Banned Books Week®
Let Books Be Poster by Hyesu Lee
Let Books Be Poster by Lovels Wise
Let Books Be Poster by Mikey Burton
The American Library Association and Banned Books Week Coalition are pleased to announce the theme for Banned Books Week 2026: “Let Books Be Protect the Freedom to Read.” Banned Books Week will take place October 4–10, 2026.
The struggle against book bans is too immense to capture in a single image. This year’s Banned Books Week campaign features three illustrations showing how libraries and access to information enrich our lives. The artwork from award-winning illustrators Hyesu Lee, Loveis Wise, and Mikey Burton embraces joy and creativity as acts of resilience, reminding our communities that a handful of people running organized censorship campaigns should not be allowed to dictate what the rest of us can read.
The Let Books Be theme was developed in collaboration with Little Jacket, the firm behind ALA’s Libraries Transform campaign. Banned Books Week posters, bookmarks, stickers, and more are available in the ALA Store. Apparel, totes, drinkware, and other materials featuring the illustrations—including Spanish versions—are available in the Library Gift Shop.
Banned Books Week launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of book challenges in libraries, schools, and bookstores. ALA offers a variety of free downloads, resources, and materials to support Banned Books Week activities, which are added to this page and our Free Downloads page as they become available.
Libraries, schools, and nonprofit organizations that plan to participate in Banned Books Week are encouraged to apply for a Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Programming Grant from the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF). Grant applications open in early spring. (Applications for 2026 are already closed, but it's not too early to start planning for next year!)
ALA is a founding member of the Banned Books Week Coalition (bannedbooksweek.org), an international alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read. The Coalition appoints an honorary chair and youth honorary chair to lead Banned Books Week. Past honorary chairs include banned authors Jason Reynolds (All American Boys, 2021) and George M. Johnson (All Boys Aren’t Blue, 2022), literacy champion LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, 2023), award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Origin, 2024), and civil rights icon and pioneering actor George Takei (They Called Us Enemy, Star Trek, 2025). The 2026 honorary chairs will be announced in the coming weeks.
Banned Books Week is ® American Library Association. Let Books Be tagline and artwork are ©2026 American Library Association.
About the Creative Team
Hyesu Lee is a Brooklyn-based artist from South Korea whose work spans illustration, murals, and comics. She creates colorful, character-driven worlds that are playful, expressive, and rooted in connection. Her work often centers on community, joy, and the small magic found in everyday life. Instagram
Loveis Wise is an illustrator, multidisciplinary artist, and educator. Currently based in Los Angeles, Loveis's work centers on reimagining futures, liberation, and queer/gender-expansive communities and their stories. Their constant world-making of playful dreamscapes has allowed them to create a distinctly recognizable style and palette, offering narrative storytelling through digital and traditional art making with clients ranging from Google, Apple, HarperCollins, The New Yorker, Dr. Martens, and more. Instagram
Mikey Burton is a graphic designer, avid doodler, and hobby printer. He’s worked with many clients, including The New York Times, Apple, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and other impressive companies that make him seem accomplished. (I assure you, he’s still figuring it out.) He also works two days a week for the Emmy award–winning TV show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He grew up in Northeast Ohio and graduated with a master’s in Visual Communications from Kent State University. Instagram
Little Jacket is an internationally recognized branding and marketing communications firm founded in 2004 and based in Cleveland, Ohio. They help brands find their voice by combining strategic insights with thoughtful design. Working with ALA, Little Jacket created and launched the long-running Libraries Transform campaign, which more than 15,000 libraries embraced. Instagram
About Book Bans and Challenges
During National Library Week, ALA released the list of the Top 11 Most Challenged Books of 2025 as part of the State of America’s Libraries Report. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, only five titles behind the record set in 2023. Nearly 92% of 2025 book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials, and decision makers, and 5,668 titles were banned from libraries (66% of the total challenged), with access to an additional 920 books restricted. This is both the highest number of titles censored in one year and the highest rate of challenges resulting in censorship since OIF began compiling censorship data in 1990.
Censorship data paints a vivid picture of attempts to ban or restrict library books and resources across the U.S.
Learn about the Top 10 Most Challenged Books for each year from 2001–2025.
Search OIF's database for titles and authors to learn if there have been efforts to censor them in libraries.
Banned Books Week Programming and Resources
Displays
Banned book displays kick-off conversations about censorship and inspire readers to explore challenged materials. Check out some display ideas from libraries across the U.S. — some of which only require construction paper and an imagination.
Other Resources
This resource offers issues, strategies, and resources for preparing your professional community (teacher librarians and public librarians) to celebrate Banned Books Week.
The Banned Books Week Coalition, which includes OIF, is an international alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness about censorship attempts and to encourage the defense of the freedom to read. The Coalition website includes downloads, resources, and an event calendar that anyone can use.
A History of Banned Books Week
Read about the history of Banned Books Week and ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom in American Libraries Magazine.
Media Inquiries
For media inquiries or to schedule an interview related to Banned Books Week or other ALA intellectual freedom initiatives, contact ALA's Communications and Marketing Office.
Unite Against Book Bans is a national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship. Take action and defend the right to read for all Americans.
