title of the book being challenged, the state and the type of institution (school, public library). The name of the institution and its town will not be disclosed. A list of most frequently challenged books is compiled from these challenges for each annual Banned Books Week.
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