During Banned Books Week, October 4–10, Little Free Library is calling on readers to share a banned or challenged book in a Little Free Library. The organization is offering several ways for readers and stewards to participate, including:
- Share a banned or challenged book. Readers can place a title in a Little Free Library, take a photo, and share it on social media using #BannedBooksWeek and tagging Little Free Library. LFL also offers a curated Banned and Challenged Books list through Bookshop.org.
- Find where books are being challenged. LFL's Book Ban Map allows readers to see areas affected by book bans alongside the locations of Little Free Library book-sharing boxes, helping people put books directly into communities experiencing censorship.
- Discover Little Free Libraries that share banned books. Through the free Little Free Library mobile app, stewards can add a Banned Books tag to their library, while readers can use the tag to find participating book-sharing boxes near them.
- Make support visible. Stewards can display "This Little Free Library Shares Banned Books" signs and window clings, while LFL offers downloadable graphics for readers to share online.
- Enter to win banned books. LFL is hosting several giveaways in honor of Banned Books Week, including It Started with a Book Ban by Linda Ravin Lodding, Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez, and Building 903 by Lois Lowry, a story about censorship and the radical power of books.
- Support year-round book access. Readers can donate to Little Free Library to help the nonprofit expand access to books, including banned and challenged titles, in communities across the country.
"Little Free Libraries are built on a simple but powerful idea: reading is a right," said Daniel Gumnit, LFL's executive director and CEO. "When someone places a banned or challenged book in a Little Free Library they're doing more than sharing a story. They're giving another reader the opportunity to encounter new ideas, see a different perspective, and choose for themselves what they want to read."
More information about LFL's Banned Books Week activities and resources to participate is available here.