Mitchell Kaplan, founder of Books & Books, with stores in South Florida, and former Late Show host Stephen Colbert, have been named co-recipients of this year's Anti Censorship Award from the American Book Awards, which were created by the Before Columbus Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, Calif., that champions diversity in U.S. literature and culture, WLRN reported.
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"To be at all in the same sentence with Stephen Colbert was an extremely humbling feeling," Kaplan said. "I recognize that booksellers all across this country have been fighting the good fight against censorship for many, many, many years. In accepting this award, I stand with all of them as well, as one bookseller who in essence is doing something that booksellers everywhere need to do, unfortunately, right now."
Books & Books posted on social media: "It is with gratitude and excitement that we congratulate Mitchell Kaplan on receiving the 2026 Anti-Censorship Award from the Before Columbus Foundation American Book Awards! This achievement is a celebration and acknowledgement of the work of Mitchell, booksellers, and our community to protect the right to read. He accepts the award along with host, Stephen Colbert. Congratulations and the work continues!"
The complete list of American Book Award winners is available here and includes longtime Grove/Atlantic publisher Morgan Entrekin, who was co-winner of the Editor/Publisher Award along with Roger Malina, executive editor of the academic journal Leonardo. The honorees will be formally recognized during a ceremony on September 26 in Berkeley, Calif.