A Right to Read - book accessibility for kids

Hi! Thank you for considering us.

Put It in A Book is a nonprofit established in 2021 to promote diversity, inclusion, and representation through literature. It is the charitable arm of Black Pearl Books, a black-woman-owned independent bookstore in Austin, TX. Aligned with the mission of Black Pearl Books, PIIAB partners with schools and other community organizations to help make books accessible to all.

We are raising funds to extend our Redacted Reads Book Club into local schools throughout Austin and surrounding areas. A Right to Read focuses on banned and challenged books and the importance of making these titles available to students.

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Why: Texas leads the country with the most book bans – 713 – affecting 16 school districts, according to an analysis released in April 2022 by Pen America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization. PEN America describes a book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content” that leads to the removal or restriction of a previously accessible book. Of books challenged, 41% contain protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color, 22% directly address issues of race and racism, and 33% explicitly address LGBTQ+ themes, or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ+.

We work with school librarians, teachers, and administrators to create on-campus book clubs while providing free banned and challenged books to help encourage freedom of thought and critical thinking skills.

The censorship of titles representing marginalized and traditionally underrepresented groups continues to add to the narrative that these stories don’t matter. Removing a book from the shelves is removing a story from existence, thus diminishing access to literature for young people. We hope that by providing titles that spark conversation, understanding, and acceptance, our children will have the courage to live out loud and write their own stories.

Our goal is simple: make these books available to our youth! We believe our students have the Right to Read and deserve to be exposed to the stories of all.

We hope you will join us in helping students develop a love for reading by seeing themselves represented in literature.

Let’s expand the narrative for our youth together!