Keeping Up With Week 3 of the Banned Wagon Tour
The Banned Wagon tour enjoyed by all in Southern Pines, NC!
The Banned Wagon is on the road for its second-annual tour! The Wagon is making nine stops in communities across the Midwest and the South impacted by book bans, spreading the word about the fight against book bans.
The Wagon made its fifth, sixth, and seventh stops this past week, getting books into the hands of readers who want and need them most. Read on for more!
Stop 5: Cleveland
Large crowds in Lakewood.
The largest crowd of the tour so far with over 700 attendees and 690 banned books handed out! Attendees included readers of all ages and partners from Overdrive, including CEO, Steve Potash, staff from Play-Away, the Editor-in Chief of Library Journal, Hallie Rich, The Director of the Cleveland Public Library, Felton Thomas, and librarians from other neighboring towns, such as Rocky River, Cuyahoga, and Westlake Public libraries and more.
Stop 6: Richmond
Lined up in Richmond.
On Saturday morning, over 70 people lined up in the beautiful downtown square outside of Fountain Bookstore to wait for the events to begin. The line remained throughout the day with over 500 in attendance and 490 banned books handed out.
Stop 7: Southern Pines
On Tuesday, October 18, the Wagon traveled to Southern Pines, NC to visit The Country Bookshop. With the mayor, several candidates for school board, and a high school English teacher in attendance, we handed out more than 550 books to 575 attendees. Southern Pines has struggled with book bans directly via their school board, so the community especially appreciated our stop!
Upcoming Stops
We unfortunately had to make the tough decision to cancel our stop this Friday, October 11 in Gainesville, FL due to Hurricane Milton. Apologies to any in Florida who were planning to attend—we’re sending hopes that you are safe and well during this extreme time.
Our final stop is coming up this weekend—if you’re in the area, we’d love to see you there!
Austin, TX
Tuesday, October 15, 12:00 p.m. CT
Black Pearl Books
7112 Burnet Road
More on the Tour
For more information on The Banned Wagon Tour, including event details and featured titles, check out our tour website.
If you live along the tour route, we hope you’ll stop by one of The Banned Wagon events! Feel free to drop in photos here if you attend, and you may see them featured in recaps!
For questions about the campaign, contact Alyssa Taylor. And to learn more about what else Penguin Random House is doing – and what you can do – to protect the freedom to read, check out our Banned Books Site.