Special programs will mark Banned Books Week at Brooklyn Public Library

September 17, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

A pile of challenged books appear at the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File

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CITYWIDE — BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY will join New York City’s other library systems to mark Banned Books Week (Sept. 22 to 28) with a series of programs, talks and exhibitions amid a dramatic nationwide increase in censorship. Events at BPL branches on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. include “Why Books Still Matter,” a panel discussion at the Central Library featuring publisher Karl Weber, author Chris Finan, bookshop owner Betsy Burton and Nick Higgins, founder of Brooklyn Public Library’s viral Books Unbanned initiative. At the Brooklyn Heights branch, “A Conversation About Fighting Books Bans” features authors Maura Johnson, Eliot Schrefer and Frederick Joseph with writer and illustrator Niña Mata and Philomena Polefrone, along with free expression advocates.

Other events include a Banned Books Quiz Off at Windsor Terrace Library at 4 p.m. and a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary short “ABCs of Book Banning” at the Marcy Library. The half-hour film explores the impact of Florida’s book bans on kids, and will be followed by a teen-led discussion on books, reading and censorship. More details at BPL’s website.

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