cover of last stop on market street

Last Stop on Market Street is the kind of story kids need, one that builds empathy, dignity, and understanding.

Banning it doesn’t protect children, it limits their world.

Let kids read stories that expand their hearts.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

Talk to them. Children benefit from understanding that boundaries are not about control, but about growth.

Families are different. We can acknowledge that different families make different choices, and that those choices reflect their own values and experiences

Read the full article on our blog. Parenting today is hard. There is no denying that. But it is also an opportunity to build something lasting.

#FreedomToRead #Parenting #BooksNotBans

campaign costs are rising, shifting how candidates reach voters

misinformation and social media amplify fear and distort reality

stay informed. show up. vote local.

Stay informed. Show up. Vote local.
#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans #SchoolBoardsMatter

"The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship." Quote by US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens

Freedom of expression isn’t a risk to manage, it’s a right to protect. When we remove books or silence ideas out of fear, we don’t make society safer, we make it smaller.

A healthy democracy trusts its people to read, think, question, and decide.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans #FirstAmendment

Manipulating the Law: Dismantling the Miller Test and Exploiting the “Government Speech” Doctrine: Book Censorship News, March 27, 2026 The Miller Test and "government speech" doctrine have become tools by book banners, but they're being used to steal your rights.

Censorship isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s hidden in how laws are written, interpreted, and enforced.

This piece breaks down how policy is being used to quietly restrict access to books and why it matters.

bookriot.com/manipulating...

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

5 telling statistics from educators about book banning

87% of educators say book bans are rarely or never justified

65% say bans negatively affect their ability to teach

What does the data say about book bans?

A national survey of 1,500+ educators found that censorship is already affecting classrooms across the country.

Book bans don’t just remove titles from shelves, they reshape how teachers teach and how students learn.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

The Public Library Association conference is almost here and we’re celebrating the library community with a sale.

Enjoy 30% off at librarygiftshop.org

📅 April 1–4

Because supporting libraries should look good on you.

#ReadingIsPower #BooksAreMagic #FreedomToRead #ReadFreely #BooksNotBans

Cover of PRIDE: The story of harvey milk and the rainbow flag by rob sanders

PRIDE: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders is a joyful picture book about courage, community, and belonging. Stories like this help kids learn empathy and respect. Removing them doesn’t protect children, it limits understanding.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

Potter Stewart quote: Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.

Removing books because they challenge us sends a message that ideas are something to fear.

A confident society trusts people to read, think, and decide for themselves.

The freedom to read is about open inquiry, not agreement.

Choose confidence over fear.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

A Nationwide Book Ban Bill Has Been Introduced in the House of Representatives Hours after the State of the Union address, House republicans introduced legislation banning LGBTQ+ books from public schools nationwide.

Heads up: a new federal bill (HR 7661) could limit books schools can buy with federal funds using a vague “sexually oriented” label. It risks broad censorship of LGBTQ+ and identity-focused titles.

bookriot.com/hr7661-book-...

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans #CensorshipWatch

cover of dear evan hansen

Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel explores loneliness, anxiety, grief, and the need to belong.

It gives teens language for hard feelings and opens space for empathy and conversation.

Banning stories about mental health doesn’t protect kids, it isolates them.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans #LetKidsRead

A square, four-quadrant red and blue box image. In the upper-left box is a white Bywater Books logo and the RUL, bywaterbooks.com. In the upper-right box is a paperback copy of Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury. In the lower-left box is a white graphic of two hands shaking; it reads, Proud Partners. In the lower-right box is the We Are Stronger Than Censorship logo and URL, wearestrongerthancensorship,org.

🦅 Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury.
🏳️‍🌈💪 Historical, multicultural sapphic fiction & chillingly relevant.
📚🛡️ Read it. Share it. Protect it.
👊➡️ Find it wherever great queer books are sold.

#LGBTQBooks #SapphicBooks #BooksNotBans #FightCensorship #BookSky #QueerLit #QueerBookSky

fewer than 10% of students are restricted in school libraries by their parents

When parents can set reading limits for their own child, fewer than 10% choose to restrict access.

