Books that refuse to be silenced
Livraria Lello and Service95 Book Club, founded by Dua Lipa, have joined forces to create Manifesto Library: a permanent library dedicated to books that challenge power, censorship, exclusion and dominant narratives. This is the first permanent physical expression of the cultural platform that has already encouraged thousands of young people around the world to discover a love for literature.
Dua Lipa and Service95
In recent years, Dua Lipa has established herself as one of the most influential voices in bringing new audiences closer to contemporary literature. Through Service95 Book Club, she has interviewed some of today’s most relevant authors — including Margaret Atwood and Olga Tokarczuk.
For 120 years, Livraria Lello has championed the idea that books are a technology of freedom. Manifesto Library emerges from this belief. What is at stake is not only the future of reading, but our ability to know the past, understand the present and imagine the future.
In Dua Lipa’s words:
“Manifesto Library is a dream partnership between Livraria Lello and Service95 Book Club. When I founded Service95 Book Club, my ambition was for it to become a home for writers and readers, wherever they are and whatever their circumstances may be. This library is a sanctuary dedicated to books that have disappeared, authors whose courage exposes structures of power and control, and readers who refuse to be told which books they can read. You are invited to visit us and decide for yourself what belongs on these shelves.”
“This library is a sanctuary dedicated to books that have disappeared.”
The concept of censorship may seem too archaic to exist among us. Unfortunately, it is not.
In 2023, a record number of 4,240 books were targeted for censorship in school districts and public libraries across the United States.
In 2024, writers were imprisoned or detained in more than 40 countries because of what they wrote, published or said.
In Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon, legislation criminalises materials considered critical of the government.
At a time when books continue to be removed from schools and libraries, challenged in public institutions or pushed into invisibility through more subtle forms of pressure, Manifesto Library seeks to reaffirm literature as a space for intellectual freedom, complexity and critical thinking.
Some of the books included have been banned, censored or publicly challenged. Others continue to spark debate around identity, freedom of expression, race, gender, memory and political power.
What they all share is their power — and the importance of ensuring they are not forgotten. Removing a book from a shelf is not a meaningless act. It is an action that determines which questions can be asked, which stories remain visible and which voices continue to be heard.
Manifesto Library is not an archive of censorship, but rather a statement about the role of books in society.
Books of Manifesto Library
Manifesto Library is located in Livraria Lello’s new cultural auditorium, where it is intended to become a focal point for dialogue. For 120 years, Livraria Lello has championed the idea that books are a technology of freedom. Manifesto Library emerges from this belief. What is at stake is not only the future of reading, but our ability to know the past, understand the present and imagine the future.
Power, Control, Voice and Memory
This Library brings together 100 essential titles for understanding the contemporary world. These titles are represented through thousands of copies, totalling 5,000 books, and organised around four themes: Power, Control, Voice and Memory.
Power
Books that question who holds power and who has a voice. These books directly confront dominant power structures — political regimes, social systems or cultural norms — often generating controversy or institutional resistance. They do not simply describe the world; they question who has the authority to define it.
Control
Systems do not need to shout to control — these books reveal how they operate. These works explore the mechanisms of control, both visible and invisible, including surveillance, propaganda, technological influence and ideological conditioning. They reveal how power operates not only through prohibition, but also through subtle forms of influence and normalisation.
Voice
This category highlights voices that endure, even when pushed aside. Voices that, throughout history, have been marginalised, excluded or underrepresented. Through literature, these works claim space, visibility and narrative authority, addressing issues of race, gender, identity, geography and belonging.
Memory
This category brings together works that preserve memory in the face of erasure, particularly in contexts of war, dictatorship, exile or collective trauma. These books act as forms of resistance, safeguarding stories that might otherwise be lost or rewritten.