On September 12, at 3 p.m. ET, you are invited to join host Drag Queen Nebuer Styles for Banned Books Bingo. The Banned Books Bingo game card is available in ABA’s Banned Books Week digital assets. This virtual bingo game will not only be a lot of fun but it will also provide a blueprint for booksellers should they want to hold a Banned Books Bingo game in their store during Banned Books Week. Prizes will be awarded. Space is limited, so register today! To register for this event, click here. Hope to see you there on September 12 at 3 p.m. ET!
Banned Books Week is drawing to close, but there are still plenty of ways to engage! Don’t miss events bestselling authors Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places, Breathless), George M. Johnson (All Boys Aren’t Blue), Kyle Lukoff (When Aidan Became a Brother, Too Bright to See), and more! Keep reading…
For a complete event listing, please visit our events calendar here.
Virtual Event • 12:00 p.m. CDT Organized by ALA OIF
Join New York Times-bestselling author Jennifer Niven for a conversation about censorship and the implications for teens and the communities where book bans happen. Niven is the award-winning author of eleven books, including YA novels All the Bright Places, Holding up the Universe, Breathless, and Take Me With You When You Go (with David Levithan). … Read More
Virtual Event • 3:00 p.m. EDT Organized by American Booksellers Association
On September 12, at 3 p.m. ET, you are invited to join host Drag Queen Nebuer Styles for Banned Books Bingo. The Banned Books Bingo game card is available in ABA’s Banned Books Week digital assets. This virtual bingo game will not only be a lot of fun but it will also provide a blueprint … Read More
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library 901 G St NW, Washington, DC • 7:00 p.m EDT Organized by DC Public Library
In recognition of Banned Books Week, DC Public Library welcomes George M. Johnson, award-winning author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “We Are Not Broken.” The DC Public Library is thrilled to host author and activist George M. Johnson, honorary chair of the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week initiative. Johnson’s memoir “All Boys Aren’t Blue” has become … Read More
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library 901 G St NW, Washington, DC • 1:00 p.m. EDT Organized by PEN America
For Banned Books Week, National Book Award–honored author Kyle Lukoff (Too Bright to See, 2021 Young People’s Literature Finalist), DC Public Library Teen Services Coordinator Joanna Harris, and Managing Director of PEN America Washington and Free Expression Programs Nadine Farid Johnson sit down to discuss the value of writing, publishing, and access to diverse books, and how we can come together and unite … Read More
Brooklyn Public Library 10 Grand Army Plz, Brooklyn, NY • 4:00 p.m. EDT Organized by Brooklyn Public Library
Last month Summer Boismier, a high school English teacher in Norman, Oklahoma, lost her job when she provided students with the QR Code to Brooklyn Public Library’s “Books Unbanned” initiative, which gives out-of-state teens access to the Library’s eBook collection, including books that might be banned where they live. Boismier’s story went viral and became … Read More
Source Booksellers 4240 Cass Avenue, Unit 105, Detroit, MI • 6:00 p.m. EDT Organized by PEN Ameerica
Join PEN America Detroit for a Banned Book Week in-person discussion on the anti-Blackness and homophobia inherent in the slate of book bans around the country. This conversation will offer strategies on how to push back against the recent book bans, while also offering a space to celebrate black gay literature in all of its permutations. Moderated … Read More
It’s Your Right to Read!
Banned Books Week offers an opportunity for readers to voice censorship concerns, celebrate free expression and show their communities the importance of intellectual freedom. The Banned Books Week Coalition partnered with HarperCollins Childrens Books, Little Free Library, and Bookshop.org on resources to help people know their rights, report censorship, and get involved. Check them out the resources here.
Banned Books Week may be drawing to a close in a couple days, but we’re not slowing down! Thursday is packed with amazing programming, from our Facebook Live with censored comics creators Maia Kobabe and Mike Curato to a slew of virtual and in-person events that focus on strategies for fighting censorship. Keep reading!
For a complete event listing, please visit our events calendar here.
