Publisher’s Weekly 2022 People of the Year: The Defenders

“We recognize the librarians, booksellers, authors, publishers, and allies standing tall in the face of an unprecedented attack on the freedom to read.

“There has been no shortage of extraordinary stories from the book world in 2022. But no story this year has been more extraordinary than the ongoing, unprecedented surge in book bans and censorship efforts being pushed by right-wing groups in communities across the nation.”