BOOKS TO READ

Libraries bolster democracy. Across the country there is an active and well-funded effort to defund Library's and to cut off crucial financial support.

Book burnings have a dark history linked to censorship and repressive regimes, and are often associated with Nazi Germany. Infamous Nazi book burnings in 1933 targeted thousands of books…” – Business Insider

Campaign of intimidation

“What is happening in Front Royal, Virginia, should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who cares about the freedom to read. Because of an activist minority and a campaign of intimidation, an entire county may soon lose out on access to literature and information…Public libraries are a critical part of our democracy; to see one threatened by baseless claims and conspiracy theories is deeply alarming….”, said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director at PEN America. – The Guardian

Censorship playbook

Usually, lawmakers start with book bans. If the bans aren’t as effective as they’d hope, they escalate to threatening to defund local libraries. The threats tend to occur in states where lawmakers want to restrict health care for trans people, limit drag performances and curb how teachers discuss gender, sexuality, race, and history at school.

“This is part of a larger campaign that we call the ‘ed scare,’ which is a broad effort to heighten intimidation and anxiety around what can and cannot be taught and discussed in public spaces,” said Kasey Meehan, the director of the Freedom to Read project at PEN America. “These growing campaigns want to suppress certain ideas and content areas, so the defunding of libraries, book bans, the educational gag orders that affect higher education and K-12, and even anti-drag show legislation are all connected. They’re mechanisms in a larger campaign to control what is and isn’t allowed in public spaces.”

“Republicans in Missouri’s House voted in late March to approve a state budget that would eliminate $4.5 million in funding for public libraries…” – Vox

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (10th Anniversary Edition)

By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples

Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land.

The Cost of Free Land

By Rebecca Clarren

With deep empathy and clarity of purpose, Clarren grapples with the personal and national consequences of this legacy of violence and dispossession. What does it mean to survive oppression only to perpetuate and benefit from the oppression of others? By shining a light on the people and families tangled up in this country’s difficult history, The Cost of Free Land invites readers to consider their own culpability and what, now, can be done.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

By David Grann

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This book, which is on the African American/Black Read in Color Recommended Reads list, is part of the Banned Books Week 2023 giveaway with HarperCollins.

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