Most families trust guidance and conversation, not bans.

You can guide your child without deciding for mine.

Protect choice. Trust librarians. Keep libraries open.

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

Early Signs Censorship Is Taking Root in Your Community and What You Can Do About It Spot early censorship signs, resist pressure, support librarians, demand transparency, organize community, refuse intimidation, and defend access before books disappear.

Censorship doesn’t start with empty shelves. It starts quietly: a “review,” a complaint, a social media push.

Our latest from Freedom to Read Project explains the early warning signs and what to do before books disappear.

www.freedomtoreadproject.org/early_signs_...

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans

Books open doors. Conversations build trust. Tough stories create space for the best talks.

Talking with your kids about books isn’t scary, it’s powerful.
Books open doors. Conversations build trust.

Ask what they think. Listen. Grow together.
That’s not dangerous, that’s parenting.

#FreedomToRead #RaiseReaders #BooksNotBans

Turn Passion Into Action: Advocacy Event Ideas to Protect the Freedom to Read Get involved with simple community events—postcards, calls, webinars, and read-ins—to mobilize neighbors and protect the freedom to read.

Ready to turn your love of books into action? YOU can make a difference for the freedom to read!

This guide is packed with simple, creative advocacy ideas to protect the freedom to read in your community.

www.freedomtoreadproject.org/turn_passion...

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans #LibraryAdvocacy

Black and gray gunge image with purple and orange Xs and two blood splatters. There are lime green and yellow paint splotches. The image reads in grunge type, Read Books, You'll Thank Us Later. And Queer & Not Afraid of Truth Over Comfort. In the bottom left-hand corner is a white Bywater Books logo.

🏳️‍🌈🔥 Burn the margins.
📚Claim the page.
👊 Bywater Books—we are all stories.

bywaterbooks.com

#BookSky #SapphicBooks #LGBTQIABooks #QueerLit #BooksNotBans #WeAreAllStories

Lexington Lawsuit Pushes Mahmoud to the Extreme - But...There's HOPE - Charlotte Sullivan Wild Mahmoud v. Taylor in Action It’s happening again. A father in Lexington, Massachusetts is suing a school district for reading two picture books about families to his kindergarten-aged child. He cites ...

Could #MahmoudvTaylor force educators to censor every reference to LGBTQ+ people, even in crowd illustrations, for some students? One dad thinks so.

(Spoiler: That's not religious liberty. That's discrimination.)

#kidlit #BooksNotBans @penamerica.bsky.social
charlotteswild.com/lexington-la...

Square image featuring open books. In the middle is a tan box that says, “It wasn’t until I started reading and found books they wouldn’t let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.” The quote is attributed to John Waters. At the center bottom is a black Bywater Books logo. The image is covered in gold sparkles.

🏳️‍🌈📚 Books they hate?
✊ Darling, that’s our whole personality.

#BookSky #SapphicBooks #BooksNotBans #ReadQueer #LGBTQBooks

A single-panel color editorial cartoon shows a chaotic scene outside “Betsy DeVos Elementary,” decorated with a cheerful “BOOK FAIR TODAY!” banner and penguin artwork in windows. A frightened librarian in handcuffs is being hauled away by two armored SWAT officers as she clutches a copy of a children’s book and says, “And Tango Makes Three is Innocent!” A group of shocked kids holding penguin plush toys stand nearby, one saying, “B-b-but we liked it!” A dark van labeled “BORED OF EDUCATION” is parked beside them. A news reporter addresses the viewer into a microphone labeled NEWS, explaining that authorities have captured a suspect in a “mass reading” and removed books from children to make the building secure. The scene is exaggerated and satirical, mocking book bans and militarized responses to harmless reading.

1/3: When books become contraband, everyone becomes a suspect. Welcome to the great American literacy smackdown.

Banned ideas don’t make us safer, they just make us dumber.

