Libraries, bookstores and schools place a national spotlight on the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, Sept. 22-28—a time when the American Library Association (ALA) works to draw attention to the harms of censorship.
This year’s Banned Books Week theme is “Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark. Keep the Light On!”
LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, sexually explicit content, religious viewpoints and materials that candidly portrayed the injustices and inequality experienced by people of color are among the reasons cited for requests to remove school and library materials in 2019.
Banned Books Week was first observed in 1982. Additional information regarding Banned Books Week is at http://ala.org/bbooks.