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Banned Together x Banned Books Week
This Banned Books Week (October 5–11), join us in celebrating the freedom to read, reflecting on the importance of open access to ideas, and reminding ourselves why protecting that freedom matters.
To support this initiative, we’re spotlighting the documentary Banned Together, available to your patrons on Kanopy. This eye-opening documentary examines two timely issues: book bans and curriculum censorship in public schools. It’s a powerful resource for sparking meaningful discussions around censorship, the freedom to read, and the role of storytelling in education and community life.
About Banned Together: A diverse cast of visionary teenagers, stirring public protests, private threats, criminal charges, and drama-filled school board meetings: this is the explosive world of Banned Together. The film pulls back the curtain on two of the most controversial issues in America today: book bans and curriculum censorship in public schools. Banned Together follows three students as they fight to reinstate 97 books suddenly pulled from their school libraries. As they evolve from local to national activists, they meet with banned authors, politicians, and the major players protecting the First Amendment of our Constitution. Woven throughout the story about the student activists include Congressman Jamie Raskin; bestselling and banned authors like Juno Dawson, Jodi Picoult, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Erika L. Sanchez, and Ellen Hopkins; First Amendment warriors like Jonathan Friedman from PEN America and Deborah Caldwell-Stone from the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom; Prof. Justin Hansford, the Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law; Olivia Little, a senior investigative researcher from Media Matters for America who’s done in-depth reporting about Moms for Liberty since early 2021; organizations fighting on the front lines in Florida; Maurice Cunningham, author of “Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization”; and IL Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias who wrote the first anti-book-ban legislation in the country… to name just a few!
Programming & Engagement Ideas
To help you bring this important conversation to your community, we’ve put together a marketing kit with ready-to-use social media graphics and newsletter copy, available now in our resource center.
You can also take inspiration from these programming ideas:
- Host a public screening of Banned Together followed by a discussion on censorship, intellectual freedom, and the film’s impact. Banned Together includes public performance rights (PPR), allowing you to host public screenings.
- Curate a display of banned books alongside the reasons they were challenged. For a fun twist, hide the book covers so only the “reason for the ban” is visible. Encourage patrons to borrow from the collection.
- Invite patrons to share their favorite banned or challenged book. This can be either in person or on social media. Display in person submissions around a curated shelf of banned and challenged titles.
- Host a poster-making workshop where patrons design posters that promote the freedom to read.
- Organize a book club featuring a frequently challenged or banned book and facilitate a discussion around its themes and history.
- Create a social media poll (e.g., on Facebook or Instagram) asking patrons to guess whether certain titles have been banned or challenged.
Other Films to Check Out After Banned Together
To Be Destroyed
Watch To Be Destroyed on Kanopy
This documentary follows author Dave Eggers as he meets with students and teachers in the Rapid City, South Dakota school district where his novel, The Circle, was pulled from shelves along with works by Alison Bechdel, Stephen Chbosky, Bernardine Evaristo, and Imbolo Mbue. Through footage of heated school board meetings, community rallies and interviews with locals, we learn how these books were designated “to be destroyed.”
Scary Stories: The Story of the Books that Frightening a Generation
Explore the history of one of the most controversial works of modern children’s literature: The best selling teen classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which scared a generation of readers and became one of the most banned books of modern times.
Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse
Watch Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse on Kanopy
This insightful documentary delves into the life and work of Art Spiegelman, the Queens-raised artist who revolutionized comics by exploring dark, complex themes. Shaped by his Holocaust-survivor parents and inspired by MAD magazine’s irreverent satire, Spiegelman’s most famous work, Maus, is a poignant Holocaust narrative that redefined the medium. The film showcases his resistance to fascism and features rich illustrations from his comics, highlighting his significant impact as an artist and cultural critic.
Rise of the Eco warriors: Young Activist Saving the Rain Forest
Watch Rise of the Eco Warriors: Young Activists Saving the Rain Forest on Kanopy
A group of young adventurers spend 100 days in Borneo’s jungles to tackle one of today’s greatest challenges: saving rainforests and protecting orangutans. Caring for Jojo, an orphaned baby orangutan, they must build a rehabilitation center, start a reforestation nursery, and engage local communities through education and conservation efforts. Guided by Dr. Willie Smits, they launch Earthwatchers, a global satellite monitoring system, rallying students worldwide to defend threatened forests. When bulldozers endanger a nearby community, their mission is put to the test. This is the story of modern eco-warriors, individuals proving that every action counts in the fight for a more balanced, humane world.
Show Me Democracy: Student Activism Amidst the Uprising in Ferguson
Watch Show Me Democracy: Student Activism Amidst the Uprising in Ferguson on Kanopy
Amidst the uprising in Ferguson, MO, seven St. Louis college students evolve into activists as they demand change through policy and protest. This film examines their personal lives and backgrounds as each of them copes with the fallout of Ferguson. Six of the students fight for education policy reform through their internship program and try to create more opportunities for low-income and DACA students in their state. One of the seven joins the Black Lives Matter movement and organizes several protests to demonstrate against ongoing racial injustice. Following her on the ground, the camera captures several of her tension-filled protests including a night in Ferguson when the police tear gas protesters.
The Library That Dolly Built
Watch The Library That Dolly Built on Kanopy
A feature-length documentary focusing on the history, impact and future of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a global book gifting program.