Banned Books Week is October 5-11, 2025
Launched in 1982, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community and is typically held each year during the last week of September. Today, Banned Books Week coverage by mainstream media reaches an estimated 2.8 billion readers.
The theme for Banned Books Week 2025 is: “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” Current efforts to ban books and information held in schools, libraries, archives, and bookstores are a truth close to fiction – namely, the depiction of extreme censorship by an oppressive regime in George Orwell’s cautionary and prescient tale 1984. The Banned Books Week 2025 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.
Right to Read Handbook
The Right to Read Handbook is a comprehensive guide to resisting the epidemic of book censorship through local organizing and engaged citizenship.
Spread the Word
Support the right to read with a tee! The fight goes beyond Banned Books Week. Stand against book bans all year.
Oppose Book Bans
The attack on the freedom to read and books continues to escalate. Voting this November 5 is more important than ever! Get all your voting resources at VOTE411.org.
Banned Books Week
Help ABFE fight book bans and donate today!
The American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) is the free speech initiative of the American Booksellers Association. ABFE is dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of booksellers and readers. Your donation will make a difference!