Celebration of Reading On August 31, folks from every corner of the book world will be rallying in DC for Celebration of Reading, a family-friendly rally meant to upstage the anti-book rally by Moms for Liberty and other malefactors happening at the same time. Sign up now to attend the event! Watch BTW and American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) social media for more ways you can support the event. Book Bans in Utah This week, Utah released a list of thirteen books that are immediately banned statewide, following HB 29 going into effect on July 1. Those books include modern classics by Margaret Atwood and Judy Blume, as well as bestselling and award-winning books for young people. This list marks a horrifying escalation of the book ban crisis. Small numbers of anti-book activists can now force their perspective not only on other parents in their district, but on all Utahns. It is undemocratic and contrary to the First Amendment ideals our nation is founded upon. The worst part is, this list is just the beginning. Now book banners will only need to get books they don’t like banned in three school districts in order to ban it statewide, which will almost certainly inspire a book banning boom across the state. Utah taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill for this misguided and discriminatory legislation as book banning groups force them to undergo costly and unnecessary reviews of book challenges. ABFE will continue to closely monitor the situation in Utah. Take action through resources from Let Utah Read.
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