Bookstores Sign On for Internet Read-Out of Banned Books

Booksellers around the country are responding enthusiastically to the Internet Read-Out that is the focus of this year’s Banned Books Week, September 24 - October 1. Bookstores of all sizes are planning events where they’ll create videos of customers reading from their favorite banned books.

“We are really pleased with the response from bookstores,” said Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression [1]. “In addition to the Tattered Cover Book Store [2] and other stalwart supporters of Banned Books Week, we have been contacted by stores that are planning their first BBW events.”

Pat Moody of The Hickory Stick Bookshop [3] in Washington Depot, Connecticut, has invited local authors, artists, teachers, and town officials to join the read-out in her store. “Everyone I have spoken to is very excited to participate in our Freedom to Read event,” Moody said.

Two kinds of videos will be posted on the special YouTube channel created for the Read-Out: readings from banned books and eyewitness accounts of book challenges.

Shawn Wathen of Chapter One Bookstore [4] in Hamilton, Montana, plans to create videos of people who have opposed book challenges in the local schools.

ABFFE has created tools to help booksellers participate in the Internet read-out. The newest tool is a poster that can be downloaded [5]from the ABFFE website and printed at a local copy shop in sizes up to 20" x 28". ABFFE has also produced a short video [6] demonstrating how easy it is to record customers reading from their favorite banned books as well as written instructions [7] that give a step by step description of the process of posting the videos on the Internet.

Bookstore videos will be uploaded to ABFFE’s YouTube channel. ABFFE will take responsibility for ensuring that they are formatted and posted on the main read-out channel.

In addition to Tattered Cover, Hickory Stick, and Chapter One, bookstores participating in the Internet read-out include:

• Alamosa Books [8] in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• The Book House [9] in St. Louis, Missouri
• BookPeople [10] in Austin, Texas
• Boulevard Books [11] in Brooklyn, New York
• Colgate Bookstore [12] in Hamilton, New York
• One More Page Books [13] in Arlington, Virginia
• Sam Weller’s Bookstore [14] in Salt Lake City, Utah
• UConn Co-op [15] in Storrs, Connecticut
• University of Oregon Duck Store [16] in Eugene and Portland, Oregon
• Village Books [17] in Bellingham, Washington

For more information about the Internet Read-Out, e-mail chris@abffe.org [18].