Banned Books Week

In honor of Banned Books Week (Oct. 5-11), Eugene Public Library invites everyone to celebrate and rededicate ourselves to our right to read, listen to, view, write, create and otherwise experience and express whatever we choose. Hear our library director Angela Ocaña, a longtime national advocate for intellectual freedom, talk about Banned Books Week on the Inside Eugene podcast.

Freedom of speech is a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. For years, many people in this country assumed that censorship was a thing of the past or that "it doesn't happen here." Each year, the American Library Association honored Banned Books Week largely as a reminder of historical events and an encouragement to remain aware of the potential threat of censorship and the importance of freedom of speech.

But in the past few years, our nation has faced a striking increase in censorship. Individuals, organizations, candidates and elected officials are requesting, demanding and sometimes legislating that public libraries, school libraries, classrooms and book stores remove or restrict access to particular titles.

The American Library Association reports documenting "another year in an unabating deluge of efforts to censor library materials in 2024, continuing an extremist campaign to suppress access to books that began in 2021. Last year, 2,452 unique titles were challenged, the third highest number ever documented by ALA and significantly exceeding the annual average of 273 unique titles over the period from 2001-2020." Explore the latest top 10 list of frequently challenged books.

In addition to addressing the harm that censorship causes, Banned Books Week celebrates the fact that over time, in the majority of cases, books have remained available precisely because people spoke out for the freedom to read. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community - readers, writers, students, librarians, educators, booksellers, publishers and journalists - in shared support of the value of free and open access to information, entertainment and inspiration.

To stay informed about constantly-breaking news on this topic and to get involved in protecting this essential right, visit these sites or follow their social media accounts:

Unite Against Book Bans

Banned Books Week

OIF - American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom

National Coalition Against Censorship

ACLU - Banned Books

PEN America

EveryLibrary