“Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.”
—Judy Blume |
We are game changers!
Over the last two years, we have witnessed the rise of book challenges throughout the U.S. and become increasingly alarmed. Groups of adults bent on censorship have used the internet to share lists of books they deem inappropriate for young people. Under the bogus cloak of parents’ rights, these censors seem to believe that they have the right to decide what the children of other parents can and cannot read. In most cases, these people haven’t even read the books they are working to ban! The efforts of these “snowflakes” are focused on books that touch on issues that are important to young people who are trying to understand who they are, where they came from, and their place in the world. These youths need more information, not less. The books that are being challenged speak to issues such as history, race, sexuality, and LGBTQIA+. In almost all cases, libraries already have policies in place that require parental permission to access many of these books. But that doesn‘t seem to be enough for these bullies. Banned books for All wants to support the young people living in communities facing book bans in a very direct way—by giving them free ebook versions of banned books, so we’ve launched our initial fundraising campaign: Fundraising 451 (in tribute to Ray Bradbury) Be one of the first 451 people to donate to BBFA! We plan to launch this year in six states, but to succeed we need your financial support. Our plan is to use social media to inform young people ages 12 to 17 that they can download free ebook versions of books that have been banned in their community. We will give away 2,000 books in New Mexico and five of the states with the greatest number of book challenges last year—Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Michigan. In 2024, we hope to expand to the entire U.S.—donor support permitting. If you believe in our mission, make a donation now. |
Mission Statement
Banned Books for All recognizes that young people are being denied access to books by states, local governments, and schools. BBFA also recognizes that this trend toward censorship is growing. BBFA believes that young people need and deserve easy, uncensored access to information to aid in their development and growth as healthy individuals and empowered, informed citizens. Our mission is to provide ebook versions of banned books as free downloads to youths ages 12 to 17 throughout America. |