Banned Books Week 2020: Everything You Need to Know

Banned Books Week is fast approaching, but we have you covered with everything you need to know as you prepare for the annual event celebrating the freedom to read. This year’s event features the theme “Censorship Is a Dead End” and will be held September 27 to October 3.

Ingram Discount

As part of the Banned Books Week celebration, Ingram is offering a three percent discount on banned, challenged, and relocated titles. The promotion is running until October 4. Place your orders from a list of 2020 banned and challenged titles on ipage®. No promotional code is needed.

Promotional Tools

Booksellers can utilize the following promotional tools from the American Booksellers Association and the Banned Books Week Coalition.

• Counter card
• Banned Books Week Coalition logo
• Social media and web banners
• Shelf-talkers
• Poster and flier templates
• American Library Association (ALA) assets

(Note: The images and downloadables from the Banned Books Week Coalition are free to use for non-monetized, promotional purposes in support of Banned Books Week. Images cannot be used for fundraising or salable merchandise.)

Resources

The following resources are available from the Banned Books Week Coalition.

• ALA’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books
• ALA’s “Get Involved” resources: The resources include a Stand for the Banned read-out, a Dear Banned Author letter-writing campaign, actions for each day of Banned Books Week, and more.
• Celebrate Banned Books Week Handbook: The handbook includes programming ideas, best practices for events, and tips for handling censorship.
• Banned Books Week Coalition resources: Check out the Banned Books Week Coalition’s resources which cover print and digital resources, event resources, reporting censorship, and more.

Events

Visit the Banned Books Week Coalition’s events page for continuously updated event information. If you are hosting your own Banned Books Week event, be sure to register it online to be included on the Banned Books Week event calendar.

Program Ideas

American Libraries Association has created a list of 40 virtual program ideas for Banned Books Week. Ideas include story time or Q&A with a banned author, a partnership with a local LGBTQIA+ group to address why LGBTQIA+ stories are overwhelmingly censored, an online bingo based on banned book titles, and a partnership with an organization that centers on Black voices to discuss racism and the continuing challenges books about racism and police brutality face.

The ALA’s program ideas in part reflect the books on ALA’s most challenged books of 2019. Eight of the 10 most challenged books of 2019 were challenged or banned because of LGBTQIA+ content. In 2019, the ALA tracked 377 attempts to censor library, school, and university materials and services, encompassing 566 books that were challenged or banned. The list includes George by Alex Gino (Scholastic); Sex Is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth (Triangle Square); and Drama by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix).

Share your Banned Books Week Plans and Displays!

Booksellers are encouraged to share their Banned Books Week plans with ABA. Whether you’re hosting a virtual Zoom or social media event, ABA wants to hear from you! Booksellers can also share photos of their Banned Books Week displays by tagging ABA and using #BannedBooksWeek on social media or contacting [email protected].

The full list of hashtags associated with this year’s event are: #BannedBooksWeek, #bannedbooks, #FirstAmendment, #freespeech, #censorship, #intellectualfreedom, and #bannedbookslist.