Freedom to Read Week: October 5-11, 2025Like this list

18 items

• Amplitudes

  Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity

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  Twenty-two speculative stories edited by Lambda, Nebula and Hugo finalist Lee Mandelo that explore the vast potentialities of queer and trans futures.

• The Cat Who Saved the Library

  Natsukawa, Sōsuke, 1978-

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  Thirteen-year-old Nanami loves to read and happily spends much of her free time in the library. Then one day, she notices that, despite the library being as deserted as ever, some of her favorite books are disappearing from the shelves.

• The CIA Book Club

  the Secret Mission to Win the Cold War With Forbidden Literature

  English, Charlie,

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  For 37 years, George Minded ran the International Literary Center, which sent over 10 million titles that were unavailable to readers in Central and Eastern Europe. Available as an eBook.

• Gaza in My Phone

  Kerbaj, Mazen, 1975-

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  Two days after October 7, the Lebanese comic artist Mazen Kerbaj began drawing in reaction to what was appearing in his phone. This powerful and original book brings together that work.

• On Book Banning

  Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy

  Wells, Ira, 1981-

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  Surveys literary censorship through the ages—from the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome, to the Catholic Church's attempts to tamp down religious dissent and scientific innovation, to state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ literature in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Prose to the People

  a Celebration of Black Bookstores

  Mitchell, Katie (Katherine Anne),

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  Profiles of over 50 Black-owned bookstores across the U.S. Interspersed throughout are essays, poems, and interviews that offer deeper perspectives on these bookstores' role throughout the diaspora.

• The Book Censor's Library

  ʻĪsá, Buthaynah,

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  As the siren song of forbidden reading continues to beckon, the unnamed book censor descends into a netherworld of resistance fighters, undercover booksellers, and outlaw librarians trying to save their history and culture. Available as an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Books Through Bars

  Stories From the Prison Books Movement

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  Contains essays that explain the need for prison book programs and offer advice on how to establish or become involved with similar programs, as well as shedding light on current challenges.

• Dangerous Fictions

  the Fear of Fantasy and the Invention of Reality

  Gold, Lyta,

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  Traces arguments both historical and contemporary that have labeled fiction as dark, immoral, frightening, or poisonous; within each Gold asks, how "dangerous" is fiction, really?

• Gather Me

  a Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me

  Edim, Glory, 1982-

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  From the founder of the Well-Read Black Girl book club, a glowing testament to the power of representation and the lasting impact of literature to gather our disparate parts and put them back together.

• Lies My Teacher Told Me

  a Graphic Adaptation

  Loewen, James W.,

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  Graphic version of Loewen's eye-opening critique of U.S. history textbooks—adapted by the famed National Book Award–winning artist behind John Lewis's 'March' trilogy.

• The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration

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  Nearly 70 writings from contributors spanning incarcerees, their children born in or soon after the camps, and their descendants who reflect on the long-term consequences of mass incarceration for themselves and the U.S.

• Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books

  Miller, Kirsten, 1973-

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  Lindsay, the daughter of Lula's arch nemesis, sneaks in to Lula's lending library and secretly fills it with banned books wrapped in "wholesome" dust jackets. Available in multiple formats.

• That Librarian

  the Fight Against Book Banning in America

  Jones, Amanda (Librarian),

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  Amanda Jones has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and friends alike. Her decision to support a collection of books with diverse perspectives made her a target for extremists using book banning campaigns. Available in multiple formats.

• The Book That Wouldn't Burn

  Lawrence, Mark, 1966-

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  Two strangers find themselves connected by a vast and mysterious library containing many wonders and still more secrets. Available as an eAudiobook.

• On Censorship

  a Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US

  LaRue, James, 1954-

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  Synthesizing his 25+ years on the front lines of these issues, LaRue takes the reader through attempts he encountered to remove or restrict access to ideas, while placing the debate in the greater context about the role of libraries and free…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Rotten Evidence

  Reading and Writing in An Egyptian Prison

  Nājī, Aḥmad, 1985-

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  How does one make sense of a senseless oppression: finding oneself in prison for the act of writing fiction? 'Rotten Evidence' is a chronicle of the that period, a testament to the power of the creative mind in the face of authoritarian censorship.

• The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

  Robinson, Shauna,

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  For Maggie Banks, keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the town's literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when she unearths a town secret that could upend everything. Available in multiple formats.