“Let Freedom Read” is this year’s theme for Banned Books Week, which takes place Oct. 1-7. Banned Books Week is a time for the Iola Public Library and libraries across the country to champion everyone’s right to read under the First Amendment. This Saturday is “Let Freedom Read Day,” designed to create civic action to both celebrate libraries and combat censorship. 
The Iola Public Library has titles from the top 13 most challenged books of 2022 on display, including “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.
According to the American Library Association’s “State of America’s Libraries Report,” “Libraries in every state faced another year of unprecedented attempts to ban books. In 2022, ALA tracked the highest number of censorship reports since the association began compiling data about library censorship more than 20 years ago. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted in 2021. Most of the targeted books were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.”
Banned Books Week began in 1982, after a surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores, and libraries. Libraries, especially public libraries, value free and open access to information and strive to serve our entire community with a broad range of viewpoints and subject matter.
