Right to Read Day

Right to Read Day falls on Monday, April 20, the opening day of National Library Week, and the American Library Association is using it to release new censorship data. (ala.org) The American Library Association said April 20 also brings out its 2026 State of America’s Libraries Report and the list of the most challenged books of 2025. The group created Right to Read Day in 2023 as a Monday day of action during National Library Week. (ala.org) By midday Monday, the association had released the new figures: 4,235 unique titles were challenged in 2025, the second-highest total it has recorded, just behind 4,240 in 2023. Its Office for Intellectual Freedom also documented 713 attempts to censor library materials and services, including 487 aimed at books. (ala.org) The report said 92 percent of 2025 book challenges came from pressure groups, government officials, and other decision-makers, up from 72 percent in 2024. Less than 3 percent came from individual parents, according to the association. (ala.org) The American Library Association says Right to Read Day was built around public action as book challenges spread through schools and public libraries. Its school librarians division says the date also marks the third official year of the observance and commemorates the first anniversary of the Unite Against Book Bans campaign. (ala.org, ala.org) Unite Against Book Bans is using this year’s event to push people toward five-minute actions, including contacting members of Congress about H.R. 7661, registering to vote, donating, and sharing the new censorship graphics after the data release. The campaign’s Right to Read Day page says the goal is to turn the annual report into organizing at the local and federal level. (uniteagainstbookbans.org) The library week calendar keeps the focus on advocacy after Monday. Tuesday, April 21, is National Library Workers Day, Wednesday is National Library Outreach Day, and Thursday, April 23, is Take Action for Libraries Day, when the association is urging supporters to tell Congress to oppose censorship and book bans. (ala.org, ala.org) National Library Week itself runs April 19 through April 25 this year under the theme “Find Your Joy,” with Mychal Threets serving as honorary chair. On Monday, though, the week’s first message is narrower: the right to read is being framed not as a slogan, but as a current policy fight backed by fresh numbers. (ala.org, ala.org)