Every year, bookstores, libraries, universities, and organizations host engaging programs that spotlight censorship. Are you hosting an event for Banned Books Week? Putting up a display? Let us know about it, and we’ll share it here for the world to find!

If you are organizing a virtual event, choose “Virtual Event” for the venue. If it is an in-person event, please provide complete address and time information, as well as contact information so we can send queries for clarification. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee your event will display correctly. Thank you!

If you have any questions, please email coordinator@bannedbooksweek.org

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A Conversation With Gene Luen Yang: Censorship in Leander, Texas

Virtual Event

Bestselling comics creator and former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Dragon Hoops, Shang-Chi) is joined by educator Alexis Huddleston and parent Stephani Bercu for a conversation about the censorship of young people’s literature in Leander, Texas, and beyond! Early this year, the school district in Leander undertook a ... Read More

Free

Banned Books with Bookmans Mesa 2021!

Virtual Event

Join Drag Story Hour-AZ and Bookmans Mesa for a virtual Banned Books Week story hour with Felica Minor!  Felicia will read: I Am Enough by Grace Byers I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings Monster Trouble by Lane Fredrickson Dr. David Boyles will join Felicia to discuss a recent U.S. school district's ban on anti-racist books and ... Read More

Free
Recurring

Celebrating Banned Books Week

Monkey & Dog Books 3608 W 7th Street, Fort Worth, TX

In the book shop we will have a Banned Book Display and a game of "Guess the Banned Book." There will be a jar on the counter with shredded pages from a banned book. Patrons can enter the drawing by trying to guess the name of the banned book. A winner will be drawn on ... Read More

Free
Featured Featured

Censorship of Children’s Books: A Conversation with the Creators of Something Happened in Our Town and One of a Kind, Like Me

Virtual Event

Join the Banned Books Week Coalition in a conversation about the censorship of children’s books with Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, the authors of Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice, and Laurin Mayeno and Robert Liu-Trujillo, the author and artist of One of a Kind, Like Me. Something ... Read More

Free

Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Free Expression in Alabama (Virtual)

Virtual Event

This roundtable conversation will focus on the historical challenges to gender expression, sexuality, and free speech in Alabama, including how these challenges play out through the experiences of LGBTQ+ writers from the state. This panel will explore the unspoken, speak the unspeakable, and open doors into the present. REGISTER HERE This discussion is being presented ... Read More

Free

Where in the World Are Books Banned? Interactive Map

Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus Library Library – Room 1216, 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132, Miami, FL

Come by the Library to try out our interactive map that can be accessed by computer or scanning a QR Code on your mobile device, which leads you to a world map where you can find Banned Books throughout the world. In addition, the resource guide "Banned Books: Defending Our Freedom to Read" by Robert ... Read More

Free

Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020 Guessing Game

Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus Library Library – Room 1216, 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132, Miami, FL

You are welcome to come by and challenge yourself in a guessing game of the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020 which includes matching book covers to the descriptions of why the book was challenged. Hosted by “Wolfson Campus” Library – Room 1216 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132

Free

Check out a Banned Book Kick-off

Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus Library Library – Room 1216, 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132, Miami, FL

“Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” Let us break the “censorship” cycle, students; come by the library to check out a banned book and receive an Eat Me Guilt Free snack bag while supplies last. Hosted by “Wolfson Campus” Library – Room 1216 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132

Free
Featured Featured

Ask Jason Reynolds Anything* (*About Banned Books) on Facebook Live!

Virtual Event

Join the Banned Books Week Honorary Chair and New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds (All American Boys, Ghost, Long Way Down, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, and Stamped) for a live streaming conversation 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. EDT on September 28! Join the Banned Books Week Coalition on the Banned Books Week Facebook page ... Read More

Free

Conversation with Chris Tomlinson and Ashley Hope Pérez

The Carpenter Hotel 400 Josephine Street, Austin, TX

Writer and editor Chris Tomlinson (coeditor of Forget the Alamo) and young adult author Ashley Hope Pérez (author of Out of Darkness) come together for this special conversation to discuss recent threats to free expression in Texas. The discussion will unpack controversies including the recently canceled Forget the Alamo book event at the Bullock Texas State History Museum as ... Read More

