The theme for Banned Books Week 2025 (October 5-11), “Censorship is so 1984. Read for your rights,” is inspired by George Orwell’s cautionary tale 1984 which serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, this year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, and that censorship has no place in contemporary society. We must defend our rights.
What is a Banned Book?
Banned Books are books that have been banned or challenged because of their content. The books that have been banned have been completely removed from a library or have been challenged in an attempt to have them removed from a library, based on the objections of a person or a group.
Definitions
Challenge
An attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.
Censorship
A change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes.
Intellectual Freedom
The right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.
Censorship Data
