Sept. 22 to Sept. 28 is Banned Books Week. Established in 1982, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to read. According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, in 2023 there were reportedly 1,247 efforts to censor books and other resources in libraries many of them representing LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC voices and experiences — an increase of 65 percent from the year before. In total, 4,240 unique book titles were targeted.