Here’s Where To Stand Against Censorship During Banned Books Week In NoVA

The cost of censorship is a major theme for Banned Books Week events across the country this week, including in the DMV.

• Banned Books Trivia: Oct. 8, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Sherwood Meeting Room, Sherwood Regional Library, 2501 Sherwood Hall Lane, Alexandria VA 22306-2799
• Banned Books Week - PRH Banned Wagon Tour 2025: Oct. 8, 3 to 7 p.m., at Solid State Books, 600F H St. Northeast, Washington, DC, 20002
• Banned Together Book Celebration: John Barton Payne Building: Oct. 11, 12 p.m. at 5 Waterloo St., Warrenton, VA, 20186

This year's theme, “Censorship Is So 1984 — Read for Your Rights,” draws inspiration from George Orwell's novel “1984.” The book tells the story of a man striving to escape an oppressive totalitarian regime characterized by mass surveillance and the repression of individuals and their behaviors.

Banned Books Week is observed Oct. 5-11 this year. It’s always held the last week of September or the first week of October. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools.

Related: Parents Lose Challenge To Ban Books From Fairfax County High School Libraries

Thousands of books were challenged in 2024 — 2,452 book titles, according to the American Library Association, and 3,752 titles, according to PEN America. The difference is explained by the methods the organizations used to track book bans.

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles lists of challenged books as reported in the media and submitted by librarians and teachers across the country. The top 10 most challenged books in 2024 and the claims behind them were:

1. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson (39 challenges)

2. “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe (38 challenges)

3. (tie) “The Bluest Eyes” by Toni Morrison and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (35 challenges each)

5. “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins (33 challenges)

6. (tie) “Looking for Alaska” by John Green and “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews (30 challenges each)

8. (tie) “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins and “Sold” by Patrick McCormick (28 challenges each)

10. “Flamer” by Mike Curato (27 challenges)

Related: LGBTQ-Themed Books With Sexual Content Pulled From Fairfax County High Schools

PEN America, a nonprofit organization that works to protect free expression, also tracks challenged books. Its list of the most challenged books for the 2024-2025 school year includes some of the same titles

1. “A Clockwork Orange’ by Anthony Burgess

2. “Breathless by Jennifer Niven

3. “Sold” by Patricia McCormick

4. “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo

5. “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas

6. “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins

7. “Forever…” by Judy Blume

8. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

9. “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire

10. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson

Although book bans have increased, polls show they don’t have the backing of most Americans. A 2022 American Library Association poll found that 71 percent of 1,000 people surveyed oppose book ban efforts. Other highlights of the survey include:

• Both voters (75 percent) and parents (80 percent) have a great deal of confidence in their local libraries to make good decisions about what books to include in their collections

• Nearly eight in 10 voters (79 percent) and parents (79 percent) say libraries in their community do a good job of offering books that represent a variety of viewpoints, a sentiment held by majorities of Democrats (89 percent), independents (77 percent) and Republicans (70 percent), and by majorities of voters across demographic backgrounds.
• Only small proportions think libraries go too far in promoting books that present a liberal (16% percent of voters, 17 percent of parents) or conservative (5 percent of voters and parents) point of view.

Survey respondents who supported book bans expressed a “need to protect young people from books they might find upsetting or that reflect ideologies and lifestyles that are out of the mainstream.”