Comic books have been targeted by censors for decades, from 1954 Senate subcommittee hearings about their alleged link to juvenile delinquency, to the implementation of a content code that nearly destroyed the industry, to today’s widespread attacks on comics, especially those that share the stories of LGBTQ+ individuals. Join the creators of two of today’s … Read More
Virtual Event • 12:00 p.m. CDT Organized by ALA OIF
How would you handle an attempt to censor books in your library? In this program, we’ll use ripped-from-the-headlines scenarios as discussion prompts to provide practical strategies and resources that librarians can use to inform their defense of challenged materials. The conversation will be lead by librarians from a variety of backgrounds: Moni Barrette (President, Graphic … Read More
DePaul University Library 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago, IL • 2:00 p.m. CDT Organized by City Lit Theater
FREE readings around Chicago and Chicago suburbs. Various venues. See website for full list of events. Books on the Chopping Block is our annual 60-minute performance of dramatic readings of short excerpts taken from these books. City Lit has teamed up with the ALA in celebration of Banned Books Week since 2006, performing at special … Read More
Busboys and Poets (Anacostia) 2004 Martin Luther King Junior Avenue Southeast, Washington DC • 6:00 p.m. EDT Organized by The Emancipator
The Emancipator and Busboys and Poets invite you to an in-person conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Rep. Cori Bush to commemorate Banned Books Week. Come out for a lively discussion on the implications of book bans, as well as the growing embrace of censorship of all kinds in political rhetoric on Capitol Hill, … Read More
Utah Museum of Fine Arts 410 Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, UT • 4:00 p.m. MDT Organized by PEN America
PEN America Utah, the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah, and author Azar Nafisi are partnering for an in-person conversation at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday, September 22 that will explore the role Humanities and Liberal Arts play in the preservation of democracy. This unscripted discussion will draw upon Nafisi’s own … Read More
As the school year begins, teachers and students are facing challenges to their intellectual freedom like never before. From state legislation to executive orders to school district policies to administrator actions, book bans are at an all-time high, and teacher shortages are affecting every corner of the nation. But as an ELA educator, you do … Read More
In observance of Banned Book Week, MTH&M and Hartford Public Library present a virtual conversation between Deborah Caldwell-Stone, executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, and the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, and Hartford Public Library CEO Bridget Quinn. Presented in partnership with the Unite Against Book Bans campaign. Upon its publication in 1885, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was immediately banned … Read More
Book bans are on the rise across the country as states seemingly compete to see who can place the most restrictions on free speech. As this latest wave of censorship activity continues to build, what is your role as a library user? In this interactive webinar during Banned Books Week, you’ll learn about why intellectual freedom … Read More
Virtual Event • 6:00 p.m. PDT Organized by PEN America
City Lights in conjunction with PEN America present FROM HOWL TO NOW: BOOK BANS IN THE U.S. Moderated by Ipek Burnett with appearances by Marcus Ewert, Justin Hall, Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes and Dashka Slater During Banned Books Week, PEN America and Bay Area authors come together to discuss the alarming rise in book bans … Read More
It’s Your Right to Read!
Banned Books Week offers an opportunity for readers to voice censorship concerns, celebrate free expression and show their communities the importance of intellectual freedom. The Banned Books Week Coalition partnered with HarperCollins Childrens Books, Little Free Library, and Bookshop.org on resources to help people know their rights, report censorship, and get involved. Check them out the resources here.
In defiance of recent and ongoing book bannings, we’ll be occupying and reading to the main room of Oesterle Library on Wednesday, September 21, at 5:00 pm. All are welcome to converse, eat some dinner (on us!), and read a selection out loud from your favorite banned book. If you’d like to read but aren’t sure what to bring, the Oesterle librarians will have some of their favorite banned books on display for the event.
The vast majority of the Shimer School’s curriculum has been challenged or banned throughout history. Someone doesn’t want to read what you’ve been reading, and I think that’s a pretty good reason to read it.
It’s two for Tuesday — we don’t just have one event with New York Times bestselling author and Banned Books Week Honorary Chair George M. Johnson, but two! But that’s not all that’s happening today! Keep reading to find out more…
For a complete event listing, please visit our events calendar here.
