TheInternet read-out
that was the centerpiece of this year's Banned Books Week concluded
with a bang, setting a record for the number of readings from banned
books. Over 650 people recited from their favorite banned books in
bookstores, libraries, and their own homes. Bookstores contributed more
than 90 videos of their customers and members of their staffs. They were
joined by Whoopi Goldberg and many authors whose books have been
challenged, including Judy Blume, Lauren Myracle, Jay Asher, and Chris
Crutcher.
Most of the bookstore videos featured customers like Jameisha Taylor reading from Alvin Schwart's Scary Stories at Vintage Books in Vancouver, WA, and Juliette Shelley, reading from Lady Chatterly's Lover at Poor Richard's Book Shoppe in Gastonia, North Carolina. Mary Gleysteen of Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island in Washington recalled her role in opposing a challenge to Snow Falling on Ceders. Valerie Koehler of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston joined her staff in dramatizing the threat of book censorship.
Other
bookstores that participated in the read-out included Beach Books
(Seaside, OR), The Book House (St. Louis, MO), Boulevard Books and Cafe
(Brooklyn, NY), the Cornell University Bookstore (Ithaca, NY), Hickory
Stick Bookshop (Washington, CT), the King's English Bookshop (Salt Lake
City, UT), the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Bookstore
(Edwardsville, IL), UConn Co-Op (Storrs, CT), the University of Oregon's
Duck Stores (Eugene and Portland, OR), and Village Books (Bellingham,
WA). All of the bookstore videos can be viewed on ABFFE's YouTube channel.
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