TODAY: CBLDF Talks Censorship and Diversity in Portland and Las Vegas

Banned Books Week banner

Banned Books Week has begun! The week-long celebration of the freedom to read runs through October 1, and you can learn more about year’s theme of diversity with CBLDF during events in Portland, Oregon, and Las Vegas, Nevada!

Banned Books Week: Diversity

Tuesday, September 27, 7:30 p.m.
Powell’s City of Books (1005 W. Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97209)

Banned Books Week is the annual celebration of the freedom to read and will run from September 25 to October 1, 2016. According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, it is estimated that over half of all banned books are by authors of color, or contain events and issues concerning diverse communities. Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and chair of the Banned Books Week Coalition, will be joined by authors Cory Doctorow (Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free), Cathy Camper (Lowriders to the Center of the Earth), M. K. Reed (Americus), and illustrator/cartoonist Jonathan Hill (Americus) for a panel discussion on this year’s Banned Books Week theme of diversity. The discussion will be moderated by Candace Morgan, Coordinator of Celebrate the Freedom to Read in Oregon, sponsored by the Oregon Library Association and Oregon Association of School Libraries Intellectual Freedom Committee and the ACLU of Oregon. More info

Uncensored Voices: Celebrating Your Freedom to Read

Tuesday, September 27, 7:00 p.m.
Clark County Library (1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119)

Fight censorship and celebrate your freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 25 – October 1. Every year, there are hundreds of attempts to remove books from the shelves of bookstores, libraries and schools. Join us as Las Vegas Review-Journal Political Columnist Steve Sebelius and our panel of educators and experts — including CBLDF Board Member Katherine Keller — discuss the current state of censorship in Nevada. In addition, Cockroach Theatre will present staged readings of challenged and banned books.  A reception will follow the reading.

Co-sponsored by the ACLU of Nevada, UNLV Libraries Teacher Development & Resources Library and Cockroach Theatre. More info