This year's Banned Books Week 2025 theme is "Censorship Is So 1984: Read for Your Rights." The nationwide, week-long event launched in 1982 in response to a surge in the number of book challenges in libraries, schools, and bookstores, as explained by the American Library Association and Banned Books Week Coalition.

Locally, a number of public libraries have Banned Books Week exhibits on display from Oct. 5-11. Displays pictured below include the Chippewa Falls Public Library, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, and the Menomonie Public Library. 

According to 2024 data compiled by the American Library Association, the following were the 10 most challenged books last year: 

1. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson (challenged 39x for LGBTQIA+ content)

2. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (challenged 38x for LGBTQIA+ content

3. (TIE) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (challenged 35x for depiction of sexual assault, incest, and EDI content)

• (TIE) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (challenged 35x for LGBTQIA+ content, depictions of sexual assault and drug use, profanity)

5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins (challenged 33x for claims of sexually explicit content)

6. (TIE) Looking for Alaska by John Green (challenged 30x for claims of sexually explicit content)

• (TIE) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (challenged 30x for profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit)

8. (TIE) Crank by Ellen Hopkins (challenged 28x for depiction of drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit)

• (TIE) Sold by Patricia McCormick (challenged 28x for depiction of sexual assault, claimed to be sexually explicit)

10. Flamer by Mike Curato (challenged 27x for LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit)

Learn more about Banned Books Week at bannedbooksweek.org.