Join Banned Books Week Honorary Chair George M. Johnson for an intimate conversation about censorship and how it impacts readers, especially young adults. Johnson will discuss the censorship of their critically acclaimed bestselling novel All Boys Aren’t Blue, which was the third title on the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021, … Read More
Housing Works Bookstore 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY • 5:30 p.m. EDT Organized by NCTE
Censorship continues a record-breaking sweep across our nation in the form of book bans, removal of literacy materials from school libraries, and the limitation on educators’ speech in the classroom. Teachers, parents, and citizens often feel hopeless when seeking ways to combat censorship, but there are some novel approaches recently taken by libraries, associations, and … Read More
Queeny’s 321 East Chapel Hill Street, #Suite 100, Durham, NC • 6:30 p.m. EDT Organized by PEN America
For Banned Book Week 2022, PEN Piedmont North Carolina, in partnership with the North Carolina Writers Network, will be hosting a free speech “social cocktail hour” with drinks and appetizers. This event will provide an opportunity for free speech advocates, librarians, authors, and the general public to share their thoughts and possible advocacy tools regarding the recent … Read More
Virtual Event • 9:00 p.m. EDT Organized by PEN America
The U.S. has seen a dramatic rise in school book bans and educational censorship, in the guise of prohibitions on teachers, libraries, and curricula. Nationwide, students, teachers, and parents are facing a wave of these measures, which disproportionately target books about people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, or books engaging themes of sexuality and gender. Books … Read More
It’s Your Right to Read!
Banned Books Week offers an opportunity for readers to voice censorship concerns, celebrate free expression and show their communities the importance of intellectual freedom. The Banned Books Week Coalition partnered with HarperCollins Childrens Books, Little Free Library, and Bookshop.org on resources to help people know their rights, report censorship, and get involved. Check them out the resources here.
Celebrate your favorite banned books out loud with the Shimer Great Books School! The Shimer Great Books School at North Central College invites you to a “read-in” in our Oesterle Library and Learning Commons. Bring a selection from your favorite banned book to read out loud, discuss with Shimer students and faculty, and learn more about how Shimer keeps banned books in the conversation. Shimer students and faculty will be present to answer questions about our program and dinner will be served for attendees.
2022 Banned Books Week:
Banned Books Trivia at Bier One
(NEWPORT, OREGON) – Staff at the Newport Public Library is excited to announce that the Library is celebrating Banned Books Week! Banned Books Week takes place from September 18-24, 2022. The theme of Banned Books Week 2022 is “Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us.” As part of our efforts to celebrate, the Newport Public Library will host Banned Books Trivia on Tuesday, September 20, from 5:30-7:30 pm at Bier One, 255 SW 9th Street, Newport, OR 97365. Put together a team or join a team or play trivia on your own. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
Banned Books Trivia is free, open to the public and proudly sponsored by the Newport Public Library Foundation, Newport Public Library, and Bier One. This event is free, open to the public and all ages are welcome. For more information, please visit www.newportlibrary.org/dept/lib/bannedbooks2022.asp or call 541-265-2153. For more information about Banned Books Week, please visit: www.bannedbooksweek.org
This year, Montana State University Library is celebrating Banned Books Week with a banned and challenged books giveaway. Students are invited to stop by the library to get a free book and talk with librarians about the ways books unite us and censorship divides us. Students can also write a postcard to their favorite banned books author.
The library also has a Banned Books display up through the end of September.
The Banned Books Museum collects and exhibits banned, burned, and censored books from around the world. To celebrate Banned Books Week, we’re live-streaming an online tour of our museum, located in Tallinn, Estonia, with a new section every day!
Tune in daily to hear museum director Joseph Dunnigan talk about censorship around the world, highlighting some of his favourite stories of book bans, and of course answering any questions you have about the museum and the collection.
We’ll be live on our Facebook page every day at 16:00UTC, so wherever you are in the world you can join us 🙂
Oh, and if you happen to be in Tallinn during Banned Books Week, drop by the museum in person and use the secret password ‘1984 speaks to my soul‘ to receive a free gift 😀
The Banned Books Museum collects and exhibits banned, burned, and censored books from around the world. To celebrate Banned Books Week, we’re live-streaming an online tour of our museum, located in Tallinn, Estonia, with a new section every day!
Tune in daily to hear museum director Joseph Dunnigan talk about censorship around the world, highlighting some of his favourite stories of book bans, and of course answering any questions you have about the museum and the collection.
We’ll be live on our Facebook page every day at 16:00UTC, so wherever you are in the world you can join us 🙂
Oh, and if you happen to be in Tallinn during Banned Books Week, drop by the museum in person and use the secret password ‘1984 speaks to my soul‘ to receive a free gift 😀
The Banned Books Museum collects and exhibits banned, burned, and censored books from around the world. To celebrate Banned Books Week, we’re live-streaming an online tour of our museum, located in Tallinn, Estonia, with a new section every day!
