Captain Underpants, The Handmaid’s Tale, and the Harry Potter series are just a few examples of the endless number of books that have been challenged in schools, book stores, and libraries and can serve as a topic for conversation during Banned Books Week.

Launched in 1982, this week typically held at the end of September celebrates the freedom to read and to express ideas, including those considered unorthodox or unpopular by some. Libraries across the U.S. are celebrating the week, including the Mary J. Barnett Memorial Library in Guthrie Center. Library Director Pat Sleister describes their book display created by volunteer Cassy Fronapfel to mark the occasion, “Banned books is just a week to help people realize what actually has been pulled off the shelves and it’s kind of amazing. So we have a wonderful volunteer who came in and put together a display for us and there will be some kind of writing on a sack that will say the reason that this book was pulled off the shelf. And then when you pull the sack off and look to see it’s amazing the books that have been pulled off.”

The theme for this year’s Banned Books Week is “Censorship is a dead end. Find your freedom to read!” The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles an annual list of the top 10 most challenged books, which you can find here.