Booksellers Eager to Celebrate Freedom to Read

Maria's Bookshop plans to adorn banned books with orange "warning" bookmarks.

Booksellers are stocking their shelves with books that have been deemed vulgar, violent, or offensive in preparation for Banned Books Week, the national celebration of the freedom to read, which will take place from September 25 - October 2. Stores are creating displays to showcase books that have been challenged, organizing interactive activities, giving away prizes, and looking forward to talking to customers about banned books.

Libby Cowles, the Community Relations Manager of Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado, is focusing on raising awareness and getting people talking about banned books.

“The biggest thing that we do is create in-store displays that really spark conversation,” said Cowles.

This year, Cowles is excited to try out a new display idea. The store is planning to place orange bookmarks in every book that has been challenged throughout the store.

“It's a pretty powerful visual for folks coming in to see all this orange sticking out all over the place,” she said. The reasoning behind each book's challenge will be written on the bookmarks. When Maria's did similar displays in the past, Cowles said, “customers bring the books to the counter and say, 'Are you kidding? That's why this book has been banned?’”

The store is also giving away the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression’s “Freadom” T-shirts to customers who spend more than $100.

Cowles believes it's important for booksellers to participate in Banned Books Week since it is a value that is embraced by the independent community.

“I think so much of what we stand for is freedom of expression,” she said. “We are a safe place for people to come in and not be judged. Our mission is about fostering community, and you can’t do that if you disregard someone's ideas.”

During past Banned Books Week celebrations, Cowles noticed spikes in sales for some of the highlighted titles as well as in overall book appreciation.

“It’s always a really fun week, there's more substance to the kinds of conversations that start. It gets people thinking and talking about what they read.”

Hooray for Books!, a children's bookstore in Alexandria, Virginia, has an entire week of events scheduled for the celebration. The store will feature a daily reading of a book that has been challenged and games such as Banned Books Bingo, Hangman, and a trivia contest related to the featured title. On Friday, kids can make First Amendment bookmarks.

“A lot of kids are interested in banned books,” said Trish Brown, Hooray for Book's co-owner. “In a lot of ways it makes a book more interesting.”

For the past two years, Hooray for Books has done a window display for Banned Books Week, which has always generated attention and traffic in the store. “This year we decided to step it up,” said Brown.

Dan Danbom of Printed Page Bookshop in Denver, Colorado, is fulfilling what he views as his obligation as a bookseller by acknowledging Banned Books Week.

“Booksellers have a fundamental responsibility to make books available to people,” he said. “It's something that strikes at the heart of our business and our democracy.”

His shop, as it enters its second year of business, is presenting customers with a Banned Books Week contest. Among a display of dozens of banned books, there will be one book that has never been challenged. Customers must correctly identify the non-banned book in order to receive a gift card from the store.

Last year, Claude Dauphine's Slick Chicks, a book with a risqué cover and overtly sexual themes, was displayed beside classics like To Kill a Mockingbird (often challenged for profanity and racial slurs) and a reference book, The American Heritage Dictionary (challenged for containing several “objectionable” words). Only four out of the 100 customers that participated were able to correctly identify Slick Chicks as the book that had never been challenged.

“It is so intriguing and often astounding to research books that have been banned,” said Danbom. “And customers tend to have a similar reaction.”

Danbom said that customers question the reasoning behind the challenges and recognize that the bans are a breach of freedom.

“I think in people's daily lives, they don't see this happening,” said Danbom. “They take for granted the books that are available to them. But it is, in fact, still going on. And I think we have to point it out to them.”

In addition to engaging readers, the contest is beneficial from a business standpoint as well, as it allows the store to identify customers and add to its mailing list.

In Printed Page's news release about its Banned Books Week Display, reference is made to the minister in Florida who threatened to burn Qur'ans just last week.

“We wanted to put a spotlight on how current this is,” said Danbom. “People have been burning books since there were books. The impulse to tell people what they can and can't read has never died. So the fight goes on.”