This week marks the annual Banned Books Week across the country, which celebrates free speech and rallies against censorship. The Hawaiʻi Library Association and American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii partnered to launch this year's celebration, which is themed “Censorship is so 1984. Read for your rights".

Pioneering actor, author, and activist George Takei has been named honorary chair of Banned Books Week, which will take place October 5 – 11, 2025. Takei will be joined in leading the annual event by youth honorary chair Iris Mogul.

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature is considering a bill that librarians from across the state say will eliminate young adult and teenage sections from public libraries, calling it unnecessary and

“I Don’t Think Librarians Can Save Us”: The Material Conditions of Information Literacy Instruction in the Misinformation Age

Has your favorite book been removed from local libraries? The restriction and removal of books in libraries and bookstores–including literary classics–have come front and center in the culture wars.

Only one library book ban case has ever been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court: Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico (1982). In 1975, the Island Trees school b…

The bills would have applied the state's obscenity laws to local libraries and allow counties and cities to terminate library board members.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on May 23 reversed a district court’s preliminary injunction and dismissed free speech claims in Little v. Llano County, a Texas case challenging the removal of 17 books from a public library.

The American Historical Association has released a statement condemning the removal of 381 books from the United States Naval Academy’s Nimitz Library.

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong vetoed a library content bill, calling it “a misguided attempt to legislate morality through overreach and censorship.”

Georgia is considering a bill aimed at preventing children from accessing explicit library material. Opponents say it would chill free speech

A Sarah Jessica Parker-produced documentary on the brave librarians fighting a wave of rightwing book bans has sparked conversation at Sundance

Two new reports provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide.

On September 10, 2024, AAP and allies filed a second amicus brief in support of Texas public library patron plaintiffs in Little v. Llano County following the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ order of a full court rehearing of its June 6, 2024 decision. That earlier decision largely—but not entirely—upheld a preliminary injunction against the unconstitutional […]

UW Magazine | University of Washington

After Amanda Jones got death threats for speaking out against censorship, she sued her attackers and wrote a memoir

Across the country, book bans and attempted bans have soared to the highest levels in decades. Public and school-based libraries have been inundated with complaints from community members and conservative activists.

Anecdotal evidence suggests a rise in requests to take books off shelves, particularly LGBTQ+ titles

The two research collections state officials ordered for deletion included material from professional journals, conference papers, books, student dissertations, periodicals and newspaper articles.

Here is the full list of books removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library collection March 31-April 1. LINK HERE

The American Library Association (ALA) today released the highly anticipated Top 10 Most Challenged Books List.

U.S. officials say the U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office to review and get rid of books that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Attacking colleges and universities has reverberations far beyond campuses.

A federal judge says Iowa for now cannot continue to enforce part of its book ban law. The decision Tuesday gives major publishers that sued the state their latest temporary reprieve.

4,196 likes, 34 comments - lakotalaw on March 13, 2025: "🚨 They’re banning history. Read it anyway. Books that share truths about Indigenous land and Native history are disappearing from U.S. schools and libraries as part of a nationwide ban on books. One banned book example: “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States.” Ask yourself why. 💡 It’s not just about banning a few classics or a single book—it’s about erasing the real histories and controlling the narrative. 🚫 We created the Decolonized Reading List for 2025—a curated selection of 25 nonfiction books that challenge colonial myths and highlight movements of resistance, including Indigenous sovereignty, Black liberation, LGBTQ2S+ rights, abolition, and the fight for reparations. Read them. Share them. Pass them down. 📚 Explore the full Decolonized Reading from the link in our bio. 📢 Amplify your impact. Petition for truthful education in U.S. schools. 🔗 Teach Real History Link in Bio 👉🏾 For the most current information on book bans, follow @americanlibraryassociation #BannedBooks #DecolonizeYourBookshelf #IndigenousHistory #TeachRealHistory".

The Prejudicial Materials Working Group (PMWG) of the RBMS Controlled Vocabularies Editorial Group (CVEG) was convened in the summer of 2020 to review, revise, and generate new terminology in the RBMS Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging (RBMS CVRMC) that would be useful for indexing works that are prejudicial in nature, or that are the byproduct of prejudicial and hateful systems and ideologies. This work included review and revision of scope notes and relationships between terms.

The EveryLibrary Institute is collecting and analyzing polling and surveys about book bans, anti-access legislation, and the perception of libraries/librarians to help advocates quickly find and interpret results.

The American Library Association responds to the Department of Education's dismissal of complaints about censorship and discrimination: the "effort to terminate protections... advances the demonstrably false claim that book bans are not real."

Every library — academic, public, and school (public, private, charter, independent, and international) — should have a comprehensive written policy that guides the selection, deselection or weeding, and reconsideration of library resources. The most valuable selection policy is current; it is reviewed and revised on a regular basis; and it is familiar to all members of a library’s staff. The policy should be approved by the library’s governing board or other policy-making body and disseminated widely for understanding by all stakeholders.