Freedom to Read Week, also known as Banned Books Week, is here again! This year the celebration runs from October 5 through October 11!
Freedom to Read Week is an annual event celebrating the value of free and open access to information. Book lovers of all types - librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers - can come together to support the freedom of expressing ideas.
Freedom of speech is an essential feature of democracy and a longstanding American value. Protecting the freedom to read is important, because censorship of books inevitably hurts real people; censorship restricts the flow of information, it takes away personal choice, and it makes unilateral decisions about which ideas, values, and identities are worthy of being represented in public spaces. By celebrating Freedom to Read Week, we stand with libraries and readers everywhere to say that we trust people to make their own informed decisions and think for themselves.
Banned Books Week was first founded in 1982 by First Amendment and library activist Judith Krug. While she was director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association, she got a call from the Association of American Publishers:
“They said, ‘We’ve just discovered there have been a slew of books banned. We should do something to bring this to the attention of the American public. While you’re guaranteed your freedom to read by the First Amendment, if you don’t use that right, it’s going to die.’ I really like that idea. So I went to the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, laid the idea out before them, and six weeks later we celebrated the first Banned Books Week. And it has grown unbelievably since then. It's celebrated in thousands of libraries and a substantial number of bookstores”
Since then, Banned Books Week has been continuously celebrated around the country by all who value free and open access to knowledge. This year’s theme is “Censorship is So 1984: Read for Your Rights,” taking its phrasing from George Orwell’s cautionary tale “1984” about the dangers of censorship, amongst other oppressive practices.
“The 2025 theme of Banned Books Week serves as a reminder that censorship efforts persist to this day,” ALA President Cindy Hohl said. “We must always come together to stand up for the right to read.”
Now that you know about Freedom to Read Week and why it’s so important, check out ways you can join ELPL to celebrate!
- Read banned books! Be on the lookout for displays, bookmarks, and online reading lists that highlight materials that have faced book challenges.
- Join us for Read For Your Rights EL on Friday, October 3 from 6-8pm at (SCENE) Metrospace to celebrate banned books and the power of free expression.
- Join us for a Banned Books Discussion with the owner of Bettie’s Pages and author of “This Book is Dangerous” on Thursday, October 9 from 5:30-6:30pm.
- Learn more about what you can do to fight censorship and keep books available in your libraries and the freedom to read open to all!
Happy reading!
Add a comment to: Freedom to Read Week 2025