This newsletter is your starter kit for fighting book bans. We've collected tips and tools to help you stay informed and keep pushing. We're also celebrating some of the victories you've already achieved.

But there’s more on the way!

Philomena Polefrone, ABA’s new Advocacy Associate Manager, is developing a complete Right to Read Toolkit! This toolkit will tackle how to speak at a school board meeting, how to handle harassment, how to keep your events safe, and more. Keep an eye on BTW for more details.

American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) staff will also appear at Winter Institute 2024 (Wi2024) to present a session on book bans. Registration for Wi2024 opens on Wednesday, September 13 at 1:00 pm ET.

ABFE exists to support you and your right to free expression. You are always welcome to contact [email protected] with questions and concerns. 

Last week, a federal district court in Texas granted the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction in the fight to have the so-called READER Act (HB900) struck down. The injunction goes into effect immediately and means the state must stop preparing regulations to enforce the law.

ABA, in conjunction with BookPeople and Blue Willow Bookshop, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund filed for the preliminary injunction along with the lawsuit opposing the law in July.

1. Contact ABFE at [email protected]. It’s critical that ABFE knows about every challenge and every proposed bill so staff can strategize, organize, and mobilize. ABFE can also help you write letters, prepare to testify, and strategize. In some cases, ABFE may also be able to mobilize coalition partners and offer legal support or action.
   
2. Don’t go it alone. There is power in numbers. Reach out to your local librarians, free-speech minded members of the Board of Education, district teachers or the teacher’s union, and the local press. Let your customers know what's happening. Work together to coordinate attending school board or legislative meetings and writing to the appropriate officials.
3. Make the challenger do the work. Have them fill out a form explaining why they disapprove of the book. 
4. Host librarian nights. Similar to teachers nights, informal networking events support librarians, letting them meet each other, share resources, etc. In many cases librarians are not allowed to discuss politics (including pending book ban legislation) at work!
   
5. Keep making book displays with inclusive titles. Don’t be pressured into self-censorship. Discourage any chilling effect these bans may have on publishers by making it clear that you intend to keep carrying these titles.
6. Push back. Be proactive, be firm, and make it clear that censors will meet pushback for all their censorship efforts. Stock banned books and train staff on how to deal with challenges in your store.
7. Attend local school or library board meetings. If you want to speak at these meetings, you can request ahead of time to be added to the public comment section. You will only have a few minutes to speak, so prepare a short statement about why the freedom to read is important to you. If you can't make the meeting, you can send a letter the week before so that it is included in the board materials. Watch for the Right to Read Toolkit to learn more.
8. Contact the local press and let them know about a ban or book challenge. Use the talking points below and encourage them to bring attention to the issue. Submit and Op-Ed supporting the right to read. Watch for the Right to Read Toolkit to learn more.
9. Reach out to local officials or your state lawmakers to tell them to oppose book bans. ABA's Advocacy page has an easy "Find Officials" search bar. Enter your address and zip code for a list of all your state and federal representatives with direct links to their contact information. Watch for the Right to Read Toolkit to learn more.
10. Sign ABFE’s petition opposing book bans in schools, libraries, and bookstores across the country and urge your customers and staff to sign the petition, too. The petition will be sent to key lawmakers and officials, encouraging them to support the right to read and condemn book banning. 

Here are some talking points you can use when a customer,  representative, or community member challenges a book:

Access

• A few individuals should not be able to limit what books everyone can read or access.
• Books help us explore complex issues from the safety of our homes. Limiting access to them makes young people less prepared to deal with life’s challenges.
• The increase in book bans is already negatively impacting kids' willingness to read. We do more harm by keeping books out of their hands.

Parental Rights

• Parents, grandparents, and guardians should be trusted to make their own decisions about what their children read. We can’t make those decisions for other readers or parents.
• Book bans hinder parents' rights to decide what their child can read. 
• Book challenges are often motivated by politics and the desire to stir up constituents and create publicity and name recognition. Political or personal agendas shouldn't take priority over parental rights and young people's right to read.
  

Representation

• Our store demonstrates its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in a variety of ways, including representation in our inventory.
• Young people of all experiences and identities deserve to see themselves reflected in books. Not every book is for every child, but every child should have access to books that speak to them. 
• It is critical that young people encounter experiences and identities different from their own. Diversity in books promotes empathy, understanding, confidence, and growth.
• The freedom to read stories and learn about people from diverse backgrounds is key in raising an informed next generation. 

Please adapt these points to suit your personal style and environment.

Thank you Arizona Booksellers! Because of your outreach, the governor vetoed a bill that would have deemed any business hosting a drag performance an adult-oriented business. Your outreach also compelled lawmakers to remove the term “drag performance” from AZ SB 1030, a bill that was subsequently vetoed by the governor.

Thank you Arkansas Booksellers, especially our co-plaintiffs WordsWorth Books and Pearl’s Books! We won a preliminary injunction barring Arkansas Act 372 from going into effect. The fight goes on as we seek a favorable final decision.

Thank you Maine booksellers. Because of your outreach, three censorship bills (including a bill that would have eliminated “critical race theory” from school curricula and another that would have created a school book rating system) died in committee.

Thank you Missouri booksellers. Because of your outreach, a bill that would have deemed any business that hosts a drag performance to be a sexually oriented business was amended, narrowing the provision so that a drag performance would have to appeal to the prurient interest. The bill failed in committee. Another bill that would have criminalized holding a drag performance in a location where it could be viewed by a minor failed.

Thanks to Idaho booksellers, Governor Little vetoed HB 314, a bill that would have stipulated that a school or library, “or agent thereof, shall not promote, give or make available to a minor” any materials that are harmful to minors. The governor vetoed the bill stating the law’s ambiguity would have unintended consequences for library patrons and Idaho libraries. In addition, two similar bills failed during the state’s congressional session.

Thank you North Dakota booksellers! Your outreach worked! North Dakota SB 2360 was vetoed by the governor and the bill is dead.