Banned Books Week October 5-11, 2025

The American Library Association (ALA) and Banned Books Week Coalition have announced the theme for this year’s Banned Books Week – “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.”  “With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale ‘1984’ serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship.”  Each year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books, based on “confidential reports filed by library professionals and community members, as well as news stories published throughout the United States.”  2024 data indicate most book censorship attempts currently come from organized movements and pressure groups, rather than parents and individual library users.  The most common censorship justifications were “false claims of illegal obscenity for minors, inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes, and covering topics of race, racism, equity, and social justice.”  Banned Books Week was started in 1982, responding to a surge in book challenges.  For more information, see the ALA Banned Books Week website.