The theme this year for Banned Books Week, which runs October 4-10 and is organized by the American Library Association, is “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.”

PEN America has reported on the worsening situations in public libraries as well as in schools and school libraries:

“Out of Circulation: Expanding Censorship in Public Libraries,” released earlier this month by PEN America, found that “public libraries nationwide are reaching a breaking point as a result of mounting pressures to censor collections, increased intimidation against library staff, and disruptions to library operations.”

Over the last five years, the report continued, public libraries “have faced significant pressure to restrict access to information about race, sexuality, and gender as part of a larger movement that is chilling the freedom to read, learn, and think in public institutions through legislation and intimidation (previously dubbed the ‘Ed Scare’ by PEN America). This attack on knowledge, ideas, art, and books has never been just about books; it is a mechanism being used to influence who gets to be part of the American story–our collective sense of history, identity, and culture–and who is excluded from it…

“While some actions, like formally challenging books to demand their removal, were already common in libraries and have become more so, in recent years we have seen rising pressure to improperly reshelve books through prejudicial labeling (‘aging up’ or stigmatizing books with certain topics), as well as public campaigns against book displays or efforts to cancel events for overtly political reasons. Governance and funding of libraries, from the local to the national level, have also become tools to either compel ideological compliance or oppose the basic concept of a public library. Librarians are being threatened, harassed, and in some cases driven from their jobs–another source of censorship pressure.”

PEN America’s “Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away by Book Bans,” released this past spring, focused on censorship in schools and school libraries and found that censorship efforts in the past five years aim “to purge stories and books that discuss race and racism, LGBTQ+ people or characters, people or characters of color, and sex.” Some 44% of banned titles feature characters or people of color, the largest percentage ever in this category, while 29% of the books are nonfiction, particularly informational books and text books. In the past year, PEN America also noted that “a strain of anti-intellectualism, as illustrated in bans on nonfiction titles, also mirrors the broader political attack on facts and knowledge and the skepticism and devaluation of, and disdain for, experts and expertise–tactics long associated with the rise of authoritarian regimes and intended to sow distrust in democratic institutions.”

Organized by the ALA, Banned Books Week is supported by a coalition of organizations dedicated to free speech. These include the ABA’s American Booksellers for Free Expression, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the Children’s Book Council, the Little Free Library, the National Coalition Against Censorship, PEN America, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Authors Guild, the Association of University Presses, Penguin Random House, and others.

Among the parts of Banned Books Week is Unite Against Book Bans, an ALA initiative begun in 2022 that “strives to stop the removal of reading materials from America’s libraries and schools.” The group has more than 200 partner organizations and tens of thousands of individual supporters. It offers a collection of book résumés to support frequently challenged books. The book résumés detail “each title’s significance and educational value and are easy to share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members.” It also provides all kinds of resources about free speech groups and programs.

A highlight of Banned Books Week is Let Freedom Read Day on Saturday, October 10, the last day of the Week. As organizers put it, “We’re asking everyone to take at least one action to help defend books from censorship and to stand up for the library staff, educators, writers, publishers, and booksellers who make them available! Show us how you’re taking action on social media by using the hashtags #LetFreedomReadDay and #BannedBooksWeek!”

The recommended actions include:

• Calling or writing letters to “a decision maker,” such as school and library administrators and board members, city councilpersons, and elected representatives “to ask them to support the right to read!”
• Supporting organizations that are part of the Banned Books Week coalition.
• Joining Unite Against Book Bans.
• Checking out banned books from a library since “circulation matters! Circulation data can be used to support keeping challenged books on shelves and to justify ordering more books by the same authors or on the same topics.”
• Buying a banned book from a bookstore since censorship “impacts writers, publishers, and booksellers. Support the people who make and sell books by buying them!”
• Donating banned books to public and school libraries, the Little Free Library, library fundraising groups, banned books giveaways, and bookmobiles.
• Attending meetings of school and library boards as well as city councils.
• Sending letters or e-mails to local school and library boards, local newspapers, and others.
• Volunteering at a local library.
• Organizing groups to support schools and libraries and fight censorship.

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