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Banned Books Week

About BBW

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.

 

"About." Banned Books Week. bannedbooksweek.org/about/. Accessed 5 Sept 2019.

For 2025, Banned Books Week is October 5 to 11.

This year's theme is "Censorship is so 1984: Read for your Rights"

2025 Theme

Banned Books Week October 5-11

"Free Downloads." Banned Books Week. https://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/freedownloads Accessed 7 October 2025.

Why?

To learn more about why books are banned or challenged and who challenges books, please visit ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom's Q & A page.