Banned Books Week Needs You!

A small group of parents recently succeeded in banning an anthology of writings by gay youth from the library of the Rancocas Valley Regional High School in New Jersey. Emboldened by their victory, they forced the removal of the book from the local public library as well. Books are challenged in public and school libraries all the time. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there were 460 book challenges last year.

ABFFE is urging booksellers to join in publicizing these attacks during Banned Books Week (Sept. 25 - Oct. 2), the only national celebration of the freedom to read. "Americans are largely unaware of the battle that rages over books in schools and libraries," ABFFE President Chris Finan said. "Banned Books Week plays a critical role in mobilizing people to fight censorship."

ABFFE makes it easy and inexpensive for booksellers to participate by offering a Banned Books Week Handbook on its website. The handbook provides examples of various promotional activities, including the creation of simple displays and easy events like readings from banned books. The handbook also features posters that can be downloaded and reproduced at a local copy shop for a nominal fee. For a limited time, ABFFE is discounting the prices of its popular fREADom products, including T-shirts, buttons, bookmarks, and bumper stickers. The ALA also provides promotion material through its website.

Booksellers can promote their Banned Books Week activities on a website created by ABFFE and ALA, bannedbooksweek.org. The site features a state-by-state list of participating bookstores and libraries. Those who would like to be listed can submit details of their celebrations here.

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 to draw attention to the growing number of challenges to books in schools, libraries, and bookstores. It is sponsored by ABFFE, ALA, the Association of American Publishers, and the National Association of College Stores.

Booksellers Challenge Massachusetts Law

On July 13, ABFFE joined two Massachusetts bookstores in challenging a new state law that bans the display of words or images that are "harmful to minors" on a website. Booksellers have repeatedly joined lawsuits to overturn similar laws because they would prevent them from posting First Amendment-protected material with sexual content, including book excerpts and jacket art. A conviction could result in up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

Harvard Bookstore and Porter Square Books, both in Cambridge, are plaintiffs in the case. "A lot of the book jackets have photographs of nudes, some of them deal with sexually explicit material, and we are concerned that somebody could decide they're harmful to minors and go after us," Carole Horne, manager of the Harvard Book Store, told a Boston radio station.

Other plaintiffs include the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Photographic Resource Center, and licensed marriage and family therapist Marty Klein. More information about the case is available from Media Coalition.

Appeals Court Rejects FCC Censorship

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals declared last month that an FCC policy banning "fleeting expletives" from the airwaves is forcing television and radio broadcasters to suppress documentaries and other programs with serious value. The FCC adopted the policy in 2004 after it received several complaints over Janet Jackson's performance at the 2004 Super Bowl and the use of profanity by several celebrities during live TV broadcasts. ABFFE joined an amicus brief in the case after broadcasters began censoring words in documentaries about the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War. Rocky Mountain PBS canceled a documentary, "Marie Antoinette," because it included sexually suggestive engravings. On July 13, a panel of three judges unanimously agreed that the policy created "a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here."

The FCC must decide whether to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. If it does, it runs the risk that the Court will reconsider the issue of whether government can impose any "indecency" restrictions on TV and radio broadcasters. It has already declared that government cannot restrict programming on cable or satellite TV or the Internet unless the content is legally obscene.

Roberta Rubin and Patricia Johnson Join ABFFE Board

ABFFE recently announced the election of two publishing industry veterans to its board. Roberta Rubin, owner of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Illinois, and Patricia Johnson, executive vice president and editorial director of Alfred A. Knopf, Pantheon and Schocken Books, were elected to three-year terms.

Rubin has owned the award-winning Book Stall since 1986. Johnson started her career managing a Waldenbooks store. She became vice president of Random House Audio in 1992 and moved to Knopf in 1996.

Rubin and Johnson replace Bonnie Ammer, formerly of Random House, who served on the board for six years, and Betsy Burton of The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, who was a board member for several years and is now serving on the ABA board. A full list of ABFFE board members can be found here.

ABFFE Book of the Month: The Fundamental Holmes

Historians and legal scholars have long recognized the critical role that Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., played in the growth of free speech in the United States. Now a noted First Amendment scholar has collected Holmes' writing about free speech in one place. The ABFFE Book of the Month for August is The Fundamental Holmes: A Free Speech Chronicle and Reader - Selections from the Opinions, Books, Articles, Speeches, Letters and Other Writings by and about Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (Cambridge University Press), 978-0521194600. Editor Ron Collins traces the development of Holmes' view of free speech before, during, and after his tenure on the Supreme Court.

To read ABFFE's interview with Ron Collins, click here.

ABFFE would like to thank the booksellers who participated in the Freadom Gift Card program. Please click here for a list of participating stores.



Sale of Reading Glasses Boosting ABFFE

Thousands of bookstore customers are not only reading with less eye strain but supporting free speech because of a new partnership between ABFFE and 2020 Vision USA, a Sarasota, Florida, importer of reading and sunglasses. In an undertaking launched at BookExpo America this year, 2020 Vision USA is contributing $1 to ABFFE for every pair of glasses it sells to independent bookstores. "Bookstores have ordered over 10,000 pairs of glasses since BookExpo, and everyone reports that they are selling very well. Some bookstores are already reordering," ABFFE President Chris Finan said.

Go here to learn more about ABFFE's partnership with 2020 Vision USA. To view the entire collection of 2020 Vision eyewear, accessories and wholesale prices, please visit the company website, http://www.2020visionusa.com.
 

The ABFFE digest generally includes a "Book of the Month" feature. Read Book of the Month reviews and author interviews, as well as periodic book reviews by ABFFE's freelance reviewer, Audrey Eisman here.