It’s always the right time to celebrate books and reading, but October brings new opportunities. Not only is it National Book Month, but next week (Oct. 4 through 11) is Banned Books Week, which the American Library Association started in 1982 to highlight the value of free and open access to information.
Here are three Library ways to express your love for books, reading, and reading freedom.
Make letterpress book art with Partners in Print
If you like being creative in community, Partners in Print is holding five letterpress pop-up events at libraries around Seattle in October.
With help from volunteers, you can create letterpress posters about what books and reading mean to you. You can take one home and leave one for display at the Library. No experience is needed!
- Saturday, Oct. 3, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Capitol Hill Branch
- Sunday, Oct. 4, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., High Point Branch
- Friday, Oct. 9, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Ballard Branch
- Sunday, Oct. 11, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Central Library, Level 3, Living Room
- Saturday, Oct. 17, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Beacon Hill Branch
Read banned books
In recognition of Banned Books Week, we’ve compiled a brand-new list of frequently challenged titles across age ranges. You’ll find books such as Nikole Hannah Jones’ “The 1619 Project,” Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” as well as other amazing books that have been challenged.
You may notice that some of these books were on the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books from 2025. The ALA’s 2026 list will be published next week. Keep an eye out.
For more information about book challenges and Banned Books Week, visit PEN America or the American Library Association.
Celebrate Books Unbanned: One million checkouts and counting
In recent years, as you likely know, our country has experienced unprecedented levels of censorship on reading, especially for young people.
To combat this trend and expand the freedom to read, in 2023, The Seattle Public Library joined Brooklyn Public Library in creating our Books Unbanned program, which allows anyone aged 13 to 26 in the U.S. outside of SPL’s service area to check out e-books from our collection of digital books. It was a success from day one.
Yesterday, The Seattle Public Library Foundation, which funds this program, reported a remarkable milestone: Since Books Unbanned was launched, SPL Books Unbanned cardholders have checked out 1.1 million e-books and e-audiobooks.
Youth have signed up for a multitude of reasons, from limited access to books to censorship (both outright and “quiet”) to lack of transportation to disability. The common denominator? They want to read, and they want to decide for themselves what to read.
Here is one quote of thousands we’ve received from Books Unbanned cardholders that speaks to the program’s impact in helping a new generation of readers find joy, learning, and representation:
“I think it is important to form your own opinions based on the knowledge and life experiences you take in. The fact that people are trying to prevent me from reading something is absolutely outrageous. I applied for this library card to expand my knowledge and come to my own conclusions about what is good for me. That is up to me to decide, not anyone else.” – Books Unbanned cardholder, age 20, Georgia
The Seattle Public Library Foundation has contributed nearly $900,000 in philanthropic funding to sustain and grow the program.
The coalition has grown to include four additional libraries that were inspired by the success of Brooklyn and Seattle. We are grateful that our Foundation has helped this program have such far-reaching impact.
Find out more on the Foundation’s website.
– Elisa M., Communications