Tune in daily to hear museum director Joseph Dunnigan talk about censorship around the world, highlighting some of his favourite stories of book bans, and of course answering any questions you have about the museum and the collection.
We’ll be live on our Facebook page every day at 16:00UTC, so wherever you are in the world you can join us 🙂
Oh, and if you happen to be in Tallinn during Banned Books Week, drop by the museum in person and use the secret password ‘1984 speaks to my soul‘ to receive a free gift 😀
The Banned Books Museum collects and exhibits banned, burned, and censored books from around the world. To celebrate Banned Books Week, we’re live-streaming an online tour of our museum, located in Tallinn, Estonia, with a new section every day!
Tune in daily to hear museum director Joseph Dunnigan talk about censorship around the world, highlighting some of his favourite stories of book bans, and of course answering any questions you have about the museum and the collection.
We’ll be live on our Facebook page every day at 16:00UTC, so wherever you are in the world you can join us 🙂
Oh, and if you happen to be in Tallinn during Banned Books Week, drop by the museum in person and use the secret password ‘1984 speaks to my soul‘ to receive a free gift 😀
The Banned Books Museum collects and exhibits banned, burned, and censored books from around the world. To celebrate Banned Books Week, we’re live-streaming an online tour of our museum, located in Tallinn, Estonia, with a new section every day!
Tune in daily to hear museum director Joseph Dunnigan talk about censorship around the world, highlighting some of his favourite stories of book bans, and of course answering any questions you have about the museum and the collection.
We’ll be live on our Facebook page every day at 16:00UTC, so wherever you are in the world you can join us 🙂
Oh, and if you happen to be in Tallinn during Banned Books Week, drop by the museum in person and use the secret password ‘1984 speaks to my soul‘ to receive a free gift 😀
Salman Rushdie’s exuberant novel, The Satanic Verses, has cast a long shadow since its publication almost 35 years ago. Most recently, with the horrific attempt on Rushdie’s life, we are reminded of what is at stake in our world: the ability to speak, write, and create without fear. Yet what exactly are the true literary merits and shortcomings of this novel?
Join us as we explore the stories of our rich and diverse cultures. This program is for those wishing to hear storeis from censored books during Banned Books Week.
Books will be read by members of the represented communities.
Join Banned Books Week Honorary Chair George M. Johnson for an intimate conversation about censorship and how it impacts readers, especially young adults. Johnson will discuss the censorship of their critically acclaimed bestselling novel All Boys Aren’t Blue, which was the third title on the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021, and the ongoing attacks on books and information related to LGBTQ+ identity. This one-on-one conversation will be led by Freedom to Read Foundation President and librarian Peter Coyl and include a short Q&A.
This event will stream LIVE on the Banned Books Week Facebook page on September 20 at 1:00 p.m. EDT: @BannedBooksWeek
About George M. Johnson
George M. Johnson (they/them) is a writer and activist based in New York. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. All Boys Aren’t Blue is their debut, and was an Amazon Best Book of the Year, an Indie Bestseller, a People Magazine Best Book of the Year, and optioned for television by Gabrielle Union. The New York Times called it “an exuberant, unapologetic memoir infused with a deep but cleareyed love for its subjects.
Peter Coyl (he/him) is the Library Director & CEO of the Sacramento Public Library. He is also the President of the Freedom to Read Foundation and serves on ALA Council representing the Intellectual Freedom Round Table. He is a member of the American Library Assocations’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, and served as Chair of the Stonewall Book Awards Committee and as Chair of ALA’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (now the Rainbow Round Table), and as a member of the Public Library Assocaitions’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice.
Join us as we reveal the winning Banned Books Trading Cards. Mingle with the winning artists, take home your own set of cards, and celebrate the opening of the Banned Books Week exhibit in the library’s lobby on Friday, Sept. 16. You can enjoy a beverage and snack on treats while viewing all 74 wonderful art submissions. All ages are welcome.
Banned Books Week is an annual, national celebration of your freedom to read, held September 18 – 24 this year. The theme of this year’s event is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.
MLA Intellectual Freedom Panel and Salisbury University Libraries in conjunction with the Wicomico Public Library and the Eastern Shore Regional Libraries (ESRL) are hosting a Banned Book Week Event calling attention to current efforts to censor books, the impact such efforts have, and underscores the importance of the freedom to read. Please join us virtually or in-person to hear the keynote speakers Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford and a distinguished panel. There will be a display of the posters submitted by local school students.
