Banned Books Week is the time when we come together to read, discuss, and fight for all the books we’ve seen banned around the country. This year, we’re facing an onslaught of attacks on education from authoritarian groups and individuals hellbent on denying our nation’s young people the freedom to learn.
Anti-education extremists seek to indoctrinate our children and weaken our public schools. They oppose fact-based and inclusive educational curricula and materials, attack educators and librarians who stand up for the truth, and use false claims like “parental rights” as cover for their effort to control what all kids can read and learn. We must rise to the challenge.
Education is essential to a thriving democracy.
This Banned Books Week, we’re fighting for education because we know how vital it is to democracy. In a contentious election year, education will make a huge difference in which way our country turns – toward freedom or toward authoritarianism.
We’re seeing that battle play out in schools, libraries, and campuses as authoritarians attempt to dismantle education. They banned a record number of books last year, they’ve attempted to alter state curricula to fit their agenda, and they’ve even gone so far as to say they want to eliminate the Department of Education entirely. Banned Books Week exists to fight back against these assaults.
Banned books by the numbers
The volume of books banned over the last few years is deeply concerning. So far this year, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has tracked more than 1,000 “unique titles targeted for censorship” and more than 400 “attempts to censor library materials and services.” And this disturbing trend isn’t new. In 2023, the OIF found “challenges of unique titles surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022.” This is the volume we’re up against, and we cannot let up in our efforts to fight back.
There’s a pattern to the banning
Sadly, we know that the majority of banned and challenged books are written by or about members of the LGBTQ+ and Black and brown communities. Like other types of authoritarian attacks, marginalized communities take the brunt of the book bans and censorship. That’s why we all must work together to combat attacks on education, because the very diversity authoritarians are seeking to hide holds the power to make a better world.
We’re fighting back, and so can you
Pushing back against censorship is what Banned Books Week is all about. Help us defend education by taking action below and joining our Grandparents For Truth program to show your support for honest education (grandchildren not required). You can even show your support with our fantastic swag!
