Banned Book Awareness Week 2023 is finishing up tomorrow but the problem grows. With the rise in restrictions being placed on classrooms and libraries across the country, I am making a weekly pledge to share titles that have made an impact on my life until we see a change in the United States of America. (I struggle to even write the country’s full name since I never imagined this could happen like it does under the dictators of autocratic regimes past and present).

This is not a few controversial subject matters, this has become an all out censorship movement.

The number of public school book bans across the country increased by 33 percent in the 2022-23 school year compared to the 2021-22 school year, according to a new PEN America report. “Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor” highlights the disproportionate number of bans occurring in Florida — where over 40 percent of all book bans took place in the 2022-23 school year — and shows how state legislation and coordinated pressure campaigns from local groups and individuals have driven mass restrictions on access to literature.

PEN AMERICA: THE FREEDOM TO WRITE Pen.org

The American Library Association has launched: “Banned and Challenged Books: A Website of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom” and has produced the following graphic:

Although all the data is alarming, the most obvious is the rise in reported censorship and the increase unique titles being targeted since 2020. Some of these 2,571 books are award winning books that have been utilized in classrooms for over fifty years.

“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

For more than 40 years, Banned Book Week has hoped to shine awareness and provide “support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular”.

The theme for Banned Books Week 2023 is “Let Freedom Read.” 

As the ALA announces, “When we ban books, we’re closing off readers to people, places, and perspectives. But when we stand up for stories, we unleash the power that lies inside every book. We liberate the array of voices that need to be heard and the scenes that need to be seen…”

Let Freedom Read Day is October 7, 2023 and we can do these things (download PDF below) in 5, 15, 30, 60 minutes, and more. “Take at least one action today to help defend books from censorship and to stand up for library staff, educators, writers, publishers, booksellers, and readers!”

Instagram Post #1 features Judy Blume banned books. Growing up in the 1970s, very few of us lived in households that had open conversations about puberty and sex. These books were my lifeline to making sense of my changing world and opened conversations with my peers (and the adults) around me.

Liguna Franca believes Judy Blume’s work is important too and they created a t-shirt with 10% of the proceeds going to PEN America.

I’ll be wearing mine tomorrow!

Support these Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022