Who can enter?: Current High school students in Brevard County, Florida
Evaluation criteria:
Understanding of the topic
Original thinking on the topic
Effectiveness in presenting a point of view
Literary style, grammar, and spelling
Length of essay: 500-800 words
Format: Double-spaced PDF document, including name, phone, and email address so we can contact you should you win (we will not contact you for any other reason, nor will we share your information with anyone for any reason).
Deadline to apply: All essays must be submitted by 11:59pm (ET) on Saturday, September 24, 2022, and it is free to enter. All essays will be considered.
Judging and announcing the winners:
Several cool folks from the Brevard community have agreed to serve as judges and will evaluate submissions based on the criteria above.
What you could win:
Contestants have the chance to win one of several awesome cash prizessponsored by the law firm, Goldman, Monaghan, Thakkar, & Bettin, P.A.:
One 1st prize: $500
2nd prize: $250
3rd prize: $100
3 Honorable mentions: $50
***All winners will also receive a copy of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and a free banned book of their choice. All winners will also receive a $20 hello again books gift certificate from an anonymous donor. A BIG thank you to our sponsors!!!
Notice of results
Winners will be selected by a panel of judges, all members of the Brevard County community. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held at 1pm on Saturday, October 8, at hello again books, 411 Brevard Ave, Cocoa, FL 32922.
For Banned Books Week, National Book Award–honored author Kyle Lukoff (Too Bright to See, 2021 Young People’s Literature Finalist), DC Public Library Teen Services Coordinator Joanna Harris, and Managing Director of PEN America Washington and Free Expression Programs Nadine Farid Johnson sit down to discuss the value of writing, publishing, and access to diverse books, and how we can come together and unite against book banning. Join us for a conversation with and for artists, booksellers, educators, librarians, parents, students, writers, and readers of all ages.
The Emancipator and Busboys and Poets invite you to an in-person conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Rep. Cori Bush to commemorate Banned Books Week. Come out for a lively discussion on the implications of book bans, as well as the growing embrace of censorship of all kinds in political rhetoric on Capitol Hill, and in statehouses and village halls across the country.
WHEN: Thursday, September, 22nd
TIME: 6 p.m. Doors, 7 p.m. Discussion
WHERE: Busboys and Poets – Anacostia
2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.
TICKETING: Guests must RSVP to attend. Admission is free. Guests will be admitted on a first come, first serve basis at the event. Complete the RSVP signup on this page.
About The Emancipator
The Emancipator is a digital commentary platform dedicated to achieving racial justice in America and beyond. Co-founded by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Bina Venkataraman, The Emancipator features original perspectives from leading scholars, journalists, and community members engaged in exploring solutions to racial inequality and its intersections. A collaboration between The Boston Globe and Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research, The Emancipator reimagines the nation’s first abolitionist newspapers — for a new day.
As cases of censorship in schools make national headlines, they might feel far away. But these challenges, frequently targeting materials and programming with LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC representation, are happening in our rural and small libraries across the country. From soft censorship to formal challenges, how can we be prepared when we need to defend intellectual freedom within our own libraries? You’ll hear from panelists who have faced these challenges head-on: a librarian, a parent and community organizer, and authors who have had their own books challenged. You’ll leave feeling prepared and energized to advocate for your collection and your community! Additional panelists to be announced soon.
Speakers
Whitney Kimball Coe(Speaker)Center for Rural Strategies, Vice President of National Programs
Join us for a night of banned books and forbidden beverages! In celebration of the upcoming Banned Books Week, we will be hosting a 21+ event that will begin with an exclusive cocktail hour at the super secret speakeasy “The 9,” located at the Owl Morning ‘Til Night. Local Cocktail Historian and owner of Liquor and Lore, Beth Vandergrift, will meet the guests at The 9 and share Prohibition-era stories of outlawed liquors and literary works while the attendants enjoy a special complimentary cocktail crafted just for the event.
For the second half of the night, guests will return to Adventure Ink for an after-hours book-fair-like shopping event, highlighting frequently banned and challenged books. Tickets will include a $10 store credit, and access to discounts good only for that night. Guests who come in period costume will receive an additional discount!
