SAN RAFAEL EVENTS
NATIONAL BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2024
All over America, people are gathering during national Banned Books Week to read aloud from banned books and talk about current challenges to our intellectual freedom. Here’s what’s happening in our community.
NATIONAL BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2024
All over America, people are gathering during national Banned Books Week to read aloud from banned books and talk about current challenges to our intellectual freedom. Here’s what’s happening in our community.
WEDNESDAY 9/25
BLUE MOON COMICS | OPEN HOUSE
Offering special discounts on selected works
5:00 - 7:00 PM | 1545 FOURTH ST.
BLUE MOON COMICS | OPEN HOUSE
Offering special discounts on selected works
5:00 - 7:00 PM | 1545 FOURTH ST.
Blue Moon carries two of the most heavily banned books in America. Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning Maus has been banned for “inappropriate language,” and, as the author says, because some officials “would like to teach a nicer Holocaust.” The most challenged book in America for the past two years, Gender Queer is by the Bay Area's own Maia Kobabe . We're so proud.
THURSDAY 9/26 REBOUND BOOKSTORE | BANNED BOOK READING Local authors read from banned books; informal discussion follows. Snacks will be served. 6:00 – 7:30 PM | 1611 FOURTH ST. 
Owner Joel Eis (above) holds up the 138-page list of 6528 books targeted for censorship in 2021 - 2023 — a document as hefty as a small town phone book. The books in the window contain tags explaining why that particular work was challenged, banned, or burned. "It's outrageous," says Joel. "Book banning is un-American!"
Photo: Karen McCann During the Banned Book Lottery, customers of Friends Books will put their name in a hat and the store will hold a drawing every 15 minutes. The winner gets to choose one of the anonymous black packages and then open it to learn which banned book they'll get to take home for free. The photo above shows some of the books that will be given away in the lottery. Each book comes with a tag explaining why the work was banned. There's no charge to enter; only one prize per family. Photos: Karen McCann
SATURDAY 9/28
COPPERFIELD'S BOOKS | BANNED BOOKS COMMUNITY READ-ALOUD 2:00 - 3:00 PM | 1200 FOURTH ST. 
Copperfield's assistant manager Christina Hamilton (above) shows off last year's Banned Books Week display. This year the store is going all out with a round-table discussion and read-aloud — an all-ages, participatory event that will include blind dates with banned books and time to talk about our love of literature and how banned books have had an impact on our lives and our communities. Drinks and snacks will be provided. Photo: courtesy of Copperfield's Books.
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK PLEASURES OF THE HEART | BANNED BOOK DISPLAYS 1310 FOURTH ST. 
Erica and Citlali, owners of the sensuality boutique Pleasures of the Heart, support San Rafael's Banned Books Week activities as part of the essential human right of self-expression. They will be displaying classic books banned for "sexual themes." Photo: Karen McCann
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