A student walks down the rows of books in the library to check out “The Hunger Games” but is unable to find it even after deliberately searching. After asking the librarian, the student is surprised to learn that the school does not carry the series due to it having “religious viewpoints” and “being unsuited for the age group”. “The Hunger Games,” although popular among youth, is one of the most banned books in the country.

Banned Books Week recognizes this issue in its annual event that is dedicated to fighting back against censorship across libraries around the world and giving people, especially students, the right to read whatever they choose. Every year during this week, communities of students, teachers, librarians and book sellers come together to support the freedoms of free reading.

A book can be banned from a certain library for one or many reasons, but most are banned due to themes in the book that are considered inappropriate. Most commonly, books are prohibited because they include sexually explicit content, offensive language, drug use, racism, violence, religious viewpoints, homosexuality or they are unsuited for the intended age group.

Even though Banned Books Week is a large event commented on by popular authors publicly, such as Lois Lowry and John Green, and events are held in nearly every state, most people remain unaware how the banning process works. While there is a list on the Banned Books website of the top ten most commonly prohibited books, there is not actually a list of books that cannot be present in school libraries.

In the Blue Valley School District, if a community member discovers controversial content in a book, then the book can be challenged. The list of challenged books is different than the books that have actually been banned. After a challenge, a committee of administrators, students, teachers and parents is created to review the book. If the book is decreed inappropriate, then it becomes officially banned.

“I think that, as librarians, we try to work on getting books that are best for our target audience,” librarian Lindsey Hogan said. “It’s a great process that if people feel like there’s a book that shouldn’t be in [the library], then they can have that discourse. So, we really like to be able to have that discourse, but for the most part it’s unlikely that something would be removed, especially at high school level. But at middle school, it kind of gets iffy.”

Students, parents and teachers of the Southwest community choose to allow books in the library that have been banned in other schools in the district. The librarians cannot help but to stress the importance of the freedom of reading.

“We [as librarians] believe in the freedom to read, and I mean, our job is to protect the integrity of the library,” librarian Elizabeth Chopp said. “There are professionals who fight to keep all books available on the shelves for readers. Whether or not somebody chooses to read a book that somebody else deems appropriate, it is their choice. We’re not going to force them to read anything they aren’t comfortable with. And even like a classroom book, if a parent said or a student said, ‘I’m morally opposed to reading this book because of x, y and z,’ then an alternative would be found. So, most of the time it’s about choice; it’s never going to be shoved down your throat. It’s a good district that we have things to protect our students right to check out whatever books they want.”

Across the nation, some parents argue that there shouldn’t be as much freedom as there currently is for students book accessibility.

“I think it would be pretty sad [if the country had a list of banned books that couldn’t be read],” Hogan said. “I think students have access to read about all different backgrounds and all different scenarios, and I think that different students relate to different things. It would be hard to create a list [of approved books] that appealed to all students.”