Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been named honorary chair for Banned Books Week 2024, which takes place September 22 – 28. DuVerney will be joined by youth honorary chair Julia Garnett, a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee.
“I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom,” said DuVernay, honorary chair of Banned Books Week. “By banning books, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past and to envision a braver future. Books have the power to open minds and build bridges. This is why certain forces do not want the masses to engage with books. They fear progress and growth in new, bold directions. For this reason, Banned Books Week is vitally important. It is a celebration of our right to access varied voices and to engage with ideas that challenge and champion us. I am honored to be selected as honorary chair of Banned Book Week for this election year, and I stand with my fellow readers, fellow writers and fellow advocates around the world who refuse to let voices be silenced.”
DuVernay is the groundbreaking writer, director, and producer behind acclaimed films and television projects such as Selma, 13th, Queen Sugar, and When They See Us. She is an Academy Award nominee and winner of Emmy, BAFTA, NAACP, GLAAD, Critics Choice, and Peabody Awards. A staunch advocate for education and free expression, DuVernay directed two films inspired by frequently banned books: A Wrinkle in Time, based on the book by Madeleine L’Engle; and Origin, which centers on the life of Isabel Wilkerson, the author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
Banned Books Week youth Honorary Chair Garnett was honored for her advocacy for the freedom to read by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden during a ceremony at the White House. Garnett is also a leader in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech program, educating other students about advocacy. DuVernay and Garnett will lead virtual programs during Banned Books Week. Details on their events will be shared on BannedBooksWeek.org as they are confirmed. Banned Books Week 2024 follows multiple record-breaking years of censorship in libraries and schools. Attempts to censor books surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest level ever tracked by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. OIF documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023, largely due to organized campaigns that targeted multiple titles at a time. Titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals made up 47% of those targeted in censorship attempts. Initial data for censorship attempts in 2024 will be released September 23 during Banned Books Week.
Since it was founded in 1982, Banned Books Week has drawn attention to attempts to remove books and other materials from libraries, schools, and bookstores. The theme for Banned Books Week 2024 is “Freed Between the Lines,” an observance of the freedom we find in the pages of books and the need to defend that freedom from censorship. A day of action will be observed September 28 — Let Freedom Read Day — which will focus on voting, from registering to vote and understanding what’s on the ballot to making sure communities are informed about their rights. Everyone is encouraged to do at least one thing on September 28 to fight censorship.
For information about ways to participate and resources, visit bit.ly/LetFreedomReadDay. Visit BannedBooksWeek.org for information about events, ways to participate, and promotional materials.
Follow Banned Books Week on social media (@BannedBooksWeek on X and Facebook, @banned_books_week on Instagram) for the latest updates.
About Ava DuVernay
Academy Award nominee and winner of Emmy, BAFTA, Image, Humanitas, and Peabody Awards, Ava DuVernay’s directorial work includes the historical drama “Selma,” the criminal justice documentary “13th,” the four-part limited series “When They See Us” and Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” which made her the highest-grossing Black woman director in American box office history. Most recently, DuVernay wrote, produced, and directed “Origin,” the first feature by an African-American woman filmmaker to compete in the Venice Film Festival in its 90-year history. She is the founder of the Peabody Award winning narrative change collective, ARRAY, and sits on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in her second term.
About Julia Garnett
Julia Garnett is a dedicated advocate for the freedom to read. She is passionate about ensuring that young people can grow up free from censorship and with access to books that embody the diversity of the world around them. In her school district, Julia helped to defend challenged books by speaking out at local school board meetings. She also successfully advocated for the opportunity to participate on her high school’s book review committee. Julia has worked with the National Coalition Against Censorship as a Student Advocates for Speech leader to educate her peers on the importance of speaking out against censorship. In October of 2023, Julia was honored for her work at the White House by the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. Julia has also worked with The Trevor Project to share her story as a queer advocate for diverse material as part of the organization’s Pride in Action campaign. Julia will attend Smith College in the fall and plans to major in government.
About the Banned Books Week Coalition
The Banned Books Week Coalition is an international alliance of diverse organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read. The Coalition seeks to engage various communities and inspire participation in Banned Books Week through education, advocacy, and the creation of programming about the problem of book censorship. The coalition includes American Booksellers for Free Expression, American Library Association, Amnesty International USA, Association of University Presses, Banned Books Week Sweden, Children’s Book Council, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Freedom to Read Foundation, Little Free Library, National Book Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN America, People for the American Way Foundation, PFLAG National. Contributors include American Society of Journalists and Authors, Authors Guild, Index on Censorship, GLAAD, and Project Censored. Banned Books Week is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and receives generous support from Penguin Random House.