Our mission is to promote our freedom to think, read, create, and communicate to strengthen our democratic ideals.
29th Annual UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2026 Dr. Linda Smith Lecturer:
Sharon Barnes, Women's & Gender Studies: “Sex, lies, & government eyes: Censorship trends in the US”
Campus friends:
The generosity of our friends empowers use to provide refreshments, banned books,
and door prizes. Here is a list of last fall’s donors:
The UToledo President’s Office, Campus Activities and Programming, Division of Student Affairs, Student Government, Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources, UToledo Counseling; UToledo Marketing and Communication, UToledo Departments: Art, Women & Gender Studies, Theatre & Film, and the Division of Student Affairs, The Carver Center, Barnes & Noble, Jerry & Ann Garden Gifts, Phoenicia Cuisine, Barry’s Bagels.
Special thanks to Provost Dr. Mitchell S. McKinney, University Libraries, Jesup Scott Honors College, the Communication and Media Department, the College of Arts and Letters, Office of Multicultural Student Success, Mojisola Tiamiyu, Marcia King-Blandford, Associate Dean Kristen Keith, and WXUT.
Free Books! Door Prizes! Light Refreshments!
Related Websites:
- American Library Association: https://www.ala.org/
- ALA Banned and Challenged Books: https://www.ala.org/bbooks
- ALA,Office for Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org/
- Banned Books Awareness and Reading for Knowledge, Project Website: https://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/column/banned-books-awareness-and-reading-for-knowledge-project/
- Banned Books, Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/bannedbooks
- Banned Books Week: https://bannedbooksweek.org/
- City of Toledo, Office of the Mayor, "Banned Books Week" Proclamation, October 5, 2025 [image]
- Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), The Banned Book Club: https://www.thebannedbookclub.info/?mc_cid=30a7bc7c2a&mc_eid=454be9db19
- Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression: https://www.fire.org/
- Freedom to Read Foundation: https://www.ftrf.org/
- Goodreads, Listopia, Banned Book Lists: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/banned
- People for the American Way: https://www.peoplefor.org/
- Pen America, The Freedom to Write: https://pen.org/
- ShortList: 10 Banned Films: https://www.shortlist.com/news/10-banned-films
- UToledo Libguides:Banned Books Information and Resources: https://libguides.utoledo.edu/bannedbooks
Video Recordings of UToledo Banned Books Vigils from 2015 to Present
2025 - 28th UToledo Banned Books Vigil (YouTube)*
*Recording equipment courtesy of Media Services, Department of Communication & Media
2024 - No recording is available
2023 - 26th UToledo Banned Books Vigil (YouTube)
2022 - 25th UToledo Banned Books Vigil (YouTube)
2021 - 24th UToledo Banned Books Vigil (YouTube)
2020 - 23rd UToledo Banned Books Vigil (YouTube)
2015-2019 UToledo Banned Books Vigils (KnowledgeStream)*
*Recording by WGTE Public media
UToledo Banned Books Over the Years (archived sites on the Wayback Machine):
2025 - 28th UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2024 - 27th UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2023 - 26th UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2022 - 25th UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2021 - 24th UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2020 - 23rd UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2019 - 22nd UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2018 - 21st UToledo Banned Books Vigil
2017 - 20th UToledo Banned Books Vigil
The UToledo Banned Books Coalition:
Paulette D. Kilmer (Emeritus, Communication & Media), coordinator with Mojisola Tiamiyu (Psychology); Arjun Sabharwal (University Libraries), Laura Mitchell (UT alumna), and Aleiah Jones (Co-Director of the Office of Student Engagement and Connections), Cathy Bukowski (University Libraries Executive Assistant), Bernadette Barror (UToledo Groundskeeper), Jacob Vaughn (UToledo philanthropic advisor).
