Foundation 451: Get on the Banned Wagon!

Hi. I'm Adam. I'm an Advanced Placement English teacher, author, college instructor, and (past) elected official. Books have been taken out of our school classrooms and libraries, and our online student access ebook library has been completely eliminated. Unfortunately, many of our students cannot afford to buy these books. I want to help.

 

So I founded a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to help us purchase used copies (locally, whenever available) to distribute to age-appropriate students at various locations in our county throughout the year. We had a number of extremely successful distributions this summer, distributing groundbreaking and justly celebrated books such as Slaughterhouse-Five, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Kite Runner. If the county has removed it, I will make it available, getting as many as I can into as many hands as possible. We will also carry the top ten banned and challenged books on the ACLU's and American Library Association's lists, as well as others that are de facto banned because the subject cannot be mentioned or discussed—think the "Stop WOKE Act" and "Don't Say Gay" here in Florida, which means that even a specific book isn't banned by name, if it has certain material in it, it is absolutely banned and cannot be used in a school.

We are enlisting the help of many local businesses as future distribution points, and we'd love your help to get this done.

We will also created a website resource where these books can be accessed in hard copies for those who cannot get to events and cannot afford books, because many do not have access to the Internet. Further, we are creating a series of Little Free (Banned Book) Libraries, Inclusive Teen Safe Spaces with banned book libraries, and a standalone library specializing in banned books.

Our longer-term goal is something we have cheekily decided to call the Banned Wagon: A bookmobile specializing in banned and challenged books that can visit events far and wide to bring these books to students and their families.

Please help us get the job done. All donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please give generously!

( My opinions are my own and in no way reflect those of Brevard County Schools or the Florida Department of education. )