Booksellers Urged to Celebrate Banned Books Week: ABFFE Offers Array of Resources

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is urging booksellers to join in the only national celebration of the freedom to read -- Banned Books Week -- to be held this year from September 27 through October 4.

"Book censorship remains a serious problem in the U.S., and Banned Books Week is the way that most Americans hear about it," said ABFFE President Chris Finan. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there were more than 400 challenges to books in schools and libraries during 2007.

To make it easy for booksellers to participate in the celebration, ABFFE has created a Banned Books Week Handbook, freely available at abffe.com. The handbook includes lists of banned and challenged books, great display ideas, and easy events, which are inexpensive to put together and sure to draw customer attention. Banned Books Week posters that can be downloaded and reproduced at a local copy shop for a nominal fee are also available. And links to other Banned Books Week resources include the ALA Banned Books Week Kit, which can be purchased for $50.

ABFFE is also having a sale on its popular FREADOM products, including a new FREADOM bookmark (100 for $5) and small FREADOM buttons in three colors that are sold in mixed bags of 100 ($20). FREADOM T-shirts are available in four colors and may be customized for a nominal fee.

Also new this year is a Banned Books Week bracelet featuring images of covers of famous banned books. Created by artist Carolyn Forsman, the bracelets are available in adult and children's versions ($20/$15). (You can check out the bracelets and ABFFE's FREADOM products and download an order form at abffe.com.

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 to draw attention to the growing number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores, and libraries. It is sponsored by ABFFE, ALA, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores.

During the past year, ABFFE has taken an increasingly active role in fighting book censorship, according to Finan. It has joined the National Coalition Against Censorship in launching a Kids' Right to Read Project, which employs a full-time staff member to write letters to school boards and other public officials weighing book challenges. Working with booksellers, librarians, teachers, parents, and students, the project has already opposed the banning of 47 books in 22 states. In one case, a principal in Louisville, Kentucky, ordered students in Advanced Placement English classes to stop reading Toni Morrison's Beloved, when they were only 30 pages from the end.

For further information about Banned Books Week, contact ABFFE's Rebecca Zeidel at (212) 587-4025, ext. 13 or via e-mail to [email protected].