Free

Banned Book Fest

Jervis Public Library 613 North Washington Street, Rome, NY

Join us on the library lawn for an educational celebration of banned and challenged books. There will be games and activities relating to banned books with fun prizes and more. Listen to banned children's books, create your own blackout poem, and learn about how the library bill of rights stands in opposition to censorship of ... Read More

Free

Poetry in Protest

Virtual Event

Meet poets at the frontlines of protest movements fighting for the right to speak freely and without fear of persecution. Poetry is frequently used as a tool in protest movements to inspire, unite, and mobilise support. From Black Lives Matter and women’s liberation to protest movements in Myanmar and Afghanistan, poetry holds the power to ... Read More

Free

Banned Books Week Trivia Night

Melbourne Public Library 540 E Fee Avenue, Melbourne, FL

Join us for a night of literary fun with Banned Books Week Trivia. This program is hosted by the Melbourne Public Library reference staff and is recommended for teens and adults. Seating is limited. Call 321-952-4514 to reserve your spot!

Free

Conversation with Bryan Burrough and Jim Schutze

Bishop Arts Theatre Center 215 S Tyler St, Dallas, TX

Writer and journalist Bryan Burrough (author of Forget the Alamo) and author and activist Jim Schutze (author of The Accommodation) come together for this special event that will assess the negative impacts of censoring political and historical literature. The conversation will highlight their own recently censored works, and speak to the importance of learning and teaching history ... Read More

Free

History, Racism, and Education in Oklahoma (Virtual)

Virtual Event

Youth advocate and Oklahoma Board of Education member Carlisha Williams Bradley and University of Oklahoma history professor Anne Hyde join PEN America for a discussion of currents threats to honest teaching of history and racism in Oklahoma schools and universities, in the context of social and political backlash against anti-racism education, and in the wake ... Read More

Free

A Conversation with Jewell Parker Rhodes and Kelly McWilliams (Virtual)

Virtual Event

Award-winning novelist and educator Jewell Parker Rhodes and her daughter, young adult author Kelly McWilliams, come together in conversation to discuss book bans and young adult literature. As individuals, it is our duty to provide the next generation of writers, teachers, journalists, activists, and readers with an education that includes all facets of life, an ... Read More

Free

Tenderness: Lawrence, lovers and literature on trial

The London Library 14 St James’s Square, London

In Banned Books Week at The London Library, Alison MacLeod speaks to Lara Feigel about her stunning new novel Tenderness, the story of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, its ripple effects across half a century and the society that put it on trial. Weaving the voice of a dying D.H. Lawrence, with that of a woman who witnesses the trial and ... Read More

£3 – £12

Censorship, Citizenship, & Individual Responsibility

Virtual Event

Censorship, Citizenship, & Individual Responsibility explores how the prohibition of expression is the breeding ground for dystopian societies and how, in a constant feedback loop, societal censorship leads to internal censorship, dehumanizing both society and the individual. Presented by Steve Kronen. Join the stream here.

Free

Banned Books Trivia Night

Wilbur D. May Museum 1595 N. Sierra Street, Reno

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Test your knowledge of banned and challenged books in a fun trivia night at the museum! $20/team, up to 5 people per team. Snacks and refreshments included. Prizes for 1st-3rd place and best team name. Deadline to sign up is September 29. Register ... Read More

$20

Erasure of Black Thought: A Conversation about Critical Race Theory with Black Academics and Writers

Rofhiwa Book Café 406 South Driver Street, Durham, NC

“Erasure of Black Thought” will be a conversation among Black academics that unpacks the current challenges to freedom of expression in schools, colleges, and the public sphere in regards to racism, history, and diversity (i.e. critical race theory). The event will offer a clear-eyed view of the current slate of censorious threats, while also providing ... Read More

Free

Banned Books Week @ The Rand Club

Rand Club 33 Loveday Street & Fox Street, Marshalltown, Johannesburg, Gauteng

Join us at the annual Banned Books Week event celebrating the Freedom To Read. Come to the Rand Club in Johannesburg for a one-day-only event with a fascinating line-up of speakers to keep you entertained. Please book ahead of time for planning purposes.

Free

Celebrating Banned Books Week at Scuppernong Books

Scuppernong Books 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro, NC

Banned Books Week is an annual event that celebrates open access to books in our schools, libraries, and communities. This year, PEN America will be celebrating the week in North Carolina with a full day of activities. The morning will start at 11am ET with a drag queen sidewalk storytime in partnership with Stonewall Sports – ... Read More

Free