How Anyone Can Fight Book Bans

As book bans continue to surge across the country, there is heightened national concern about censorship and the limitations imposed on young people’s education and enrichment. At the same time, organizations, individuals, and communities are invested in fighting bans, supporting authors, and taking action on behalf of targeted books and those who benefit from them. Booksellers and libraries, for example, can give visibility to the titles most frequently affected, many of which are written by and for LGBTQ+ people and BIPOC. But anyone can get involved in fighting book bans, and there’s never been a better time to do so. 

In conjunction with Banned Books Week (September 22-28, 2024), an annual event established in 1982 to draw attention to problems of censorship, we share a few ways you can support efforts to fight book bans in your community, and on a larger scale, too.

Learn and share.

Read up on the current state of book bans and challenges so you can raise awareness with friends and family and identify threats to reading freedom. A good place to start is the American Library Association’s Banned & Challenged Books section, which includes articles that compile recent data into digestible presentations.

Support authors of banned books, librarians, and others affected.

The ALA website dedicates a page to a letter-writing campaign to support banned authors as well as library workers, educators, and others experiencing hostilities toward their work and in their everyday environments due to the current climate. It includes resources and ideas for writing (and organizing group writing of) letters and emails along with communicating appreciation on social media.

You can also express solidarity with authors and booksellers by buying banned titles from bookstores dedicated to supporting banned work.

Start a banned book club.

Cultivating a space to nurture and expand awareness of banned books supports the freedom to read on many levels. In an article for Book Riot, Nikki DeMarco offers step-by-step advice for getting a banned book club formed and off the ground. In an interview with the ACLU, Ella Scott, who co-founded a banned book group at her high school, talks about her inspiration for starting the club as well as the rewards and challenges involved.

Attend a virtual or local event bringing attention to book bans.

Check to see if your local library is hosting any events for Banned Books Week, or related events at any other time throughout the year. The Banned Books Week calendar lists events for the week, including a virtual conversation about intellectual freedom with the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English). This year’s Banned Books Week honorary chair, award-winning director Ava DuVernay, is expected to lead a virtual program.

Take direct action.

The section of the Banned Books Week website focusing on Freedom Read Day (September 28, 2024) covers political actions you can take against book bans, including voting, addressing the subject of censorship with local government candidates, and promoting voter engagement in your community. As the page emphasizes, Freedom Read Day is a great time to take at least one action to support the freedom to read, but you can also take action year-round.

For more ways to fight book bans, check out the ALA’s list of tips and resources.