Banned Books Week: Sep 18-24

Banned Books Week 2022 will be held September 18 – 24. The theme of this year’s event is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.”

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Learn More:

• Albanese, Andrew. On Eve of Banned Books Week 2022, ALA Says Challenges Are Rising. Publishers Weekly. September 16, 2022.
• Banned Book FAQ (from ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom)
• Frequently Challenged Books (from ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom)
• LaRou, James and Diaz, Eleanor. 50 Years of Intellectual Freedom: The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Celebrates Its History. American Libraries. November 1, 2017. 

Support the Freedom to Read by:

• Checking out a selection of challenged or banned titles from our Banned Books Week reading list in our regular catalog.
• Borrowing and reading an eBook or eAudiobook title from our Banned Books and Instant Access Banned Books lists in Overdrive/Libby. 
• Posting on social media using hashtags #BannedBooksWeek and #LittleCityLibrary.