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Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.

This Library Participates in Banned Books Week. Oct 5-11, 2025. Censorship is so 1984. Read for your rights. ALA.org/BBooks

 

The theme for Banned Books Week 2025 (October 5-11, 2Censorship is so 1984025) is “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” 

With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale 1984  serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. This year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights.

Photograph of George Takei, an Asian American man in a suit.Legendary Actor/Author/Activist George Takei Named Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week 2025 

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. 

During Banned Books Week 2025., Gonzaga's Foley Library's Periodic Table of Banned Books showcases some of the banned or challenged books in Gonzaga University library collections. 

Foley Library 2025 periodic table of banned books display photo

 “People don’t challenge materials that don’t say something to the reader. If you look over the materials that have been challenged and banned over the years, they are the materials that speak to the condition of the human being, that try to illuminate the issues and concerns that affect human beings. They’re books that say something, and they’re books that have meaning to the reader. Innocuous materials are never challenged.” -- Judith Krug, inaugural director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

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