Queens Public Library Marks Banned Books Week with Unlimited Access to Challenged Titles, Free Book Giveaway, and Programs Promoting the Freedom to Read
Queens, NY_ Queens Public Library will celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week (October 4–10) with a series of events and activities highlighting the importance of access to diverse ideas and voices and drawing attention to the continued rise in book challenges and censorship efforts across the country.
This year’s highlights include a book giveaway in partnership with Penguin Random House’s Banned Wagon initiative, unlimited access to a selection of banned and challenged books online, a systemwide youth voting campaign, and a variety of programs for customers of all ages celebrating the freedom to read.
“As attempts to restrict access to books -- particularly those that reflect the perspectives and experiences of communities of color and LGBTQ individuals -- continue to rise, we remain committed to putting these titles directly into people’s hands and protecting the freedom to read,” said Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott.
QPL will kick off Banned Books Week on Sunday, October 4, with an event at Hunters Point Library (47-40 Center Blvd.), featuring Penguin Random House’s Banned Wagon. From 12 to 5 p.m., customers can visit the wagon outside the library and choose a free banned or challenged book, while supplies last.
Penguin Random House’s annual Banned Wagon tour will for the first time ever visit New York City, making stops in all five boroughs, as well as Detroit and Chicago, where it will conclude at Chicago Public Library’s Obama Presidential Center Branch on October 10. At each stop, the Banned Wagon will feature 50 banned and challenged titles for readers of all ages, distributing hundreds of free copies. Hunters Point Library and Environmental Education Center will be the tour’s first stop.
Featured titles include Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, and more. A full list of titles is available on the Banned Wagon website.
The Hunters Point Library event will also feature a community art project inviting attendees to color and decorate banned book covers that will be assembled into a banner and later displayed in the library’s lobby. The public can also participate in a Banned Book Scavenger Hunt, searching for banned book covers throughout the library, vote for their favorite banned book and spin a wheel to receive a banned book recommendation.
Throughout Banned Books Week, from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10, QPL will also make 12 popular banned and challenged titles available online with no holds or wait times. Featured titles include: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds, Sonja Cherry-Paul, The Family Book by Todd Parr, Melissa by Alex Gino, All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and Go Ask Alice by Anonymous.
Beginning Monday, October 5, children and teens at all QPL locations can take part in “Vote As If Your Favorite Book Depends on It: Banned Books Edition.” Paper ballots will be available for customers to select their favorite banned or challenged books and cast their votes in ballot boxes. Voting will continue through Election Day on Tuesday, November 3.
The Library will also issue a special Freedom to Read trading card, adding to its growing collection of cards celebrating QPL locations, the 250th anniversary of the United States, and the World Cup.
Customers can also obtain the QPL Freedom to Read special-edition library card, featuring artwork by Flushing-based illustrator Sammi Wu. Wu’s design celebrates the connections that books and reading create among Queens residents from diverse backgrounds.
According to the American Library Association, efforts to restrict access to books remain at historically high levels. In 2025, the ALA documented attempts to censor 4,235 unique titles, nearly 2,000 more than in 2024. According to the ALA, most challenges target historically marginalized communities and works by or about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.
For more information about QPL’s programs and resources during Banned Books Week, visit the QPL Freedom to Read webpage.
About Queens Public Library
Queens Public Library is one of the largest and busiest public library systems in the United States, dedicated to serving the most ethnically and culturally diverse area in the country. An independent, non-profit organization founded in 1896, Queens Public Library offers free access to a collection of more than 5 million books and other materials in 50 languages, technology, and digital resources. Each year, the Library hosts tens of thousands of online and in-person educational, cultural, and civic programs and welcomes millions of visitors through its doors. With a presence in nearly every neighborhood across the borough of Queens, the Library consists of 66 locations, including branch libraries, a Central Library, seven adult learning centers, a technology lab at the Queensbridge public housing complex, a community learning center at the Ravenswood public housing complex, and five teen centers. It also has five bookmobiles and two book bicycles.
CONTACT: Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, ekern@queenslibrary.org