Banned Books Wagon begins Southern tour in Atlanta
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Banned Books Wagon will be at Charis Books & More on Sunday, Oct. 1. Photo: Penguin Random House
The Banned Wagon is coming to the Atlanta area to give out free copies of banned books.
Driving the news: Penguin Random House's Banned Wagon Tour — in partnership with the Freedom to Read Foundation, PEN America and the Free Little Library — across the South makes its first stop on Sunday at Charis Books & More in Decatur.
Why it matters: The publishing company said in a press release it hopes the wagon will inspire local communities to "protect the freedom to read" and fight censorship.
Details: The wagon will be in Charis' parking lot from 1-4pm Sunday, and organizers plan to give away hundreds of books that have either been banned or challenged.
- Author Nic Stone will talk about her book "Dear Martin," a novel that explores how a teenager copes with racism following his best friend's death.
- Other stops on the tour, which coincides with Banned Books Week, include Houston, Nashville and New Orleans.
What they're saying: Errol Anderson, executive director of Charis Circle, the nonprofit programming group for the bookstore, tells Axios that the bookstore is honored to be featured on the tour.
- Anderson also tells Axios that Charis is a place where everyone, especially people of color, queer or transgender people, "can come and tell the truth about the reality of your life because there are fewer and fewer places like that."
Of note: Decatur's Little Shop of Stories will also host the MoveOn Banned Bookmobile 1-3pm Sunday at its shop.
The big picture: The wagon rolls into town amid an increase in book bans at schools that are now spilling over to public libraries, Axios' Sareen Habeshian reports.
- New data from American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom shows there were 695 attempts to censor library materials and services in the first eight months of 2023, compared to 681 during the same period in 2022 — a year that saw attempted book bans reach record levels.
- ALA also notes there were challenges to 1,915 titles from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, a 20% increase from the same period last year.
The bottom line: Anderson tells Axios that "books are these portals where you can discover things about the world that you never knew were true."
- "We hear all the time from people how lonely they are, how disconnected they are, and books are one of the best connectors in the world," he said. "So we want people to remember that and find their way back to them."