Banned Books Week: Featured Events

Join the DePaul University Library for an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.

Since 1982, libraries across the country have celebrated Banned Books Week, an event dedicated to promoting free and open access to information and individuals’ freedom to choose what they read.

This year’s festivities are marked by an increased sense of urgency: the number of book bans and challenges reported to the American Library Association rose over 300% -- disproportionately affecting books by and about LGBTQ+ and BIPOC (especially Black) people. 

September 19, 2022 - March 24, 2023 | JTR Library, 1st Floor

Stop by the John T. Richardson Library anytime during the Fall Quarter to visit the Banned Books Exhibit on the first floor. Learn more about the intersections between censorship and the experiences of BIPOC, LBGTQ+, and incarcerated people. 

Thursday, March 2, 2023 5-7pm | SAC 154 + Zoom

Black nonbinary memoirist George M. Johnson (they/them) will visit the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus on Thursday, March 2nd to read from, and talk about, their memoir All Boys Aren't Blue and speak to a panel of faculty, staff, and students about the current wave of right-wing book censorship in the US. All Boys Aren't Blue—about Black queer coming of age, family, and the importance of speaking your truth—has been targeted for banning in schools and libraries in over 21 states and was the 3rd most banned book in the US last year.

Hosted by the LGBTQ Studies Program at DePaul and campus partners. 

Wednesday, September 21 at 1-2:30 p.m. | JTR 103 and virtually

Join DePaul University Library and City Lit Theater for a performance of Books on the Chopping Block, a series of dramatic readings from the most frequently banned and challenged books of the past year. Q&A and raffle drawing to follow. This event will be held live at the John T. Richardson Library and streamed over Zoom. Join us in your preferred modality!