2018 Silent Art Auction Proceeds Total More Than $26,000

The 2018 Silent Art Auction was once again a popular and successful event at this year’s BookExpo, with more than 300 people in attendance and net proceeds of $26,693, which will be donated to the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) and Every Child a Reader.

The auction, which was sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and the Children’s Book Council (CBC), took place on Wednesday, May 30, at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. The evening also featured the CBC’s 11th annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards, which were hosted by children’s book creators Selina Alko and Sean Qualls.

Children’s illustrators donated more than 150 pieces of art for the auction, including a number of works in honor of children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan. At the event, publishers, booksellers, authors, librarians, and other industry professionals enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres while marking down their bids.

In addition to the BookExpo auction, another seven pieces of artwork were raffled off at last week’s ABC Children’s Institute in New Orleans, the funds from which are included in the overall net revenue.

The benefiting organizations, ABFE and Every Child a Reader, each promote the freedom to read. ABFE, the free speech arm of ABA, defends books that are censored by funding the Kids’ Right to Read Project and Banned Books Week, while Every Child a Reader, the nonprofit literary charity arm of CBC, supports events such as the Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards and Children’s Book Week.