Let Freedom Read! The Augusta University Libraries are hosting two Banned Book Read-Ins in conjunction with Banned Books Week. The Read-Ins will be held at the Greenblatt Library on Monday, October 2, at 11am, and at the Reese Library on Tuesday, October 3, at 11am. Attendees are welcome to join library staff in reading aloud from their favorite banned or challenged books (you can sign up by scanning the QR code on the attached flyer).
Since 1982 Banned Books Week events across the country have “highlighted the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas.”
For more information on Banned Books Week and to view the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2022, visit https://bannedbooksweek.org/.
Don’t forget to check out the AU Libraries’ Banned Books Week LibGuide: https://guides.augusta.edu/bannedbooksweek/home
Let Freedom Read! The Augusta University Libraries are hosting two Banned Book Read-Ins in conjunction with Banned Books Week. The Read-Ins will be held at the Greenblatt Library on Monday, October 2, at 11am, and at the Reese Library on Tuesday, October 3, at 11am. Attendees are welcome to join library staff in reading aloud from their favorite banned or challenged books (you can sign up by scanning the QR code on the attached flyer).
Since 1982 Banned Books Week events across the country have “highlighted the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas.”
For more information on Banned Books Week and to view the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2022, visit https://bannedbooksweek.org/.
Don’t forget to check out the AU Libraries’ Banned Books Week LibGuide: https://guides.augusta.edu/bannedbooksweek/home
Read a short passage from your favorite banned or challenged book to celebrate the freedom to read! Don’t want to read? Join the audience!
Head to the Worcester Public Library for Let Freedom Read, a statewide read-in to celebrate the freedom to read on Tuesday, October 3 from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Main Library. According to the American Library Association, libraries across the nation and here in Massachusetts have experienced a surge in the number of book challenges and attempts to restrict access. Everyone is welcome to find a good read from their library and join the celebration. We’ll have a comfy chair and a selection of banned books for you to choose from in the First Floor Ellipse area.
Kick off Banned Books Week with a Community Read-In!
Library staff and community guests will host a public storytime and read aloud from children’s books that have been banned or challenged in the last decade.
Adults, teens, and older kids are welcome to just bring a blanket or lawn chair and read together on the lawn!
We’ll also:
- Write postcards to support authors of challenged books;
- Peruse frequently challenged books for all ages; and
- Hand out Banned Books Week stickers, buttons, and bookmarks!
Rain or shine! We’ll be outdoors on the lawn if the weather’s nice, and inside the Library’s Ottinger Room if it’s not.
A coalition of departments at Syracuse University is hosting “Banned Books Week Read-Out,” during which students, faculty, and community members can come and read from their favorite banned books. Sponsors include Syracuse University Libraries, College of Arts and Sciences Department of English, Department of Languages and Linguistics, Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, Department of African American Studies, LGBTQ Resource Center and the Tully Center for Free Speech.
Wheatgrass Books in Livingston, Montana, will host its 2nd annual banned books celebration. An array of community members — local writers, students, librarians, policy makers, and more — will gather together to read passages of their favorite banned book.
Come to the library for games and a different activity each week! Kids of all ages can hang out and do crafts or STEAM activities. No registration required.
On 10/4 we’ll be celebrating Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read! There will be crafts, giveaways, and trivia!
In this challenge, every book you read (to a grandchild or on your own) gives you one “point,” and points can be traded in for free Grandparents For Truth swag! Supplies are limited so make sure to read early and often!
How You Can Join the Challenge
- Sign up for the challenge here.
- Pick a banned book off of our banned book reading list
- Submit a photo or video of you (or you and a grandkid!) reading the banned book. If you post it to social, make sure you tag us (we’re @peoplefor on Twitter/X and Facebook and @peoplefor_ on Instagram)and use the hashtag #bannedbooks2023
- Each photo or video you submit or tag us in is worth one point! Rack up points to get free Grandparents for Truth swag like tshirts, book marks, water bottles, and more!
- Keep an eye on your inbox! At the end of October, we’ll reach out to you to see what swag you’d like.
Supplies are limited – so read early and often!