Reserve your seat now because space is extremely limited. RSVP at the Meetup link below, or by visiting the store.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Over the course of Banned Books Week, this series will cover seven different books, the reasons they were banned, and the value in reading them. Hosted by Tonya Todd, one new episode of Banned Books Conversations will be posted to YouTube each day. Panelists include authors and readers across the US and UK.
Join library staff at Champion Brewery for chances to win prizes based on your knowledge of banned books. Teams of up to 4 can work together. Library staff will have copies of banned books on hand and passages from banned books will be read aloud between trivia rounds.
If the weather is nice, we’ll gather outside in the courtyard. Otherwise, we’ll be masked and indoors (children’s section). Learn more about health and safety at Booksweet.
Looking for more ways to celebrate Banned Books @ Booksweet?
Shop our Banned Book Club list, supporting the ACLU! Since March 2022, Booksweet has been collecting 10% of the profits from our Banned Book Club reads to donate to the ACLU as part of our annual Banned Books Week celebrations in September.
Banned Books T-shirts! Booksweet will soon be revealing the design of our custom “I Love Banned Books” t-shirts, 10% of the profits from these beauties will also support the ACLU during Banned Books Week.
Banned Book Club! We host FREE monthly gatherings for teens and adults!
Kerrytown BookFest!We’ll be kicking off Banned Books Week on Sunday, 9/18 at Kerrytown BookFest with a special conversation about the #1 most challenged book in the nation presently: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.
To celebrate Banned Book Week, every book in the Little Free Library will have been banned or challenged at one time. Each book comes with a bookmark explaining its history.
Book bans are on the rise across the country as states seemingly compete to see who can place the most restrictions on free speech.
As this latest wave of censorship activity continues to build, what is your role as a library user? In this interactive webinar during Banned Books Week, you’ll learn about why intellectual freedom is important and what you can do to support libraries, library workers, and free expression during these challenging times.
Presented by Martin Garnar, PhD, director of the Amherst College Library, chair of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Intellectual Freedom Committee, and editor of the 10th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual.
Join us again for our in-person book club meeting at the 110 Grill with Assistant Library Director Scott Campbell.
In support of Banned Books Week, and continuing our theme of books about books, both the library’s in-person and Zoom book groups will read Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451.” We will be sharing our thoughts about the book itself, and as it is Banned Books Week, we’ll discuss the renewed efforts to limit our freedom to read.
“Fahrenheit 451” is relatively short and a fairly easy read, but it packs a punch. In the its dystopian reality, reading is viewed as inherently subversive and a threat to upset the TV-opiated populace. If you have books, the firemen will come. Our central character is fireman “Guy,” and he and his team go around town burning books and the houses where books are secretly hidden. Eventually, he starts to question the practice, but it’s a dangerous thing to even think about.
We invite you to read (or re-read) it with us.
To facilitate this discussion, we will have a guest expert joining us, Dr. Joshua Tepley. Dr. Tepley is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Saint Anselm College, where he has worked since 2012. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Bucknell University (2004) and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame (2013). His research interests include free will, personal identity, ontology (the study of being), and the intersection between philosophy and science fiction. “I love reading and discussing science fiction,” he says, “because it raises important philosophical questions in a way that is more relatable and engaging for non-philosophers than traditional philosophical writing is.”
This program is made possible by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities, as part of their Perspectives Book Group program. Thanks to them for providing books and the facilitator for this book discussion. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org.
Location: We’ll meet once again at 110 Grill in Stratham. You may order drinks during our talk, but to avoid disruption, please eat dinner before or after our discussion.
Join Penguin Random House and Booklist for a special Banned Books Week event to hear from authors Nikole Hannah-Jones (The 1619 Project), Renée Watson (The 1619 Project: Born on the Water), Kim Johnson (This is My America), and Kyle Lukoff (Different Kinds of Fruit and Too Bright to See), who have all experienced first-hand having their work censored—sharing stories of how librarians and communities fought back, their personal experiences with bans, as well as how their books impacted individual readers at schools and libraries across the country. Moderated by Dr. Emily Knox— associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and author of Book Banning in 21st Century America—this hour-long webinar will celebrate the right to read and librarians’ role in providing access for all. Ten lucky LIVE webinar attendees will win a prize pack of challenged books and Banned Book Week resources for their library.
