A group of protestors gathered Thursday night outside Blue Sparrow Books in Riverton, Ga., to demonstrate against the monthly meeting of the bookshop's Silent Book Club. Carrying signs with messages like "What Are You Reading?!!" and "Stop Hiding Behind Your Books," the protesters, who numbered between 8-12 people at various times, could be heard chanting: "Be Proud, Read Aloud!"
Shelly Banks, who organized the rally, said they had been inspired by the Moms for Liberty's efforts to ban numerous books in school libraries nationwide, as well as protests against Drag Queen story times in bookstores. While neither of these issues had come up yet in Riverton, the group had heard about Silent Book Club and decided to take a stand.
"We just want to do our part to make sure our communities maintain standards of decency," said Banks. "It's a slippery slope. Those people in the bookstore right now could be reading anything. What they read in the privacy of their homes is their business for now, but if they think they can just parade around in public reading any old book they want to, they have another think coming."
Blue Sparrow Books owner Shelby Franks said she did not recognize any of the protesters and that the Silent Book Club meeting had proceeded as usual. No changes will be made to future meetings. --Robert Gray