League of Women Voters Corpus Christi Area and Black Cat Books are hosting a read-out to kick off Banned Books Week. You can defend democracy and participate in the read out by reading a passage from a banned book of your choice. We encourage you to also discuss your personal feelings about the book you read from and why it’s important to be heard. Of course, you can also come and show support and listen to what everyone shares if you prefer. Feel free to bring a snack and/or beverage for yourself or to share with others.
Black Cat Books is a locally owned, independent bookstore located at 1318 S. Staples Street, with lots of parking available on the street.
Let’s get a little louder this weekend! Books with diverse content (including, but not limited to, LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities) are generally overrepresented among banned and challenged books; in 2015, 9 of the 10 most challenged books fell into this category.
To bring awareness to a growing nationwide trend, we are hosting a read-out featuring Banned Books, and we want you to participate!
WHAT IS A READ-OUT?
A continuous public reading of a single or multiple banned books.
WHAT WOULD I HAVE TO DO?
Select your favorite banned book — either bring your own copy or borrow one of ours — and read it aloud for a few minutes.
WHAT IF I WANT TO PARTICIPATE, BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO READ?
Ask our staff for recommendations — we are confident we have just the right book for you on our shelves.
Commemorate Banned Books Week (October 1–7) with Prince Memorial Library’s first Banned Books Readathon! Throughout the day, community members will be reading from a selection of banned or frequently challenged picture books and middle-grade books chosen by PML librarians. Drop in to listen. Leave when you need to. It’s a casual, and, we hope, entertaining good time. We’ll even have the popcorn machine and slushy machine in full swing.
Under the Umbrella Bookstore (UTU) is doing something about book bans. As a special event for Damn These Heels Film Fest, UTU is putting on a Banned Books Reading and Book Swap Oct. 14 to educate about the dangers of book bans and how to push back against them. Participants are encouraged to bring a banned book of their choice to read from or swap at the event.
This event will include featured readers who will share an excerpt from their favorite banned book and an open mic portion. Following this, UTU will offer banned books for sale with a selection available to swap for free.
When: Saturday, October 14, 12-1:30 pm
Where: Rose Wagner Theater, 138 W Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
This year’s banned book week, themed “Let Freedom Read” is Oct. 1-7. One such example of bans in Utah is H.B. 374. Under the Umbrella is a small bookstore and community space with access to LGBTQ+ literature, some of which are the topic of book bans here and around America. The bookstore understands books as important tools for understanding complex issues. By hosting this event, UTU hopes to bring together a community of book lovers and bring awareness to the threat book bans pose.
About Under the Umbrella Bookstore
Under the Umbrella is Utah’s only queer bookstore, sharing and celebrating queer books written by queer authors and offering a safe, sober, and accessible space for 2SLGBTQIA+ people to gather.
About Damn These Heels
Damn These Heels, produced by Utah Film Center, is an annual festival that explores LGBTQ issues, ideas, and art by showcasing dramatic and documentary films from around the world.
For the the first time, Banned Books Week, a campaign launched in 1982 in response to increased numbers of challenges to books in schools, libraries and bookstores, will include Alexandria-area writers and readers at a new local event titled “Let Freedom Read: A Celebration of Banned Books.”
The celebration will include short readings from books by authors as diverse as James Baldwin and Judy Blume, Sinclair Lewis and Zora Neal Hurston. The event is free and will include refreshments and door prizes. The fun begins at 6:30 pm on Friday, October 6, at Cherry Street Books in Alexandria (503 Broadway Street).
The event is hosted by local author Michael Tisserand.
Come out and celebrate the Freedom to Read! All week long we will be promoting and celebrating books that others deem unworthy for all because they didn’t like it.
We will be hosting a Read Out from 12-2 pm. What is a banned read out? It’s a gathering of people who stand with the banned books, during which passages are shared aloud from our favorite banned books! Censorship is out of control in our country, and this is a way to friendly protest and show solidarity!
Vendors will be available on-site to provide a unique experience, including local Pitbull Rescue, Dirt Roads Mutt Rescue.
