Banned Books Week Begins Sunday: Share Your Plans

Banned Books Week, the annual event celebrating the freedom to read, kicks off this Sunday, September 27, with the theme “Censorship Is a Dead End.” Each year, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community, including booksellers, librarians, journalists, teachers, and readers.

As booksellers prepare for the week-long event, here’s more information on everything they may need to know about Banned Books Week 2020, including discounts, promotional tools, resources, and program ideas.

Booksellers are encouraged to share their Banned Books Week plans with ABA to be featured in a recap article following this year’s event. Whether that’s a virtual Zoom or social media event, or in-person displays and festivities, ABA wants to hear from you! Share photos of your Banned Books Week displays by tagging ABA and using #BannedBooksWeek on social media or contacting [email protected].

ABA will be scanning this list of official hashtags throughout the week: #BannedBooksWeek, #bannedbooks, #FirstAmendment, #freespeech, #censorship, #intellectualfreedom, and #bannedbookslist.

According to the American Library Association (ALA), eight of the 10 most challenged books of 2019 were challenged or banned because of LGBTQIA+ content. In 2019, the ALA tracked nearly 377 attempts to censor library, school, and university materials and services, encompassing 566 books that were challenged or banned. The list includes George (Scholastic) by Alex Gino; Sex is a Funny Word (Triangle Square) by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth; and Drama (Graphix) by Raina Telgemeier.