(BIVN) – The Hawaiʻi Library Association is marking Banned Books Week 2025 with the “Freedom to Read” initiative. Along with support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi (ACLU HI), the effort highlights “why protecting access to stories and ideas is vital for Hawaii’s communities,” the association says. 

College students joined the library association and the ACLU for a press conference on Monday to discuss the “importance of intellectual freedom in the current backdrop of government censorship.” 

“The freedom to read is the freedom to think. And when we lose that, we lose one of the most essential tools of democracy,” added Denise Ojeda, a college student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in a news release. 

“This issue is also personal for me,” said Lena Whittaker, another UH student said. “My mom was a librarian, and today she’s a teacher. I grew up surrounded by books and by the belief that education should be about opening doors, not closing them. Seeing more books banned feels like those doors are being shut for students who deserve the same opportunities I had.” 

“Banned Books Week is particularly important this year in light of the rise of book bans and the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor,” said Riya Sood, an ACLU HI Legal Fellow. “Here at the ACLU of Hawaiʻi, we are dedicated to protecting people’s First Amendment rights in our diverse community, and that includes ensuring that our community can see themselves reflected in literature and their school curriculum.”

From the news release:

Banned Books Week was started in 1982 by Judith F. Krug of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, in coalition with publishers, booksellers, and writers’ organizations. The annual event, observed nationally this year from October 5-11, draws attention to ongoing/increasing challenges to books in classrooms and libraries – many of which are related to race, gender, sexuality, history, etc. These attempts to censor undermine the core tenets of a civilized and educated society, and are ultimately attempts to silence voices, restrict perspectives, and narrow our understanding of the multi-faceted world we live in. At its heart, Banned Books Week affirms intellectual freedom, the right of every individual to seek, access, and share information.