Bus driver Carlos Benjamin leans on the vehicle that will be something of a home to him and his crew for the month of October. It’s huge and covered in graphics, and printed on the side in yellow and black are the words “Banned Books Tour 2023”.
The bus isn’t stacked with the usual road-trip items, such as coffee cups, clothes or daily supplies. It’s filled with thousands of books. As part of an initiative spearheaded by the New Republic, the books will be driven throughout the US to spread awareness about literary censorship and the freedom to read. Beginning in New York earlier this week, the bookmobile will visit several states and end in Texas later this month. Benjamin is excited to get going, smiling in a T-shirt that reads “I’m with the banned”.
“I have my road trip playlist with the Lauryn Hill jams,” he said. “And Beyoncé, of course. Her hits get you moving in the morning for sure.”
Book banning in public schools has been on the rise in the US, jumping by 33% during the 2022-2023 school year, according to a new PEN America study. Florida has overtaken Texas as the state with the highest number of titles pulled off the shelves and accounts for just under half of the nationwide bans. Consistently, this censorship targets materials dealing with themes like physical abuse, sexual assault, race and LGBTQ+ identities.
“The toll of the book-banning movement is getting worse,” said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive officer of PEN America, in a press release. “More kids are losing access to books.”
The New Republic partnered with organizations like House of SpeakEasy and the American Federation of Teachers for the bookmobile tour and hopes to use it as a way to fight back against censorship. Organizers plan to hand out 20,000 books as they pass through the likes of Florida, Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky – a route chosen to align with the recent PEN data.
“Literature shouldn’t be a privilege,” Erin Cox, the executive producer of House of SpeakEasy, and who is working with the tour, said. “It should be something everyone can have access to.”
By hitting areas designated by PEN as having the highest number of book bans, the banned books tour is putting accessibility at the forefront of its agenda. Staffers have created festival events in each city to give free books to children, including banned titles – but only if requested. Information will also be shared with parents, teachers and librarians, guiding them on how best to fight against censorship in their community.
The tour coincides with the American Library Association’s banned books week, which runs from 1-7 October this year, and is run by one of the organizations at the vanguard of the fight against restricted reading. This annual event spotlights the censorship of literature in libraries and schools.
This fight to prohibit specific titles stems from many places, including coordinated pressure groups, both at local and national levels, and politicians who can influence their state legislatures.
The bans are happening alongside a broader legislative push to restrict the teaching of topics like race and gender in schools. PEN America refers to this as the nationwide “ed scare”, a campaign that has created so much anxiety it represses free expression in education.
Kym Blanchard, the New Republic’s marketing director and tour mastermind, is aware of this pressure. Before the bus even left Cadman Plaza park in Brooklyn, New York, she received word of anticipated threats.
Protests are expected in Daytona, Florida, with one group calling on the mayor to stop the bookmobile from entering the area.
“I’m not worried about violence because I’m hoping people have a sense of humanity,” Blanchard said. “I definitely foresee some protesting and picketing, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t turn into more than that.”
The New Republic’s bookmobile isn’t the first national initiative of its kind. Penguin Random House just launched Banned Wagon: A Vehicle for Change, which will be touring the US south for the duration of banned books week. Stopping in Nashville, New Orleans and elsewhere, they’ll showcase a selection of the most frequently challenged books they publish.
While Blanchard hopes this is the only year these initiatives will need to take place, she says the New Republic will tour again in 2024 if there is a need.
Benjamin, whom she’ll be driving alongside, is excited about his role in the project and the prospects that lie on the road ahead.
“We’re getting to let people know about something they may have no idea is happening,” he said. “The fact that I can play a part in stopping books being banned, well, that’s just amazing.”
