The American Library Association (ALA) announced Monday that George Takei will be its honorary chair for Banned Books Week, coming up from Oct. 5-11.  

Takei, an award-winning actor, New York Times best-selling author and activist, will aim to spread awareness on book bans and censorship, according to the group. 

“Books are an essential foundation of democracy,” Takei said in a statement. “Our ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ depends on a public that is informed and empathetic, and books teach us both information and empathy. Yet the right to read is now under attack from school boards and politicians across America.” 

“I’m proud to serve as honorary chair of Banned Books Week, because I remember all too well the lack of access to books and media that I needed growing up. First as a child in a barbed-wire prison camp, then as a gay young man in the closet, I felt confused and hungry for understanding about myself and the world around me. Now, as an author, I share my own stories so that new generations will be better informed about their history and themselves. Please stand with me in opposing censorship, so that we all can find ourselves — and each other — in books,” he added.

He is joined by youth honorary chair Iris Mogul, a teenager from Florida who created a Banned Book Club. 

ALA and PEN America have tracked an increase in book bans in recent years, with ALA highlighting in 2024 that some 72 percent of book challenges were by organized movements or government entities.

The theme for the 43rd Banned Book Week will be “Censorship is so 1984. Read for Your Rights.”