The higher education community is experiencing new challenges to intellectual freedom both from peers with different viewpoints and increasingly from state and local governments. At the same time, faculty and librarians still must provide students with an open and interactive learning environment that fosters the development of independent, critical thinking skills while steering them from mis- and dis-information. What role can – and should – members of the academic community play as censorship increasingly becomes institutionalized and bans and restrictions are on the rise?
In this one-hour webinar, four intellectual freedom experts will address:
How have challenges to academic freedoms changed in recent years and what do you think is causing those changes?
What should be the role of faculty and librarians when they see bans on materials or information – whether the calls come from students, university leadership, or lawmakers?
How can they support students and colleagues from across the political spectrum who wish to restrict access to the information?
How can they steer students away from misinformation without restricting access to information?
Ultimately, is there anything faculty and librarians can do to promote a culture of intellectual freedom in an era of extreme polarization? How might they collaborate in new ways in this effort?
The session will include a moderated Q&A with the speakers as well as extensive time for Q&A with audience members.
Join authors Jeff Zentner and Jessie Ann Foley for a virtual discussion about censorship, banned books, and the importance of reading. Find the Zoom link at https://wp.me/pbFvB5-11V4
Little Free Library Unbound is a digital event series connecting stewards, patrons, supporters, authors, publishers, the Little Free Library organization staff, and our national board via monthly webinars on book-related topics. Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions for our guest panelists, and our moderator will lead a discussion alongside the Q&A.
Chapter 20
Our 20th chapter of Unbound is a conversation on banned and challenged books. We’ll be joined by Little Free Library stewards Brandi McPherson, Mai Le, and Katie Cohen and Krysta Petrie to talk about banned and challenged books, the Read in Color program, and the importance of access to books about people from all backgrounds.
You have the right to say what you think, share information and demand a better world. Exercising these rights – without fear or unlawful interference – is central to living in an open and fair society. Yet across the globe governments have increased censorship and routinely imprison people for speaking out!
This event will feature the works of critical voices that governments are trying to silence. We will hear from local advocates who work to promote and protect free speech!
Award-winning librarian Martha Hickson at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice to enlighten us about the state of censorship & what YOU can do to defend the right to read (& with a very special guest appearance by Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket!)
In schools & libraries around the country, extremists are attempting to ban books & trample students’ First Amendment right to read. In a discussion designed to educate, aggravate, & activate, Martha will deliver the latest news on censorship, share the strategies she used to fight back here in NJ, & provide you with tips & tools to keep free people reading freely.
As the extraordinary Martha sez her own self, “Defending the right to read is not a one-person job. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice with its commitment to diverse voices & safe spaces is the perfect ally for libraries & by partnering with the Center we will fight the Ed Scare affecting our schools, libraries, & the greater community.”
Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice HQ
12 Stockton St.
Princeton, NJ 08540
If you find this program & the work we do meaningful & believe in the mission & vision of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, please consider donatin’ whatever is within your means & within your hearts to help us continue to build this extraordinary new home our community needs & deserves. It’s hard to be a safe-space without a space… paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/3348328
Since the inception of Banned Books Week in 1982, libraries and bookstores throughout the country have staged local read-outs, continuous readings of banned and challenged books. This year, we will join the action by hosting a read-aloud of banned books, explaining their importance and sharing their words. Join us virtually or in-person on Monday, September 19th from 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm in Fant Library’s Tiered Classroom for a live and streaming read-aloud. You can share your reading live or submit a recorded reading.
Your words have power. Stand up to censorship and declare your literary freedoms by reading from a banned book and discussing its importance.
Join us on the library lawn for an educational celebration of banned and challenged books. There will be games and activities relating to banned books with fun prizes and more.
Listen to banned children’s books, create your own blackout poem, and learn about how the library bill of rights stands in opposition to censorship of books and other materials.
All ages event. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for the story portion of the program.
Program will be moved indoors to the children’s room if weather is poor.
Banned Books Week is an annual event that celebrates open access to books in our schools, libraries, and communities. This is Redux Society’s first year participating, and we have a full week of Book Bingo, Book Discussions, and more! As an LGBT+, BIPOC, and Woman-owned bookstore, it is more important than ever to raise these books into view.
Answer trivia about favorite children’s books that have been banned or challenged throughout history. This trivia night is designed for elementary and middle school kids and their families.
