This year, for the first time, readers from around the world will be able to participate virtually in Banned Books Week. During the September 24 – October 1 celebration, readers will be able to proclaim the virtues of their favorite banned books by posting videos of themselves reading excerpts to a dedicated YouTube channel.

The Federal District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, has permanently barred enforcement of an Alaska statute that violates the First Amendment right of free speech, saying it threatened to reduce all speech on the Internet “to only what is fit for children.”

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law banning video games with violent themes and images, saying that the state’s attempt to create a new category of First Amendment regulation for minors was “unprecedented and mistaken.” 

ABFFE President Chris Finan will receive the 2011 Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award at the American Library Association’s national conference in New Orleans on Friday, June 25.

At a lively and thought-provoking BookExpo America panel, two bestselling authors and two nationally noted free speech advocates presented an overview and a frontline account of the tactics and trends of contemporary book banning.

ABA and other members of the Campaign for Reader Privacy expressed disappointment at last week’s decision by Congress to reauthorize expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act without restoring safeguards to protect the privacy of bookstore and library records.

Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, long-time member of the Media Coalition, and member and chair of the Board of the National Coalition Against Censorship, has been named the recipient of the American Library Association’s 2011 Freedom to Read Foundation  Roll of Honor Award.

ABA is urging booksellers to immediately contact members of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose a bill that extends provisions of the USA Patriot Act for six years without restoring safeguards to protect the privacy of bookstore and library records.

ABFFE announced today that award-winning jewelry designer Carolyn Forsman, creator of the bestselling “I Read Banned Books” bracelets, has joined its affiliate program.

Award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson talks to ABFFE President Chris Finan about her role as chair of the ABC Children’s Group Silent Auction at BEA, the challenges to her books in schools and local libraries around the country, and the effects these have had on her, on kids, and on other writers.