Very cool banned books kickoff event at the California State Library. If you’re in the area, listen to folks read from banned books every 15 minutes. What a great idea!
Banned Books to Be Read Aloud by Local Celebrities
Sacramento – Excerpts from banned books will be read aloud at the California State Library for five hours on Wednesday, September 22, in celebration of the freedom to read and the First Amendment. Notable city and state leaders, journalists, librarians, educators, and representatives from labor, sports, and non-profit councils will read from books that have been banned or challenged in the US.
The event will be held in the Fragrance Garden of the California State Library, 900 N Street, Sacramento, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend some or all of the readings, which are scheduled at fifteen minute intervals throughout the afternoon. Light refreshments will be served.
This program is a kick-off for the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, held annually during the last week of September. Banned Book Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information and draws attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning of books across the United States. This year Banned Books Week runs from September 25 to October 2.
The schedule of readings is as follows:
11:30 a.m. Rivkah Sass, City of Sacramento Librarian, Importance of Freedom of Speech
11:45 a.m. Nancy Lenoil, State Archivist, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
12:00 p.m. Dr Nadeen T. Ruiz, Director, Serna Center CSU Sacramento, Friends from the Other Side
12:15 p.m. Jess Zaker, Lipstick Librarian, Sac City Rollers; Sac City Librarian, And Tango Makes Three
12:30 p.m. Pallas Hupé, CBS 13 News Anchor
12:45 p.m. Sandra Swafford, California State Library Board Member
1:00 p.m. Jeffrey Callison, Host of Insight on Capital Public Radio, Of Mice and Men
1:15 p.m. Ralph Lewin, President & CEO, California Council for the Humanities
1:30 p.m. Mark S. Allen, CW31 Good Day Sacramento
1:45 p.m. John Cornelison, California Research Bureau, California State Library2:
2:00 p.m. Bill Leonard, Secretary of State and Consumer Services, Bible
2:15 p.m. Susan Bassett, Governmental Relations Consultant, A Light in the Attic
2:30 p.m. Linda Adams, Secretary, California EPA, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2:45 p.m. Maria Kochis, Librarian, CSU Sacramento, Valley of the Horses
3:00 p.m. Danny Curtin, Director, California Conference of Carpenters
3:15 p.m. Mariko Yamada, Assemblywoman, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn2
3:30 p.m. Ira Bray, Library Development Services, California State Library, Lord of the Flies
3:45 p.m. Murial Johnson, Director, California Arts Council
4:00 p.m. Gavin Ferguson, The Wake Up Call at 107.9, Catcher in the Rye
4:15 p.m. Player for the new Sacramento Mountain Lions UFL Football Team
4:30 p.m. Stacey A. Aldrich, State Librarian of California, Closing PassageLocal support for the Banned Books event is provided by the California State Library Foundation and by the readers, who are giving generously of their time.
