Across the country, book bans are attempting to prohibit a robust exchange of ideas in the classroom and limit access to knowledge about our complex, collective history in libraries.Teachers, professors, and librarians face increasing restrictions, and our society faces diminishing opportunities to be fully informed, functional, and mutually respectful.

What are the fears driving these bans? What vibrant knowledge and broader freedoms do we all stand to lose?

On September 26, 2023, Mellon Foundation President Dr. Elizabeth Alexander was joined by Emily Drabinski, president of the American Library Association, Lisa Lucas, senior vice president and publisher for Pantheon & Schocken Books, and Tressie McMillan Cottom, professor and New York Times columnist, for a conversation about the power of unfettered reading, and how we might mitigate efforts to undermine it throughout the United States.

Watch this event with ASL interpretation here: [ Ссылка ]

Sign up for future Mellon Foundation events at mellon.org/events

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