For this year's Banned Books Week, the American Booksellers Association and its American Booksellers for Free Expression initiative are emphasizing the theme "Liberate Banned Books" and using the hashtag #SetBooksFree. The theme is featured in ABA Banned Books Week kits, which include posters and stickers, caution tape, buttons, and bookmarks; social media and website assets; T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops; and more.
"Resisting book bans is about liberation," the ABA said. "It's about liberation for schools and libraries from the rash of book challenges that has exploded since 2021. It means liberating the more than 4,240 titles that have been challenged since 2021. It entails liberation for literary institutions who carry books that represent marginalized groups, especially books by people of color and LGBTQ+ people that have been disproportionately censored by book bans. And of course, it's about liberation for independent bookstores, who offer their communities access to diverse literature and for that have been targeted in book ban legislation. Literature and liberation are inseparable."
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| At Cavalier House Books, Denham Springs, La. | |
Last week, the ABA published The ABA Right to Read Handbook: Fighting Book Bans and Why It Matters, which is designed for book readers, "the potential advocate who may only have a few hours to spare each month. It identifies the causes, actors, motivations, and strategies of groups attempting to ban books across the country. It offers step-by-step guides for voting in a school board election, understanding a school board's policies, contacting elected officials, and more. It features interviews with free expression advocates and state-by-state profiles of local advocacy organizations. Finally, the content is organized into a playbook that will allow concerned readers to begin defending the right to read as soon as book bans arrive in their community."
This year the ABA is again holding a Banned Books Week Display Instagram contest, promoting "attractive and attention-grabbing displays for customers to enjoy." Participants have "a chance to win up to $500 ($100 each for contributing team members and the rest in pizza party money; distributed as $100 gift cards). Runners-up will receive a print copy of The ABA Right to Read Handbook."