Let Freedom Read Day

Do you want to do more about book banning than celebrate Banned Books Week?  While exercising your right to read challenged books is important, today is about doing something about book banning.  Today is Let Freedom Read Day!

Let Freedom Read Day is all about taking an action - any action - that will help to fight the fight against book banning.

Ready to join the fray?  Here are my favorite suggestions from the Banned Books Week website on how you can help.

• Register to vote.  Voting is important in any election, but especially in this election.  The availability of books in the education system is only one of the many things at stake this November.
• Pledge to support the freedom to read when you vote.  Make a commitment to fight back against book banning at the ballot box!
• Quiz your candidates.  Do you know where your local candidates stand on book banning?  If not, you should!  Research their positions, write to the campaign, or attend a town hall or campaign event to ask your questions.  This goes for elected officials, too: Just because they've been elected doesn't mean they can ignore the people's concerns, so make yours heard!
• Talk openly about the dangers of book banning.  A lot of people don't understand the ramifications of censorship.  If you know someone like that in your life, this is your chance to educate them!  
• Write a letter to the editor.  Getting a letter to the editor published in your local paper or community website can be a great tool for raising awareness and educating others on the impact of book banning.
• Donate banned books to libraries, schools, and Little Free Libraries.  Give the gift of knowledge by donating banned books to places where they'll be read, spread, and enjoyed.

If these things feel like too much, rest assured, there are still ways you can help.

How Does Reading Banned Books Help?

This post is about things you can do to fight back against censorship, but in truth, reading is something you can do.  When you read banned books, you:

• Support the author, publisher, and countless other people.  Buying books is obviously money in both the publisher's and the author's pockets, but reading from the library also helps to support them.  Libraries pay good money for books and demand will keep them buying!  Plus if you're reading a book, you're likely talking or posting about it, and word of mouth helps support authors and publishers too.
• Maintain demand.  As noted above, libraries have to make decisions about what books to buy.  When a book is challenged, they may also need to fight the challenge with data on the book's demand.  It's easier to fight back against a challenge on a popular book in the library's collection.
• Add to the discourse.  Assuming you talk or post about what you read, or even simply update your Goodreads account, you're adding to the overall conversation about the book.  Word of mouth helps generate support by getting other people interested in books and selling more copies, to both individuals and libraries.

Ultimately, the best way to combat book banning is to ensure that it never goes unacknowledged.  The best way to fight back against a ban on information is, after all, with more information.

I've signed the pledge, put several challenged books on my TBR list this week, and I will, as always, vote liberally this November.  What about you?  What actions are you taking for Let Freedom Read Day?