Offsite: Banned Books Week Panel: Protect the Freedom to Read!

Join us for a panel with NYCLU, librarian Karissa O'Reilly, authors Sonja Cherry-Paul & Rhonda Roumani, and advocate Philomena Polefrone! Event guidelines: • RSVPs are encouraged but not required for this event. • Additional copies of the authors' books will be available for purchase at the event. • Home address is collected for contact tracing purposes; it will not be used otherwise. • The event will also be livestreamed for free here: https://youtube.com/live/XCKbzKqhteg • As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected]. This Banned Books Week, we're partnering with the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Brooklyn Public Library to discuss how to fight books bans and support banned authors here in NYC! Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. By focusing on efforts to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. Typically (but not always) held during the last week of September, the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. This year, Books Are Magic is partnering with the New York Civil Liberties Union to present a conversation on protecting the freedom to read in schools, libraries, bookstores, and beyond! The panel features NYCLU's Executive Director Donna Lieberman, school library media specialist Karissa O'Reilly, authors Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul and Rhonda Roumani, and Pen America's Freedom to Read Senior Manager Philomena Polefrone. Karissa O'Reilly is a school library media specialist in Putnam County, NY. In 2022, she successfully defended a book against a formal challenge, an experience that subjected her to intense public scrutiny. She now advocates for intellectual freedom, libraries, and improved media literacy education in public schools. Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul is the founder of Red Clay Educators, co-director of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy, co-director of the Teach Black History All Year Institute, and executive producer and host of The Black Creators Series ™ . She is an educator with more than 20-years of classroom experience and has written several books about instruction that supports adolescent literacy development including bestsellers Antiracist Reading Revolution: A Framework for Teaching Beyond Representation Toward Liberation and Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs: A Practical Guide For Teachers. Sonja has adapted the #1 New York Times Best Seller and award-winning, Stamped (For Kids) and the NYT Best Selling, award-winning adaptation of How The Word Is Passed. Sonja is a sought-after national and international speaker who partners with schools, communities, and organizations to provide professional development in literacy and equity. Connect with her at sonjacherrypaul.com on Instagram (@SonjaCherryPaul @RedClayEducators @BlackCreatorsSeries) and LinkedIn. Rhonda Roumani is an award-winning Syrian American author and journalist. She is the author of the Middle Grade book TAGGING FREEDOM (Union Square), which received an Arab American Book Award honor, as well as the picture book INSHA’ALLAH, NO, MAYBE SO (Holiday House), which was named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She is also the author of the picture book, UMM KULTHUM: THE STAR OF THE EAST, which is the recipient of the Children’s Africana Book Award (2026) and the Middle East Book Award (2025). Philomena Polefrone (she/her) is the Senior Manager, Freedom to Read at PEN America. In her role, she oversees the research portfolio on book bans and educational censorship in K-12 schools and public libraries, raises awareness of book censorship, and contributes to advocacy and mobilization against it nationwide. Before joining PEN, she was the Associate Director of Advocacy, Public Policy, and American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) at the American Booksellers Association (ABA), where she led bookseller opposition to censorship, expanded ABFE’s education offerings with dozens of in-person and online events, and created The ABA Right to Read Handbook.