Let Freedom Read

 

Banned Books Week kicks off today and runs through October 11. During the event, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. Since the first Banned Books Week in 1982, more than 11,300 books have been challenged. Check out the website to see if there are any events listed near you, or check with your local bookstores and library for more details.

If you'd like to show your support in other ways, you can join in the Let Freedom Read Day on October 11th by taking on at least one action to help defend books from censorship and to stand up for the library staff, educators, writers, publishers, and booksellers who make them available. Or make a Virtual Read-Out Video.

Although the vast majority of banned books were due to false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes; and covering topics of race, racism, equity, and social justice, there have been some crime fiction titles included in the past. Some of those books include Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.