Celebrate the Freedom to Read
It's not a celebration of banning books: it is a celebration of intellectual freedom. We are proud to read and to think for ourselves!
The American Library Association says "the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular.....BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them."
Books are often challenged or banned due to material that an individual or an organization deems to be offensive, vulgar, racist, or goes against social norms.
According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom the top three reasons given for challenging materials:
1. The material was considered to be "sexually explicit"
2. The material contained "offensive language"
3. The materials was "unsuited to any age group"
According to the American Library Association's website:
"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."
"Censorship is like telling a man he can't eat a steak just because a baby can't chew it." -Mark Twain
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasent facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." -John Kennedy
Authors and Advocates on Fighting Book Bans
October 4, 2023 • 1:00 p.m. EDT • Webinar
The last few years have seen an unparalleled attack on the right to read and organized campaigns against certain types of literature and programming in public and school libraries. No one person or organization can face this fight alone, and we all need to take direct action to combat censorship. Join author John Green (Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars), writer and illustrator Mike Curato (Flamer), librarian and Texas FReadom Fighters co-founder Becky Calzada, and Banned Books Week Youth Honorary Chair Da’Taeveyon Daniels for a conversation about the impact of book bans and the ways in which they have taken action to fight censorship. The program will close with a short Q&A. Sign up here.
LeVar Burton LIVE in Conversation with Da’Taeveyon Daniels
October 4, 2023 • 8:00 p.m. EDT • Instagram Live (@banned_books_week)
Beloved reading advocate, writer, and television and film star—and Banned Books Week 2023 Honorary Chair—LeVar Burton will discuss his anti-censorship work and literacy advocacy with Banned Books Week Youth Honorary Chair Da’Taeveyon Daniels during this rare live event, which will stream on Instagram. Follow @banned_books_week, and join us October 4, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. EDT.
Rally for the Right to Read: A Banned Books Week Event
October 5, 2023 • 2:00 p.m. EDT • Webinar
Join Penguin Random House, Booklist, and Unite Against Book Bans for a special Banned Books Week event as we premiere the video of Ibram X. Kendi’s motivating and moving speech from Rally for the Right to Read at the 2023 ALA Annual Conference. Introduced by Tracie D. Hall, Executive Director of the American Library Association, in conversation with Chris Jackson, EVP, Publisher, & Editor-in-Chief of One World—this hour-long webinar will celebrate the right to read and librarians’ role in providing access for all. Representatives from Unite Against Book Bans will also join the webinar to share resources and offer a myriad of ways that viewers can join in the fight for the freedom to read.
Ten lucky LIVE webinar attendees will win a full set of Ibram X. Kendi’s books for their library. Register now!
A Seat at the Table: Youth Advocates on Fighting Book Bans
October 5, 2023 • 8:00 p.m. EDT • Webinar + Instagram Live
Some of the strongest voices in the fight against book bans are the students that censors claim they are protecting. Join Banned Books Week Youth Honorary Chair Da’Taeveyon Daniels for an inspiring roundtable discussion about youth advocacy in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, and how that work can inform opposition to censorship around the country. Join us on Instagram (@banned_books_week) or register here.
LET FREEDOM READ DAY
Saturday, October 7, will mark Let Freedom Read Day, the first Banned Books Week day of action. From calling decision-makers to checking out or buying banned books, to writing letters and more, everyone is encouraged to do at least one thing to defend the right to read and to speak on behalf of those who ensure access to information. For information about ways to participate and resources, visit bannedbooksweek.org/let-freedom-read-day/
Find lists of books that have been most frequently challenged or banned here:
"Don't join the book burners... Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but, unlike charity, it should end there."
-- Clare Boothe Luce
"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too." -- Voltaire
"Every burned book enlightens the world." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." -- Noam Chomsky
"You can cage the singer but not the song." -- Harry Belafonte
"Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself." -- Salman Rushdie
"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame."
-- Oscar Wilde