Happy Banned Books Week! The annual celebration of the freedom to read is running all this week, and the Banned Books Week Coalition invites you to participate by getting involved in the incredible activities brought to you by our sponsor organizations! From theatrical performances, bookstore parties, and online advocacy, there’s lots of ways you can help celebrate Our Right to Read!
American Booksellers Association hope you will buy a banned book at your local independent bookstore. More than 500 stores are mounting displays of banned books. For a directory of independent bookstores, go to [http://bookweb.org/member_directory/search/ABAmember]
American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom invites you to join the Rebel Reader Twitter Tournament! [http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/09/readers-invited-participate-rebel-reader-twitter-tournament-during-banned] You can also Stand For The Banned [http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/standforthebanned] as part of the online Virtual Readout!
Association of American Publishers members celebrate with online activities, author and bookstore events, and much more! Learn more at [http://newsroom.publishers.org/publishers-support-35th-annual-banned-books-week-with-events-outreach-and-activities/]
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund invites you to celebrate in your community with activities and resources from their free Banned Books Week Handbook! Download it here: [http://cbldf.org/librarian-tools/cbldf-banned-books-week-handbook/]
Dramatists Legal Defense Fund presents Banned Together: A Censorship Cabaret celebrating songs and scenes from shows that have been censored or challenged on American stages. Find a performance near you here: [https://www.dldf.org/bannedtogether/]
Freedom to Read Foundation is proud to present the 2017 Banned Books Week grant recipients, awarded to seven nonprofit institutions to support a wide range of read-outs, displays, discussions, performances, and more! Find an event near you here: [http://www.ftrf.org/news/350941/FTRF-Announces-the-2017-Banned-Books-Week-Grant-Recipients.htm]
Index on Censorship, the UK’s voice of free expression has developed a series of engaging events with writers, cartoonists, and academics across the UK. Learn more here: [https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/08/bannedbooksweek-full-slate-events/]
National Council of Teachers of English will be publishing thought-provoking content for teachers throughout week at [http://blogs.ncte.org/]
National Coalition Against Censorship has created a brand new Book Censorship Toolkit to help spark conversation and solve problems related to book censorship. Read it at [http://ncac.org/resource/book-censorship-toolkit]
PEN America is hosting PEN Out Loud: I Write Banned Books with David Levithan, Coe Booth, Ariel Schrag and Jason Low at the Strand Bookstore in New York. Get tickets here: [https://pen.org/event/write-banned-books/] You can also get PEN’s syllabus for Banned Books Week here: [https://medium.com/@strandbookstore/i-write-banned-books-eabf888a5314]
Project Censored hosts their annual Banned Books Week program with representatives from ALA, CBLDF, and NCAC. Host Mickey Huff will also be appearing in Sebastapol, CA at Copperfield Books [https://www.copperfieldsbooks.com/event/mickey-huff]
You can also find other Banned Books Week events at [http://bannedbooksweek.org/events]
Please join us at these Banned Books Week activities, and most importantly, make your own! Banned Books Week is about individuals from all walks of life joining together to celebrate intellectual freedom. Be a part of the celebration by posting on your social media pages, creating events in your community, and reading banned books!
Check out www.bannedbooksweek.org throughout the week for more activities, and don’t forget to use the #bannedbooksweek hashtag throughout the celebration.
Happy Banned Books Week!
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The Banned Books Week Coalition is an alliance of organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read. The Coalition seeks to engage various communities and inspire participation in Banned Books Week through education, advocacy, and the creation of programming about the problem of book censorship.
Sponsors include: American Booksellers Association; American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; American Association of University Presses; Authors Guild; Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; Dramatists Legal Defense Fund; Freedom to Read Foundation; Index on Censorship; National Coalition Against Censorship; National Council of Teachers of English; PEN America; People for the American Way Foundation; and Project Censored. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.