Each fall since 1982, libraries and librarians have defended access to diverse information by drawing attention to threats against the right to read. Banned Books Week is October 1 through 7, and the theme of this year’s event is “Books Unite Us. Let Freedom Read.”
The University Libraries joins other publishers, booksellers, libraries and schools to recognize the ongoing need to draw attention to the harms of censorship and support the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Join our fight for the right to read.
According to the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, there were 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022. This is the highest number of reported challenges the organization has recorded in the past twenty years. Forty-eight percent of those challenges targeted materials in public libraries.