Children's Books discussion

EveryLibrary Live! Virtual Events
https://www.everylibrary.org/elbb24

Penguin Random House will be giving away banned books with The Banned Wagon, a bookmobile that will tour the country for the second year in a row, making stops in nine states including Iowa, Florida, and Texas, which have seen extensive book removals in schools and public libraries.


Take action on Let Freedom Read Day, September 28, during Banned Book Week 2024

https://pridepublishinggroup.com/2024...

Other event listings
https://bannedbooksweek.org/events/

Amnesty International
Take action against book bans
https://act.amnestyusa.org/page/13366...

Central Michigan University Libraries Celebrates Banned Books Week
https://www.cmich.edu/blog/details/un...

Connecticut
Cheshire Library programs shine a light on censorship

Cheshire Library is offering activities to celebrate the freedom to read with the Challenged Book Game Monday through Saturday. Guess what copied challenged books are shredded up in a jar. A new clue will be added every day to help patrons solve the puzzle.
https://cheshirelibrary.libcal.com/ca...

Massachusetts

Fitchburg State University
Banned Books Week observed on campus in September

Banned Books Week in September at Fitchburg State University will include programs highlighting children’s books and the challenges facing public libraries.

The program will begin with a Banned Book Storytime at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 23 in the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library in Hammond Hall. In this program, faculty, librarians and students will read and discuss banned children’s picture books.

There will also be a panel discussion at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26 in the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library featuring librarians from surrounding communities who will discuss questions related to book banning and censorship. The panel, to be moderated by Olivia Rossetti of Fitchburg State’s Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library, will include Muir Haman of the Lunenburg Public Library; Marcia Ladd of the Fitchburg Public Library; Sabrina Bonetti of the Leominster Public Library; and Catherine Sebastian of the Leominster Public Library.

The programs, sponsored by the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library, are free and open to the public. The library will also feature a banned book display from the week of Sunday, Sept. 22, displaying volumes that have been challenged or banned in libraries and schools.

https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com...

New York

Brooklyn Public Library leads charge against book censorship with events and national day of action

https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brookly...

Florida

St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Pete is not just fighting back against banned books next week, but all year long
\Keep St. Pete Lit, is actively working to celebrate and promote St. Petersburg’s literary community through art, education and events, including working against the censorship of books.

Tampa Bay
Books, information, drag queens, music, specials. Check social media for more details TBA at Shuffle

There will be banned book-themed menus, a silent book club gathering, “blind date with a book” offerings, drag queen story time, guests from Florida Freedom to Read and Hillsborough County Public Libraries and the opening of a new banned book little free library.

Oct. 10, activist Carmen Alvarez will be an ambassador for Penguin Random House at The Lynx Books in Gainesville for the publisher’s Banned Wagon tour. Florida author Lauren Groff opened the bookstore earlier this year as a hub for banned books and diverse stories.
https://www.cltampa.com/event/banned-...

In 2023, Keep St. Pete Lit partnered with American Stage Theater Company and Tombolo Books, a local St. Petersburg bookstore, to create a banned book library.
Citizens of Pinellas County are working to fight back against the legislation. Locals are also encouraged to help the cause by donating to community-banned book libraries through Tombolo Books’ registry page.
https://keepstpetelit.org/
https://tombolobooks.com/

Nebraska

A Novel Idea collects both monetary and book donations for Lincoln’s Little Free Libraries. These libraries around the city provide free reading materials to the community. The store has hosted events in the past bringing awareness to these resources.

A Novel Idea specifically stocks new copies of certain banned books so customers have the opportunity to purchase them.

A Novel Idea will be open Tuesday through Saturday for Banned Books Week.

https://www.dailynebraskan.com/cultur...

Kansas
Wichita Public Library to hold Banned Book Week events
https://wichitalibrary.org/Events/Pag...

California

San Diego author whose book was banned in Arizona takes part in national campaign
San Diego native Matt de la Peña read from "Mexican WhiteBoy" at the Encinitas Library on Sept. 23 as part of the county promotion of Banned Book Week.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/san-...

North Carolina

It’s Banned Books Week, so here are 25 Charlotte-area indie bookstores to support

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/cha...

Ticketed events
https://pen.org/banned-books-week-2024/

Missouri
Amanda Jones will speak at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Kansas City Public Library, 14 W. 10th St., during Banned Books Week. The public reception begins at 5:30 p.m. RSVP at kclibrary.org/events.

Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local...

I went to Banned Books Aloud, an ACLU sponsored event in which authors read banned books.

Oge Mora read Worm Loves Worm , which is one of my favorites of the banned picture books. It's so cute and funny. It's WORMS not LGBTQ+ people for goodness sakes. She's a great reader. I can tell she has lots of experience reading to children. Oge has no idea why three of her picture books were banned but feels that the way she looks, the way she depicts her characters is somehow offensive to the censors.

