Welcome back, readers! This year the Camelback Villas Little Free Library will be kicking off Banned Books Week with a readalong on Sunday, September 22 from 10 am to 12 pm. Bring your own banned book or choose one from the Little Free Library, then settle down in the shade for a leisurely morning read!

Blankets and popsicles will be provided 🙂

What kind of books are we talking about?

Banned and challenged books include literary classics, graphic novels, and current bestsellers, many of which feature BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ characters. Check your bookshelves against this list of the last decade’s most-banned books from the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF); chances are you have already read a banned book!

Book bans increased 65% from 2022 to 2023, making 2023 the year with the most books banned in the OIF’s 20 years of tracking bans. Book bans are often directed at public libraries, with school libraries being another frequent target. Yes, the places where people with the least access to information go to get their books.

Sometimes, book bans have called attention to books that are genuinely problematic, such as Skippyjon Jones. If a book is problematic, should it be banned? Not at all! When you find yourself reading a book and going hey, this doesn’t feel right, learn more about the author–and about the people affected by the author’s work. Discuss why you think the book is problematic with friends and family. Representation is an ongoing issue in publishing. In trying to include characters from groups to which they do not belong, authors can miss the mark, widely. Seek out books by authors whose experiences are represented in the stories they tell. And keep reading!

So why are we reading banned books?

You don’t have to like every book you read, or even agree with it. But by continuing to read, ask questions, and discuss who gets excluded when books are banned, we can build a world where there is space on the shelves for everyone’s story.

Learn more about book bans by the numbers here

See the top ten challenged books of 2023 here