My Head Is Full of Books: Banned Books Week is coming October 5-11. Are you ready?

"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Banned Books Week is coming October 5-11. Are you ready?

Banned Books Week is just a few days away.

This year's theme is a good one:

CENSORSHIP IS SO 1984! READ FOR YOUR RIGHTS!

Have you marked your calendars?

Have you determined what banned book you hope to read during the event?

What action you plan to take in support of reading and against censorship?

List: Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2024

Stats:

72% of challenges come from outside pressure groups and government entities. Only 16% of challenges are made by concerned parents, and 12% are other. It is a very small minority of people who are bringing the vast majority of book challenges. "Eleven people were responsible for 60% of challenges to books in 2021 nationwide. ELEVEN!" (Source: NPR)

Frequently challenged books

Book Banning attempts have risen sharply over the past ten years.

Resources:

American Library Association (ALA): Library Bill of Rights

From the Unite Against Book Bans Toolkit
One parent in Wisconsin was responsible to 444 temporary or permanent book bannings in a school district. ONE! (NPR) Why should one parent say what books other kids should not read?

My Plan

1. Highlight a book I think everyone should read:

Banned Together: Our Fight For Readers' Rights edited by Ashley Perez
A collection of essays, illustrations, stories, memoirs, graphic novels about how book banning has impacted these YA authors. I read it a few weeks ago and found it to be tremendously impactful. Check to make sure your high school and public libraries have a copy of it. If not, ask them to buy it/offer to buy it for them. (Click on title to read more.)

2. Read a frequently challenged/banned book:

Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe
This book is one of the top challenged books of 2024. It is a graphic memoir (illustrated.)

3. Create a post (this post!) about Banned Books week and make a plan, which includes checking out the resources.

If you would like to do the same thing but also want to save time, you can copy the top half of this post and paste it to your blog. Let's get the word out.

4. Place a few banned books on hold at my library. This will help the library administration know to keep buying these types of books due to their increased circulation.

5. Work this puzzle of Banned Books