Across America, posters have been hung in public libraries and bookstores for Banned Book Week 2025, proclaiming: “Censorship is so 1984. Read for your Rights.” This year, the 2025 Banned Books Week takes place from Oct. 5 to 11.
Banned Books Week is meant to raise awareness about how banning books harm the right to access information.
“It impacts the freedom [for]… most teachers that have to pick their curriculum,” English teacher Olivia Happel-Block said. “Most teachers don’t just pick a book at random; there’s a specific reason. There are specific themes, or it tells your story well.”
Banned Book Week was founded by Judith Kurg, director of the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and served as the director for 40 years. During her time, she supported librarians struggling with challenged library material, and took part in several first amendment court cases, some going all the way to the Supreme Court.
The first official Banned Book Week was launched by the ALA in 1982. It ended up being one of the OIF’s most successful campaigns, sparking conversations and connecting the entire book community of librarians, writers, and publishers.
The place where books are challenged the most are in public school libraries. During the 2023-2024 school year, Pen America Index of School Book Bans counted 10,046 book bans across 220 school districts and 29 states.
This past school year, PEN America counted 6,870 bans, titles including “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, and two books in the fantasy series “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Mass.
“Anything that has profanity, sexual situations, violence, those tend to be … big things that can upset people or people don’t want students to have access to,” Happel-Block said.
To get involved, look at the top banned books from previous years to get ideas for some more rebellious reads.