#LiteracyIsPower #BooksNotBans #StopBookBans #FreedomToRead #EducationNotCensorship
#EditorialCartoon #DrawnAndQuartered

Square image featuring torn red paper revealing the message, "Lock up your libraries if you like, but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” It includes an attribution to Virginia Woolf, the Bywater Books logo in white at the top, and the Bywater Books website, bywaterbooks.com, at the center bottom, also in white.

🏳️‍🌈📚 You can strip the shelves.
✂️ You can destroy the pages.
🚫🔩 But you’ll never bolt down a mind on fire.
☑️ 🔥 Writers, readers & publishers don’t break—we burn brighter.

#LGBTQBookSky #SapphicBooks #FreedomToRead #StopCensorship #BooksNotBans #BooksAreResistance #WordsHavePower #Read2Live

Rutherford County Library System (TN) Temporarily Shuts Down to Ban Books Rutherford County Library System announced on social media a surprise shutdown of two libraries. Why? "Reviewing inventory."

Two Rutherford County (TN) libraries just shut down amid a push to ban LGBTQ+ books. This isn’t just local, it’s about who gets to decide what stories we can read.

Read the full story on Book Riot bookriot.com/rutherford-c...

#BooksNotBans #LibraryFreedom

Haunted house with ghosts reading books

🎃👻 Happy Halloween from the Freedom to Read Project! 👻🎃

Tonight’s the perfect time for spooky stories, eerie adventures, and a reminder that the scariest thing of all is censorship. 😱

Stay brave, stay curious, and keep those stories alive. 💀📖

#FreedomToRead #BooksNotBans #SpookyStories

The more stories like this we get, the better. So few women were encouraged to write in the 18th, 19th, 20th centuries. Our common history is not complete without knowing their lives as well. Especially works that the book burners are after all too successfully. #booksnotbans #womeninnonfiction

🏳️‍🌈📚📣 We Won’t Back Down. 📣📚🏳️‍🌈
Book Bans can try, but they will never silence us.
Queer stories, loud voices, messy truths—they live here.
Read them. Write them. Riot with them.
We are Bywater Books. 👊🗼

#SapphicBooks #QueerLit #LGBTQBooks #BooksNotBans #BookSky #AuthorSky

What’s scarier than ghosts, ghouls, or goblins?
A banned book collecting dust.
👀📚
#ReadingIsPower #BooksAreMagic #FreedomToRead #ReadFreely #BooksNotBans #LetBooksBeBooks #RightToRead #BannedBooksWeek #UncensoredStories #ReadWithoutLimits #ProtectBooks #StoriesForAll #Halloween

Stop the Book Bans & Demand Accountability from Lamar CISD Lamar CISD has quietly banned over 700 books — including The Paper Bag Princess, Pinkalicious, The House on Mango Street, The Glass Menagerie, The Bluest Eye, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.&nbsp...

This library needs your support today! 700 books have been challenged.

Please sign the petition and help @everylibrary.bsky.social fight for libraries in the United States.

#bookbans #booksnotbans

www.fightforthefirst.org/petitions/st... @everylibrary.bsky.social

Some stories were silenced, but readers never stopped listening. We haven't been banned yet, but some of our titles certainly could be in the future.
💙📚 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 - inimitablebooks.com
#bannedbooksweek #letfreedomread #freedomtoread #booksnotbans #readbannedbooks

It's Banned Books Week! Oct 5-11
Cathay shares why A Brave New World still matters, and why banned books deserve to be read.
#bannedbooksweek #bannedbooks #freedomtoread #readingisresistance #booksnotbans #uucov #progressivefaith #unitarianuniversalist

Thank you for sharing this, friend! 🌈💜📚

I'm also thankful to @everylibrary.bsky.social and Gigi Howard of @drinksinthelibrary.bsky.social for this great conversation with @katherinelocke.bsky.social & me!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVTX...

#kidlit #BannedBooksWeek #BooksNotBans #FReadom #lgbtqia