How to do a Banned Book Give Away

At Half Yearly Meeting, Beeg Camarota gave a workshop on how Deland Quakers organized successful banned book giveaway events; and with Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations coming up in January, they want to encourage other Meetings and Worship Groups to do the same.

In response to the State of Florida restricting the teaching of Black history and gender diversity in Florida public schools, and banning a long list of books on these subjects from school and classroom libraries, Deland Worship Group felt a leading to take action. With a Juneteenth celebration coming up in Deland, they decided to give away children’s books on Black history, and reserved a booth.

They started collecting books. They gathered banned books that school libraries were getting rid of, and searched library bookstores and used bookstores. They contacted retail bookstores, asking for discounts. They raised funds to buy books, getting the message out among Quakers across the country and on social media: “We’re trying to give out banned books in Florida!” They also got the word out about their plans by writing letters to the editor, and contacting small, local newspapers, who were happy to have a news to report. They reached out to the Unitarian Universalists. They found bookstores that would put a box at their cashier for customers to donate books.

The response was amazing. “Everyone wants to do something to help Florida,” Beeg said, “and this is something concrete they can do.”

The group had collected 500 books on Black history by the time the re-scheduled Deland Juneteenth celebration was held on July 29th. Nearly all of the books were given away, to children and youth who were very eager to read about their own history. News of this action was written up and published in an wonderful article in the Daytona Beach News Journal, ‘Seeking the light’ In a violent and troubled world, Quakers search for peaceful solutions and on this website, Deland Quakers Give Away Black History Books.

Beeg Camarota giving workshop at HYM

Following the Juneteenth event, Deland Friends partnered with Deland Pride to give away children’s books on gender diversity last October for banned book week.

This witness has energized Deland Friends in deeply spiritual ways; and they encourage other Meetings and Worship Groups in Florida to consider whether they, too, are led to take this up.

Beeg re-capped the basic steps and ingredients involved:

• Get permission to have a booth or table at an event. Martin Luther Kink Jr. celebrations would be a great venue, and are coming up soon. Other ideas are to give away books at Black history museums or other venues.
• Contact other organizations who you can partner with, for example, the Unitarian Universalists.
• Start collecting books. You need to have a lot of books for a giveaway.
• Have a place to store books. (The UUs offered a classroom they weren’t using).
• Get the word out.
• Collect donations of funds and books.
• Purchase books with donated funds; get discounts from booksellers.
• Find f/Friends who can transport books.
• If needed, find a tent and tables for the booth.
• Send photos and articles to local newspapers, before and/or after the event.

Interested Friends can email Beeg Camarota or call her at 386/337-5204 for more details.

If you or your Meeting are not planning to do your own book giveaway, you can still participate by sending books to Deland Quakers. You can order books from Amazon, First Book Marketplace, EveryLibrary Institute or any other source and have them directly shipped to Beeg Camarota, 742 Lindley Blvd., DeLand, FL 32724.

Deland Quakers at Deland Juneteenth Celebration