Following the release of PEN America’s report on the disturbing normalization of book banning—which found nearly 7,000 books were banned in the 2024-2025 school year—writers, readers, librarians, and other activists joined together during Banned Books Week to defend the freedom to read.
PEN America raises awareness about and fights back against book bans year-round, but to commemorate Banned Books Week this year, PEN America collaborated on a series of discussions, screenings, and exhibits including a conversation with honorary Banned Books Week Chair George Takei and the Eleanor Roosevelt Awards for Bravery in Literature with Margaret Atwood.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced a Congressional resolution that cited PEN America’s research and called on local governments and school districts to defend the freedom to read. PEN America also joined 35 advocacy organizations to sign a joint letter that calls for public action against book banning and a recommitment to fighting censorship and authoritarianism all year. (Sign the letter here.)
The majority of Americans oppose restrictions on books in public schools, and as concerted efforts to strip books from shelves have grown more widespread, public outcry has also grown louder and more fierce. PEN America’s most recent report found that the public fought back against censorship in 70 out of the 87 districts impacted by book bans in the 2024-2025 school year.
To kick off Banned Books Week 2025, PEN America screened The Librarians, a documentary film about the librarians fighting fearlessly for the freedom to read, on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 at the Film Forum. PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman introduced the film, and the screenings were followed by Q&A sessions with director and producer Kim A. Snyder and librarians Audrey Wilson-Youngblood and Martha Hickson.
Actor, author, and activist George Takei, the honorary chair of this year’s Banned Books Week, joined Friedman at the Brooklyn Public Library on Oct. 6 for “Unscripted: A Night Against Censorship.” Among the other special guests were librarian and poet Adeeba Rana, associate director of American Booksellers for Free Expression Philomena Polefrone, president of the American Library Association Sam Helmick, playwright Kate Hamill, actress Valerie Wright, and actor Austin Ku.
Takei began the night with an anecdote about a family friend’s 2-year-old child, who had recently learned the word “no” and began answering every question with it. “The kid reminds me of the book banners,” Takei said. “They only know the word ‘No.’”
PEN America then held an advanced screening of season 2 episode 6 of Gen V, in which the show’s heroes take refuge in an abandoned library, on Oct. 7 at the Los Angeles Central Public Library. Afterward, Van Lathan moderated a fireside chat between Eric Kripke, Gen V Executive Producer, and author George M. Johnson, whose memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue was 10th on PEN America’s newest list of the most banned books in America.
PEN America’s Sabrina Adams spoke with artist and activist Ellis Angel on Oct. 7 about Angel’s exhibition, “The Censor’s Cut: Weavings for Intellectual Freedom,” at the Fanwood Memorial Library in New Jersey. The installation, which features paper weavings made from shredded banned books, will remain on display through Oct. 24.
Additionally, throughout the week, PEN America hosted a literary salon in Washington, D.C., a fall fundraiser for the organization’s young patrons in New York City, readings of and discussions about banned books in Ohio, and informational sessions about the state of book bans in Arizona.
To close out the week, PEN America and the Eleanor Roosevelt Center presented the Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Book Awards to authors whose work has advanced human rights. The organizations recognized 10 authors, including best-selling Margaret Atwood, who received the Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement Award. “As long as there are rooms like this in the United States of America, with a lot of going on in them, you are not living in a fascist dictatorship,” she said. “Young writers taking risks, hang in there. I’m proud of you. And I wish you very good luck. Eleanor Roosevelt would have done the same.”
Though banned books week has drawn to an end, there’s still time to take a stand against censorship. Pledge to support the freedom to read and urge Governor Hochul to sign New York’s Freedom to Read Act.
