Our Constitution protects our access to information and ideas, necessary for informed debate and a strong democracy. The freedom to read is a liberty essential to the preservation of a free society. The freedom to read lets us explore different perspectives and form our own views, without needing to agree with every book's topics or themes. 

Voters overwhelmingly oppose book banning in the United States. 91% of voters strongly or somewhat agree with the statement “If you don’t like a book at a library, don’t check it out. Other people shouldn’t be able to control what me or my family can read.” (EveryLibrary Institute Voter Perceptions of Book Banning September 2022). 

Despite this, attempts at book censorship have increased exponentially in the last few years, driven by highly-funded national organizations that have spurred challenges against long lists of books. Most of the books targeted for censorship have characters or are created by authors who identify with marginalized communities. In some places, people have brought lawsuits or criminal charges against librarians for working in a library that had a book in the collection they disagreed with. Schools and school districts are fielding book challenges one by one, which takes time and drains public resources.

Writers and illustrators have also come under fire. Many have received hate mail and violent threats for creating literature for young people that have been negatively profiled by partisan book rating sites. Authors and all those who create books add financial and cultural value to every state in our nation. Their creativity should be encouraged, not shut down.

Parents have the right to guide their own children’s reading, but parents should not dictate what other people’s children are allowed to read. Librarians and educators are professionals who are trained to carefully scrutinize and curate what they put on their shelves for different ages and reading levels. 

Freedom to Read bills strengthen and standardize the process by which books are curated. They also shield librarians and educators from frivolous lawsuits and criminal charges for work done as part of their job.  In addition, Freedom to Read bills protect against outside organizations trying to interfere with local communities by requiring that anyone who brings a complaint against a book must live in the district where the library where they are lodging the complaint is located. Furthermore, Freedom to Read bills preserve our freedoms by guarding writers' and illustrators' fundamental and constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression, and every citizen's right to access art and literature.

By joining together to support Freedom to Read legislation, our libraries can welcome every citizen to read freely and explore the marketplace of ideas, and our states can maintain full liberty for the rights of each individual to form and express our own thoughts. Every voice counts! Save our fundamentally American right to read and read!