BRITTANY LYTE AND CHAD BLAIR/HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT, AP; Hawaii library system bans displays that refer to ‘Banned Books Week,’ rebrands to ‘Freedom to Read’
"This week, libraries across the U.S. are observing Banned Books Week. In Hawaii, the national event has been rebranded as a week dedicated to the “freedom to read,” an attempt to cool what has become a hot-button political issue.
New guidelines issued by the Hawaii State Public Library System ahead of the 41st annual event prohibit the use of the words “censorship” and “banned,” as well as the phrase “banned books week,” in displays at 51 public libraries across the state.
Also banned are certain props and imagery, such as caution tape and fake flames, and the use of any slogans or materials from the ALA, the professional organization that has sponsored the yearly Banned Books Week campaign since its 1984 origins.
State Librarian Stacey Aldrich said in a statement Tuesday that the language used in the Freedom to Read campaign aims to be inclusive of all library patrons.
“There are people who misunderstand ‘banned books’ or believe that we are banning books,” she said...
“It’s important to get the facts out and I’m not allowed to put the facts in my display,” Kawahara said. “And this is all happening in the one week dedicated to awareness of censorship.”
Stickers emblazoned with “censorship is so 1984,” the ALA’s 2025 Banned Books Week theme, were also confiscated from the Lihue library...
On Monday, at a press conference in downtown Honolulu, the Hawaii Library Association and ACLU Hawaii launched the Freedom to Read initiative in support of intellectual freedom.
The occasion marked Banned Books Week 2025, which runs through Saturday, is intended to raise awareness of increasing challenges to books in classrooms and libraries. Banned Books Week was launched by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom “in coalition with publishers, booksellers and writers’ organizations,” according to the ACLU."
