Banned Books Week is underway. What to know about censorship in Michigan

Michigan libraries and First Modification teams urge the general public to take a stand in opposition to censorship and skim an article forbidden book this week.

Week of banned bookswhich ends on Saturday, October 11, has the theme, in line with the organizers, “Censorship is so 1984. Learn in your rights.” Saturday can be Let Freedom Learn Day, a day to advocate in opposition to censorship of varied books.

“With the escalation of efforts to ban books in libraries, faculties and bookstores throughout the nation, George Orwell’s cautionary story ‘1984’ offers a prescient warning concerning the risks of censorship. This yr’s theme reminds us that the suitable to learn belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in at the moment’s society, and that we should defend our rights,” American Library Association stated on its web site.

The annual occasion is supported by a coalition of teams centered on freedom of expression and free entry to info. The 2025 honorary chairman is George Takei, an actor, creator and activist dedicated to the liberty to learn numerous tales, he stated.

“I’m proud to function honorary chair of Banned Books Week, as I bear in mind all too nicely the dearth of entry to books and media I wanted rising up,” Takei stated in an announcement. “First as a toddler in a barbed wire jail camp, then as a closeted homosexual younger man, I felt confused and hungry for understanding about myself and the world round me. Now as an creator, I share my very own tales in order that new generations might be higher knowledgeable about their historical past and themselves. Please stand with me in my resistance to censorship, in order that we will all discover ourselves – and one another – in books.”

This is what that you must learn about Banned Books Week.

When is Banned Books Week?

Banned Books Week runs from October 5 to 11, 2025.

Which books are most frequently challenged or banned?

PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates free of charge expression in literature, says so has documented an unprecedented variety of almost 23,000 guide bans in U.S. public faculties since 2021. The push has centered on censoring books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters, books that includes folks of shade or coping with race and racism, and books for older readers with sexual references or mentions of sexual violence, in line with Pen America.

Pen America list of banned books for the 2024-2025 college yr consists of greater than 6,800 bans for 4,000 titles.

“For the third year in a row, Florida was the No. 1 state for guide bans, with 2,304 bans, adopted by Texas with 1,781 bans and Tennessee with 1,622,” in line with Pen America.

“Throughout the 2024-2025 college yr, our Index of Textbook Bans documented bans in 87 public school districts and 23 states,” Pen America stated. Michigan had no bans, the group stated.

This is a have a look at the top 15 books prohibited nationally within the 2024-2025 college yr:

1. “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, 23 banned
2. “Breathless” by Jennifer Niven, 20 Bans (tie)
3. “Offered” by Patricia McCormick, 20 bans (tie)
4. “Final Evening on the Telegraph Membership” by Malinda Lo, 19 banned
5. “A Courtroom of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas, 18 banned
6. “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins, 17 Bans (tie)
7. “Endlessly…” by Judy Blume, 17 bans (tie)
8. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, 17 bans (tie)
9. “Depraved: The Life and Occasions of the Depraved Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire, 17 bans (tie)
10. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, 16 bans (tie)
11. “A Courtroom of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas, 16 bans (tie)
12. “Damsel” by Elana Ok. Arnold, 16 bans (tie)
13. “The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fats Pal” by Kody Keplinger, 16 bans (tie)
14. “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, 16 bans (tie)
15. “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer L. Armentrout, 16 bans (tie)

Some books have been banned by greater than 50 college districts in 2023-2024, Pen America stated, together with:

• The bluest eye, By way of Toni Morrison
• A clash of kingsBy way of George R. R. Martin
• A court of frost and starlight, By way of Sarah J. Maas
• A Court of Wings and Ruin, By way of Sarah J. Maas
• Kingdom of storms, By way of Sarah J. Maas
• The Handmaid’s Tale, By way of Margaret Atwood
• The haters, By way of Jesse Andries
• The hate you give, By way of Inge Thomas
• Identical, By way of Ellen Hopkins
• Kingdom As, By way of Sarah J. Maas
• The kite flyer, By way of Khaled Hosseini
• Living dead girl, By way of Elizabeth Scott
• Looking for Alaska, By way of Johannes Inexperienced
• Glad, By way of Alice Sebold
• Man of war, By way of Cory McCarthy
• Milk and honey, By way of Rupi Kaur
• Out of the darkness, By way of Ashley Hope Perez
• Perfect, By way of Ellen Hopkins
• Red Hood, By way of Elana Ok. Arnold
• A stolen life, By way of Jaycee Dugard
• Thirteen reasons why, By way of Jay Asher
• This is some kind of epic love story, By way of Kacen Callender
• Tilt, By way of Ellen Hopkins
• Tower of Dawn, By way of Sarah J. Maas
• Tricks, By way of Ellen Hopkins
• Water for elephants, By way of Sara Grün
• What girls are made of By way of Elana Ok. Arnold

How did Banned Books Week come about?

Week of banned books started in 1982 when the US noticed a sudden enhance in efforts to censor books in libraries, bookstores and faculties, says Bannedbooksweek.org.

What’s the banned guide week?

Week of banned books faces censorship in U.S. public libraries, faculties and bookstores, in line with the Banned Books Week web site.

The theme of Banned Books Week 2025 is “Censorship is so 1984 – Learn in your rights”. This week’s honorary chair is actor, creator and activist George Takei and the youth honorary chair is Iris Mogul, organizers stated.

When is Let Freedom Learn Day?

Let Freedom Learn Day is October 11, 2025.

What’s Let Freedom Learn Day?

Let Freedom Reading Day is an advocacy day to assist books, library workers, academics, writers, publishers and booksellers in opposition to censorship, in line with Bannedbooksweek.org.

Organizers encourage folks to take motion that day by posting on social media with the hashtags #LetFreedomReadDay and #BannedBooksWeek, calling or writing a letter to officers to oppose guide bans, trying out banned books or books on censored subjects out of your library, supporting organizations that promote studying rights, buying banned books, volunteering at your native library or plan to attend an area assembly on guide censorship.

What do Michiganders take into consideration banning books?

The Michigan Library Affiliation and EPIC-MRA, a polling and analysis agency, performed a survey national survey about censorship in June 2025.

The survey discovered that 79% of respondents approve of libraries’ work, 75% belief librarians’ assortment decisions, 50% say books ought to by no means be banned, and 84% assist libraries’ present age-appropriate shelving insurance policies.

“It’s extremely gratifying to see that the survey outcomes affirm what library workers throughout Michigan expertise on daily basis: that the general public trusts their librarians, values ​​mental freedom and believes that everybody deserves to have his or her story mirrored on our cabinets,” stated Jenny Marr, MLA board chair and government director of Capital Space District Libraries. “It’s also a robust reminder, particularly in communities dealing with challenges, that whereas there are voices loudly opposing the liberty to learn, they don’t signify nearly all of folks in our state.”

What is the standing of the guide ban in Michigan?

The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has a digital interactive map with the standing of LGBTQ and different guide bans throughout the state.

“It’s our hope that this map will assist inform folks about what is occurring in Michigan, add to the important work already being finished by many organizations, together with the MI Proper to Learn Coalition led by the Michigan Library Affiliation, and supply assets to struggle again,” the Michigan ACLU stated.

The map reveals 14 losses the place Satisfaction flags or books have been banned, 14 wins the place Satisfaction flags or books have been upheld regardless of challenges, a combined consequence for a guide ban within the Troy Faculty District and an inconclusive consequence for an try to ban books in Alpena County.

The organizations say the censorship efforts are being pushed by unprecedented assaults on books on LGBTQ+ subjects in Michigan public faculties and libraries, a part of a broader nationwide sample.

Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.