The Freedom to Read

Today we're celebrating not only Banned Books Week but 150 years of the American Library Association. Happy birthday, ALA! To honor both of these events, we'll discuss one of the important moments in ALA's history, the creation of the Freedom to Read Statement.

"The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper."

Resources:

American Library Association: www.ala.org

· 150th Anniversary: For Our Libraries. For 150 Years More. https://ala150.org/

· Banned and Challenged Books: https://www.ala.org/bbooks

· Freedom to Read Statement. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement

Credits:

Image: Loveis Wise for ALA and Banned Books Week 2026

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

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