American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE), a project of the American Booksellers Association, has announced that seven independent bookstores will participate in “A Night of Silenced Voices” on Tuesday, September 27, to celebrate diversity and honor freedom of expression during this year’s Banned Books Week (September 25–October 1).

To highlight challenges to books written by authors of diverse backgrounds, Banned Books Week is exploring why their books are disproportionately singled out for attack. These bookstores will host events on the evening of September 27:

  • Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, New York, NY
  • Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC
  • Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL
  • The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL
  • Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO
  • Powell’s City of Books, Portland, OR
  • Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA

A full list of events planned across the country is available on the online calendar: bannedbooksweek.org/events.

“Independent bookstores have always been strong supporters of Banned Books Week, and more than 500 will mount displays of banned and challenged titles this year. But this is the first time we have coordinated events on the same night” says Chris Finan, ABFE director.

Hundreds of books are banned or challenged in schools and libraries every year.  The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom estimates that more than half are written by authors of color, members of the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. A slideshow of some of the titles that are most frequently challenged because of their diversity can beviewed here.

To highlight the value of free and open access to information, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community —booksellers, publishers, librarians, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those that are unorthodox or unpopular.

For more information about Banned Books Week, please contact ABFE director Chris Finan at chris@bookweb.org.

 

About Banned Books Week (www.bannedbooksweek.org)Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read.  Launched in 1982, it is celebrated during the last week of September.  It is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers, the Association of American University Presses, the Authors Guild, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the National Council of Teachers of English, PEN America, the People for the American Way Foundation, and Project Censored.  It is endorsed by the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.  

About the American Booksellers Association  (www.BookWeb.org)Founded in 1900, the American Booksellers Association is a not-for-profit trade association devoted to meeting the needs of its core members—independently owned bookstores with storefront locations—through education, information dissemination, business products and services, and advocacy. ABA exists to protect and promote the interests of independent retail book businesses, as well as to protect the First Amendment rights of every American. The association actively supports free speech, literacy, and programs that support local and independent retail shops. A board of 10 booksellers governs the Association. ABA is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

Tags: BannedBooksWeek, Censorship, Diversity, Independent Bookstore

Independent bookstore photos from 2015 Banned Books Week displays:
https://www.facebook.com/americanbooksellers/photos/?tab=album&album_id=656873217749275