Jeanette Bradley read exerpts from Daddy's Roommate which she says was written for straight people to explain gay relationships to kids. She also read an excerpt from The Breakaways , a MG graphic novel for queer and questioning kids who may be coming out to friends and the friends who listen and are sympathetic. The passage was no way obscene. A girl likes boys and girls. No way you can do that? It's not gross. A girl likes girls. It's OK. They're really bad at playing soccer and that's it.

Padma Venkatraman read from her own book Born Behind Bars which is actually set in India banned from speaking at a school in Texas because she stated in her acknowledgments the fact that, just as there are injustices in the justice system in India, systemic racism in the U.S. results in the incarceration of inordinately higher numbers of people who are Black, compared to whites. Her income has gone way down in the last school year. She has not been invited to speak as many places.

https://padmavenkatraman.com/

Padma also read The Flag of Childhood: Poems From the Middle East

The three poems she read were pretty grim but no matter what political position you take, we can all agree that war is hard on the children. These poems show how war ages children.

She talked about her own awareness of her race and racial hierarchy when she first came to the U.S. as a college student. Her only understanding of race relations in the U.S. was from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where they showed Black athletes carrying the flag and the torch, taking the oath and she thought all the problems were in the past. She learned the hard way that as a woman with brown skin, she was considered beneath her neighbors in a scary incident.

Another writer read the first chapter of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and someone read the very adult "Howl" by Alan Ginsberg.

I didn't stay too long for the Q&A. I could have answered all the questions myself but I was glad people were asking questions and learning.

The one new thing I learned is what elementary school teachers are given a list of approved books and anything not on the list is assumed to be banned. I don't know if this is locally - I should hope not.

The authors asked everyone to write to our legislators and tell them we need laws that protect everybody- not just librarians and teachers but also authors and illustrators.

I just saw Jerry Craft will be at a children's book event next month. I am going to try to go if I can find a used book for him to sign. My nieces already read it and one nephew may have had to read it for school already.

Jacqueline Woodson is the keynote speaker for that event but I don't know if I can get there for her speech.

2025 events listed so far
I'll be away next week so feel free to update the list if you hear about something happening or attend an event!

Broadway
Beetlejuice, Mexodus, The Outsiders, More to Participate in Banned Book Week
https://playbill.com/article/beetleju...

No Book Bans is partnering with a number of New York theatrical productions this Banned Books Week, celebrating the freedom to experience stories without censorship.

Grand Haven, Michigan's Loutit library celebrates American Library Association’s Banned Books Week with 'Right to Read' exhibit

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/e...


California State University, Fullerton

Pollak Library celebrates banned books week
https://dailytitan.com/news/csufs-pol...

PEN sponsored events

https://pen.org/banned-books-week/

Brooklyn Public Library teaser:
#BannedBooksWeek2025 is fast approaching. Get ready to join us for thought-provoking talks, film screenings, read-alouds, and creative workshops honoring stories that challenge, inspire, and resist censorship

Official Banned Book Week Events
https://bannedbooksweek.org/events/

Lots of great discussions with EveryLibrary Institute

https://www.everylibrary.org/everylib...

Libro.fm and Silent Book Club have teamed up to host read-ins at nearly 450 independent bookstores and libraries in protest of ongoing censorship.

Events will include silent reading sessions in addition to opportunities for literary activism like writing postcards to representatives, signing petitions, and preparing for school or library board meetings. All attendees will receive a free audiobook courtesy of Libro.fm.

Find an event near you and check your bookstore or library’s website for details.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11XFt...

From EveryLibrary
everylibrary.org

Help us reach thousands of Americans by sharing the national pledge against book bans.

These signatures tell school boards, lawmakers, and the media that we believe in the First Amendment and the right to read freely.

But for us to take a stand, we need your help to reach more Americans who care about the freedom to read.

We're relying on you to share the pledge on your social media and help us start a movement during Banned Books Week.

Take one minute to sign right now. Then, use the links below to share it on social media to multiply your impact.

It’s Banned Books Week. Book bans don’t protect kids — they censor them. Stand with libraries, stand with readers, stand for the #FreedomToRead. ✊ #BannedBooksWeek #StopBookBans Sign the pledge today! (Bluesky, Twitter, Threads)

Book bans are rising. Communities are fighting back. 💪 Speak up for libraries and the right to read during #BannedBooksWeek: Sign the pledge today! #StopBookBans (Bluesky, Twitter, Threads)

Book bans waste tax dollars, silence stories, and hurt students. We need more books, not fewer. #BannedBooksWeek #FreedomToRead (Bluesky, Twitter, Threads)

Banning books is censorship. Full stop. This #BannedBooksWeek, raise your voice and protect the right to read: #StopBookBans (Bluesky, Twitter, Threads)

The majority of Americans oppose book bans. Let’s prove it.
Sign the pledge & share during #BannedBooksWeek: #FreedomToRead (Bluesky, Twitter, Threads)


EveryLibrary
https://www.everylibrary.org/