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In this PBS Independent Lens documentary codirected by Dawn Logsdon, who also narrates, and Lucie Faulknor, the history of public libraries is uncovered, from the quiet revolutionaries who opened these doors to all, to today’s librarians who service the public in an age of closures and book bans. “Libraries are not just about books. They’re about people, and they’re about stories.”
In this event from the 2024 Atlantic Festival on the topic of books bans in the United States and the world, Atlantic staff writer Gal Beckerman moderates a discussion with Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association, and Victoria Scott-Miller, owner of Liberation Station Bookstore, as well as a discussion with Iranian American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad and author and activist Rania Mamoun.
In this virtual event, Banned Books Week honorary chair and award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay joins youth honorary chair Julia Garnett, a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee, for a conversation about advocacy and fighting censorship.
“Censors never go after books unless kids already like them.” In this 2011 video for Banned Books Week, frequently censored author Judy Blume speaks about the negative effect that book banning has on children.
In this PBS Books virtual event celebrating the release of the fortieth anniversary edition of The House on Mango Street, published by Everyman’s Library, author Sandra Cisneros discusses the novel and how it has touched many lives and affected the literary landscape in a conversation with Heather-Marie Montilla.
In this special edition of the Banned Book Club series hosted by the New York Public Library, Sonora Reyes discusses their award-winning debut novel, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School (Balzer + Bray, 2024), which tells the story of a queer Mexican American girl navigating her way through Catholic school.
“Freedom of expression is everything.” In this PEN America video, family members of George M. Johnson read and reflect on a letter from the author in response to a call to ban their book, All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), and other books from a library in New Jersey, just miles from where Johnson grew up.
“Books aren’t dangerous. At least, they’re not dangerous to those of us who want to create an equitable and just society,” says author Ibram X. Kendi in this Washington Post video which takes a look at the history and common themes of banned books in America.
“Read the books they don’t want you to. That’s where the good stuff is,” says LeVar Burton in this video from The Daily Show With Trevor Noah on some of the latest banned children’s books which include themes on race and racism, and LGBTQIA+ characters.
“Terrorism must not terrorize us. Violence must not deter us. The struggle goes on.” At the 2023 PEN America Literary Gala, Salman Rushdie accepts the PEN Centenary Courage Award and speaks about the urgency to fight book bans and the courage of those who saved him when he was attacked at a public event less than a year ago.
