Banned Books Week is Sunday, September 22 through Saturday, September 28. As in recent years, there’s a sense of urgency to the annual event that was once about looking at censorship in the past and celebrating a freedom to read that was often taken for granted. With intellectual freedom under attack in so many communities across the country, Banned Books Week is now about raising awareness and inspiring action to push back against the continuing concerted censorship attempts.

Young activist Julia Garnett, a college freshman, is the 2024 Banned Books Week Youth Honorary Chair.

In her senior year of high school, Garnett was honored by First Lady Jill Biden during a White House ceremony for her advocacy for the freedom to read. Garnett is also a leader in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech program, educating other students about advocacy.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay is the Honorary Chair.

“I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom,” DuVernay said in a statement. “By banning books, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past and to envision a braver future. Books have the power to open minds and build bridges. This is why certain forces do not want the masses to engage with books. They fear progress and growth in new, bold directions. For this reason, Banned Books Week is vitally important. It is a celebration of our right to access varied voices and to engage with ideas that challenge and champion us. I am honored to be selected as honorary chair of Banned Book Week for this election year, and I stand with my fellow readers, fellow writers and fellow advocates around the world who refuse to let voices be silenced.”

DuVernay and Garnett will lead virtual programs during Banned Books Week. Details have not been released but will be posted at BannedBooksWeek.org. The website has a list of in-person and virtual events that will be updated as the week goes on.

The last day of the week, September 28, is Let Freedom Read Day, and the coalition of organizations behind Banned Books Week wants people to take action. The website offers a variety of suggestions, including registering to vote (or confirming that you are registered), reviewing local ballot questions, speaking with candidates about their views on book bans, buying a banned book, and more.

EveryLibrary will present a Banned Books Week Online Literary Festival and suggests that advocates host a house party to raise money and awareness against book banning. The organization can provide a donation link, QR code, and talking points for the event.

In other BBW news:

• Penguin Random House will be giving away banned books with The Banned Wagon, a bookmobile that will tour the country for the second year in a row, making stops in nine states including Iowa, Florida, and Texas, which have seen extensive book removals in schools and public libraries.
• EveryLibrary and the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) announced a new collaboration, " We Are Stronger Than Censorship, which aims to empower readers and the publishing industry at large with a positive, proactive, grassroots, and community-based campaign that will purchase and donate 2,000 (or more) books to readers through regional partners, including the Florida Freedom to Read Project, Texas Freedom to Read Project, and Wisconsin Freedom to Read Project.
• The Eleanor Roosevelt Center seeks nominations for the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Bravery in Literature, given to a living author whose book advances human rights and has been challenged or banned. The deadline is September 30.

Resources:

For librarians looking to educate students and patrons about censorship and book bans past and present, ALA offers activity and display ideas, ways to take action, and free downloads with censorship statistics and the most challenged books, as well as social media assets.

The Banned Books Week website has promotional tools including free, downloadable posters, shelf talkers, and a trivia template (as well as a trivia night kit with questions). There are also links to various educational resources and advocacy efforts for educators and students.