Season of Giving: Give the Gift of Reading — The BISG Challenge

Every book banned is a story silenced — but together, we can turn the page toward hope.

This Season of Giving, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) invites its members and the publishing community to join the We Are Stronger Than Censorship campaign and help ensure that every reader has access to diverse, inclusive, and empowering stories.

BISG has launched a $16,000 Season of Giving Challenge to fund the purchase and donation of 2,000 books — restoring access to stories that have been banned or challenged in communities across the United States.

Support the Freedom to Read: Your Gift Makes a Difference

By donating to the We Are Stronger Than Censorship campaign through BISG’s Season of Giving Challenge, you directly help put books back into the hands of readers who need them most.

“During this Season of Giving, BISG is proud to support We Are Stronger Than Censorship. Together, we’re giving back in the most powerful way we know — by ensuring that every reader, everywhere, has access to the stories that inspire empathy, reflection, and understanding. Your generosity helps ensure that no one is denied the right to read, learn, and grow.”
— Brian O’Leary, Executive Director, Book Industry Study Group (BISG)

During the months of November and December, BISG members are challenged to collectively raise $16,000 to purchase and donate 2,000 banned and challenged books. With your support, we can continue to empower readers, uplift authors, and stand united for the freedom to read.

Every contribution — large or small — helps amplify voices that deserve to be heard. Because when we give the gift of reading, we give the gift of understanding, empathy, and strength. Make your tax-deductible donation today!

About the American Booksellers Association Initiative

We Are Stronger Than Censorship‘s mission is to combat the rising tide of book banning and censorship by empowering readers, supporting independent publishers, and ensuring that diverse voices are heard. The program is run by the Independent Book Publishers Association(IBPA), the largest trade association of independent publishers in the U.S. For more information, please visit wearestrongerthancensorship.org or contact Lee Wind at [email protected].”

Mission

American Booksellers for Free Expression (“ABFE”) is the free expression initiative of the American Booksellers Association (“ABA”). ABFE was founded in 1990 to be the bookseller’s voice in the fight against censorship. ABFE’s mission is to promote and protect free expression, particularly expression within books and in literary culture, through legal advocacy, education, and collaboration with other groups with an interest in free speech. ABFE’s current mission, informed by ABA’s current Ends Policies, is to ensure that core member bookstores have the resources they need in support of their right to freedom of expression and that legal and regulatory policies reflect the interests of independent bookstores. All of ABFE’s work will be done in a manner that demonstrates a commitment to antiracism, equity, access, and representation. In instance9s where bookstores’ free expression concerns are outside of this focus, ABFE will connect bookstores with coalition partners that are best suited to address their specific needs.

Donate to ABFE

Anyone can contribute to ABFE’s projects. Your support helps us create education and resources for booksellers to advocate for the right to read. It also helps us mobilize independent booksellers and their customers to act in their common interest and for the greater good of readers. And it helps fund our ongoing lawsuits against unconstitutional book ban laws that attack booksellers, readers, and their allies.

Learn more about the ABA’s Free Expression Initiative

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) is a membership organization made up of a diverse slate of publishers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, libraries, retailers, and industry partners. What unifies them is the value they receive by joining and engaging with our committees, where work gets done that improves the industry. Our committees are where relationships get built and good ideas are surfaced, solving problems that affect two or more parts of the industry, with five core practice areas: metadata, rights, supply chain, subject codes (BISAC), and workflow.