Banned Book Week highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. It is an opportunity to inform communities about the escalation in censorship while also highlighting the importance of the right to read and readers’ access to information.
The struggle against book bans is too immense to capture in a single image. This year’s Banned Books Week campaign features three illustrations showing how libraries and access to information enrich our lives. The artwork from award-winning illustrators Hyesu Lee, Loveis Wise, and Mikey Burton embraces joy and creativity as acts of resilience, reminding our communities that a handful of people running organized censorship campaigns should not be allowed to dictate what the rest of us can read.
The 2026 Banned Books Week theme, ‘Let Books Be,’ celebrates the joy of reading and, at the same time, motivates us to stand up for the right to read. We must let books be a window into ourselves and others, a door to new ideas and possibilities, and a path to full participation in our society.