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Horizontal banner with bold cream text reading “BANNED TOGETHER” on a bright blue background.

This October, Banned Book Week (Oct 4-10), which celebrates the freedom to read and fighting censorship, overlaps with LGBTQ+ History Month AND Hispanic Heritage Month, both of which focus celebrating and highlighting marginalized communities. 

Collage of six banned book covers, including Pride, Before We Were Free, This One Summer, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, and tango makes three, and Nimona.

Over the 2025-26 school year, there were nearly 1200 book bans in schools across the country, the largest number in a single year. Book bans predominantly target literature addressing race, racism, LGBTQ+ identities, marginalized communities.

According to national tracking reports from PEN America and the American Library Association (ALA), approximately 36% to 44% of banned or challenged books feature characters or people of color, and multicultural themes. An additional 25% to 45% of challenged or banned books feature LGBTQ+ characters, themes, or authors.

In light of this outsized targeting of both LGBTQ and LatinX/Hispanic-focused books, we are featuring and celebrating those books with our month-long display. Stop by the Library's first floor to check out the range of diverse books. Learn about why each book was targeted and maybe take a book and go exercise YOUR right to read!