Banned Books Week

An annual movement aimed to raise awareness about book banning and it's challenges highlighting the importance of 'freedom to read' while encouraging action against censorship.

This Year's Theme: "Censorship Is So 1984 — Read for Your Rights"

NOTE: PEN America defines a book ban as any action that results in access to a book being "restricted or diminished, either temporarily or permanently.

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Held in the last week of September or first week of October, the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.

Since last year's Banned Books Week, book censorship in the United States has expanded in more ways than we can count. Supreme Court decisions have created confusion in classrooms and curricula. Funding that literary organizations rely on has been slashed, impacting future and even existing programming. Military families and academy cadets have seen their sacrifices repaid with censorship. New book ban laws have been passed in state legislatures — though some governors, even in unexpected places, have had the courage to veto these harmful laws.

Books ranging from classics, including the works of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, to modern young adult books like "The Hate U Give" and "The Poet X," by Black authors have been impacted by bans for decades. This week, we are highlighting Black banned books across genres to celebrate all year-round. If we lose the voice of the African American literature, we lose the voice of African American people. Celebrate by supporting Detroit Book City and stock up your home/office library from our curated collection of banned books:

Let Freedom Read Day - Oct. 11th

The freedom to read is under attack — and YOU can do something about it! Learn more.