Right To Read Day 2026!

T
oday is Right to Read Day! Why is that important? Because your freedom to read continues to be challenged. It’s also important to note that the attacks on our libraries aren’t just book bans anymore.

The next step toward curtailing our freedom to read has been to cut funding to public libraries, and programs like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.[1] Not to mention the Trump administration’s dismantling of the largest grantmaker to libraries, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).[2]

Then, there’s the legislation designed to impair the ability of libraries, library staff, and library boards to obtain and provide diverse materials, resources, and programming to the communities they serve.

As the American Library Association points out, between January 2025 and March 2026 more than 100 pro-censorship bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country. At least 40 of those bills involve fines, lawsuits, or even jail time for libraries and library workers who protect their patrons’ right to read.

And a nationwide book ban has actually been introduced in Congress! This bill restricts what can be taught in classrooms to works included in very specific lists. So much for the local control of our schools, and “returning education to parents,” so frequently touted by the same politically conservative groups fomenting the current extreme wave of organized book banning…  like Power2Parent. Oh, the irony.

PEN America has tracked a breathtaking increase in censorship attempts in libraries and schools around the country that began in 2021. And the data shows that, unlike in previous eras, the majority of book censorship attempts are originating from well-funded advocacy groups like Moms for Liberty, and No Left Turn in Education.[3]

Pressure groups and government entities (rather than parents) initiated 72% of demands to censor books in our schools and public libraries in 2024. [4]  As if that number wasn’t concerning enough, in 2025 92% of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, and government officials…  that’s right, 92%.  And less than 3% of challenges were made by individual parents.[5]

Our Growing Network

Challenges to our freedom to read are real. But so is the growing network of individuals like you, and organizations who continue to share strategies and build momentum in their effort to protect the right to read everywhere.

As ALA president, Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, stated on the first Right to Read Day, it’s a time to “show our commitment to the First Amendment by doing something concrete to preserve it.”[6]

Why is the issue of
book banning so important?

Have a gander here.

And for use
on today’s day of activism…
and every other day.

Toolkit For Resisting Censorship

Endnotes:

[1] “Mapping the Republican War On Public Libraries.” The Democracy Labs. https://thedemlabs.org/2023/10/03/republican-war-on-public-libraries-map/

Smith, Trovia. “Library funding becomes the ‘nuclear option’ as the battle over books escalates.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173274834/book-bans-library-funding-missouri-texas-ashcroft

[2] Sweeney, Patrick. “The funding crisis facing America’s public libraries.” Candid. September 4, 2025. https://candid.org/blogs/todays-funding-crisis-facing-us-public-libraries/

[3] “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools.”  PEN America. https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/

Graff, Harvey J. “Dark money fuels Kansas and Missouri school book banners. Don’t let the minority rule.” The Kansas City Star. April 28, 2022. https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article260788532.html

[4] Book Ban Data. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data

[5] “American Library Association releases 2025 Most Challenged Books List as National Library Week Begins.” https://www.ala.org/news/2026/04/american-library-association-releases-2025-most-challenged-books-list-national-library

[6] Albanese, Andrew. “National Library Week to Include ‘Right to Read Day.’” Publishers Weekly. April 20, 2023. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/92074-national-library-week-to-include-right-to-read-day.html

Images:

Right to Read Day: Unite Against Book Bans https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/right-to-read-day/

Our Growing Network: Photo by jing chen on Unsplash