by American Booksellers Association and Philomena Polefrone
American Booksellers Association
9/16/2024, paperback
SKU: 9798869336354
The ABA Right to Read Handbook: A Reader's Guide to Fighting Book Bans provides a comprehensive guide to resisting the epidemic of book censorship through local organizing and engaged citizenship.
The Handbook is designed for the potential activist who may only have a few hours to spare each month. It identifies the causes, actors, motivations, and strategies of groups attempting to ban books across the country. It offers step-by-step guides for voting in a school board election, understanding a school board's policies, contacting elected officials, and more. It features interviews with free expression advocates and state-by-state profiles of local advocacy organizations. Finally, the content is organized into a playbook that will allow concerned readers to begin defending the right to read as soon as book bans arrive in their community.
About the Authors:
American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) is the free speech initiative of the American Booksellers Association (ABA). ABA is a national trade association that supports and advocates for the success of independent bookstores. ABA provides members with education, networking opportunities, advocacy, resources, and technology. In turn our members, over 2,500 independent bookstores across the United States, support local schools through book fairs, donations and author visits; promote literacy; provide inclusive community centers; connect readers and books; add character to neighborhoods; champion and center diverse and new voices; and contribute to the local economy. ABFE is the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship, promoting and protecting free expression in books and in literary culture, through legal advocacy, education, and collaboration with our allies.
Philomena Polefrone, PhD is a member of ABA's Advocacy team and point person for ABFE. A former bookseller, she was also a Lecturer at Columbia University, where she taught courses in writing, literature and activism, science fiction, and political philosophy.