Posted on Mar 23, 2023
Plot twist: Activists skirt book bans with guerrilla giveaways and pop-up libraries
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/ [login to see] /book-bans-school-libraries-florida
It was much busier than usual on a recent Friday at a Ben & Jerry's in Melbourne, Fla. But it wasn't the Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey drawing the extra customers.
A crowd gathered in the back corner of the store, browsing through newly installed, rainbow-colored shelves displaying multiple copies of some 65 books currently banned from various Florida schools. It was opening night for the shop's "Banned Book Nook," and customers with ice cream cones in one hand helped themselves to novels, memoirs and biographies with the other.
"This is my favorite series ever," exclaimed one young woman browsing the titles.
About 150 books were lent out that first night. The book nook was set up by Florida teacher Adam Tritt and Foundation 451, a group he launched last year after he was ordered to remove banned books from his classroom in nearby Palm Bay.
"My reaction was, 'Uh, no! I cannot allow this to happen,' " Tritt recalls. "If a kid needs this book, we want them to have it."
It was much busier than usual on a recent Friday at a Ben & Jerry's in Melbourne, Fla. But it wasn't the Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey drawing the extra customers.
A crowd gathered in the back corner of the store, browsing through newly installed, rainbow-colored shelves displaying multiple copies of some 65 books currently banned from various Florida schools. It was opening night for the shop's "Banned Book Nook," and customers with ice cream cones in one hand helped themselves to novels, memoirs and biographies with the other.
"This is my favorite series ever," exclaimed one young woman browsing the titles.
About 150 books were lent out that first night. The book nook was set up by Florida teacher Adam Tritt and Foundation 451, a group he launched last year after he was ordered to remove banned books from his classroom in nearby Palm Bay.
"My reaction was, 'Uh, no! I cannot allow this to happen,' " Tritt recalls. "If a kid needs this book, we want them to have it."
Plot twist: Activists skirt book bans with guerrilla giveaways and pop-up libraries
Posted from npr.org
Children
Reading
State of Florida
Racism
LGBTQ+
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Bans are a call to action, opponents say
To compensate, even booksellers are getting into the business of giving books away.
Thais Perkins is offering free books to young readers in the bookstore she owns, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas. She's been covering some of the cost herself and raising donations to cover the rest through a tip jar at the register and appeals on social media.
Thais Perkins has been giving free copies of banned books to young readers at her bookstore, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas.
Thais Perkins has been giving free copies of banned books to young readers at her bookstore, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas.
Eric Weitzel
"On a whim I [posted] on Twitter, 'Hey, is anybody feeling extra Christmassy?' And I woke up in the morning with $1,400 in the account," she says.
Perkins then posted little cards around the store, near certain banned titles, that say "Get this book for Free."
"Young people will take one, and they'll say, 'How does this work?' and I'll say, 'It works just like this' — and I'll just put the book in their hand and off they'll go," she says. "The word is getting out, and requests are ramping up."
In St. Petersburg, Fla., at the American Stage, marketing director Avery Anderson recently installed a banned book library next to the theater's box office.
"This isn't our normal thing," Anderson says, "but I always say a threat to any storytelling is a threat to all storytelling." More than 150 books poured in within days, and Anderson says high school students have been coming in to browse and borrow.
Publishers and authors are also getting in on the action. For Jim Plank at the nonprofit Haymarket Books, offering freebies was a no-brainer. "Doing nothing didn't feel like an option," he says. "In our mind, [the book bans] were a call to action."
George M. Johnson, author of the oft-banned memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, feels the same way: "I always carry books with me, and I travel a lot, to some obscure places at times, and any time I see a free library, I'm going to throw a book in it." Johnson also donates copies to LGBTQ organizations that can "get the book in a discreet way to where it's needed."
All Boys Aren't Blue, a bestseller now in its 10th printing, is one of those exceptions where the book was actually boosted by being banned. Making the book a "forbidden fruit" backfired, Johnson says, because it made it known to many teen readers who otherwise would have never heard of it.
"If you can't tell, I actually enjoy fighting this," Johnson chuckles."...
..."Bans are a call to action, opponents say
To compensate, even booksellers are getting into the business of giving books away.
Thais Perkins is offering free books to young readers in the bookstore she owns, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas. She's been covering some of the cost herself and raising donations to cover the rest through a tip jar at the register and appeals on social media.
Thais Perkins has been giving free copies of banned books to young readers at her bookstore, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas.
Thais Perkins has been giving free copies of banned books to young readers at her bookstore, Reverie Books in Austin, Texas.
Eric Weitzel
"On a whim I [posted] on Twitter, 'Hey, is anybody feeling extra Christmassy?' And I woke up in the morning with $1,400 in the account," she says.
Perkins then posted little cards around the store, near certain banned titles, that say "Get this book for Free."
"Young people will take one, and they'll say, 'How does this work?' and I'll say, 'It works just like this' — and I'll just put the book in their hand and off they'll go," she says. "The word is getting out, and requests are ramping up."
In St. Petersburg, Fla., at the American Stage, marketing director Avery Anderson recently installed a banned book library next to the theater's box office.
"This isn't our normal thing," Anderson says, "but I always say a threat to any storytelling is a threat to all storytelling." More than 150 books poured in within days, and Anderson says high school students have been coming in to browse and borrow.
Publishers and authors are also getting in on the action. For Jim Plank at the nonprofit Haymarket Books, offering freebies was a no-brainer. "Doing nothing didn't feel like an option," he says. "In our mind, [the book bans] were a call to action."
George M. Johnson, author of the oft-banned memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, feels the same way: "I always carry books with me, and I travel a lot, to some obscure places at times, and any time I see a free library, I'm going to throw a book in it." Johnson also donates copies to LGBTQ organizations that can "get the book in a discreet way to where it's needed."
All Boys Aren't Blue, a bestseller now in its 10th printing, is one of those exceptions where the book was actually boosted by being banned. Making the book a "forbidden fruit" backfired, Johnson says, because it made it known to many teen readers who otherwise would have never heard of it.
"If you can't tell, I actually enjoy fighting this," Johnson chuckles."...
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