Every year, The Library Foundation partners with the Austin Public Library to celebrate Banned Books Week, a nationwide campaign to champion the right to read and highlight the value of free access to information.
With an $8,000 investment from The Library Foundation, Austin Public Library will launch the Banned Book Club Kit project — an exciting new initiative that empowers readers to host their own book clubs centered around frequently challenged and banned books. Our funding covers the costs of books and materials, while an additional $2,000 supports honorariums for the authors, musicians, and artists who will bring Banned Books Week events to life.
“We definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it without support from The Library Foundation, especially with the rising costs of purchasing regular materials for our collections,” shared Jenkins Lumpkin, manager of the Hampton Branch at Oak Hill Library.
“Special projects like this require special support to get off the ground, and we are deeply thankful for the generosity of The Library Foundation.”
Available at all Austin Public Library locations, these Banned Book Club Kits contain eight copies of a featured book and a discussion guide to encourage thoughtful conversation. Library patrons can choose from a diverse range of titles in English and Spanish, from picture books for young children to powerful stories for LGBTQIA+ teens and widely requested titles for adults.
See Banned Book Club Kits here
Inspired by community listening sessions, the kits aim to keep conversations about banned books alive throughout the year, not just during Banned Books Week.
“We want to ensure everyone’s story is heard,” said Jenkins. “And these kits help us do that.”
Each kit offers a selection of books that have faced censorship, like Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, both frequently challenged and appearing on the American Library Association’s Top Ten Most Challenged Books List. Young adult readers can explore titles such as Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay and George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, both of which are targeted for censorship.
Held this year from September 22-28, Banned Books Week is more crucial than ever. Recent statistics from the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom report a record 4,240 unique book titles were targeted for censorship in 2023, a 65% increase from the previous year. Public libraries, like those here in Texas, have seen a 92% surge in the number of challenged titles.
With your support, we can stand strong against censorship and advocate for the freedom to read.
Join us in celebrating the power of literature and ensuring everyone has access to stories that matter.
