Judith Krug Fund Banned Books Week Event Grants

Since 2010, Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund has disbursed grants to organizations to assist them stage "Read-Outs" or other events during Banned Books Week. (A Banned Books Week Read-Out is an event at which people gather to read from books that have been banned or challenged over the years, in order to celebrate the freedom to read.)

Banned Books Week 2013 will take place September 22-30.

Congratulations to the seven recipients of 2013 Krug Fund Banned Books Week Event Grants! 

• Judith's Reading Room
• Yuma County Library District (Ariz.)
• Lockport Public Library (La.)
• Livingston Parish Library (La.)
• Atlanta School of Law and Social Justice
• Gadsden Public Library Foundation (Ala.)
• Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library

Read more about their events in our press release.  Much more information will be forthcoming in the months leading up to Banned Books Week.

Applications for the 2013 grants are now closed. Guidelines for 2013 grant applications can be found on the application page.

Past Krug Fund grant recipients

2012

In 2012, FTRF provided eight $1,000 Krug Fund Banned Books Week event grants. For photos, check out FTRF's Facebook album. Videos are linked below. 

2012 grant recipient compilation video:

2012 Krug Fund grant announcement press release

• California Polytechnic State University, Robert E. Kennedy Library, for a talk with Stephen Chbosky, a Read-Out, and an "I'm With the Banned" Infographic featuring the most frequently challenged books of the last decade.

Videos:

• City Lit Theater Company, for "Books on the Chopping Block,” a week-long series of staged readings at Chicago-area public libraries of the previous year’s 10 most frequently challenged books as determined by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

 
• Lawrence (Kan.) Public Library, for "Banned Books Week Trading Cards,” a daily giveaway of baseball-like cards depicting the artwork and "statistics” of various banned and challenged books. Other events sponsored by the library will be a Read-Out, photo booth, panel discussion of local writers and attorneys with experience dealing with book challenges and "Cozy up to a Banned Book,” an interactive installation wherein patrons can sit in a recliner and read various library books.

• Friends of the Talkeetna (Alaska) Public Library, in support of the Second Annual Great Talkeetna Festival of Books. Unfortunately, much of the festival was cancelled due to a flood. However, the adult and children's poster competitions were successful.

 • Judith’s Reading Room, for "Freedom Through Literature,” a three-pronged media and event campaign highlighting 30 years of banned books. Each Judith’s Reading Room library was to feature banned books and Banned Books Week posters. Keynote events, including flash mobs and featured speakers, will take place at Lafayette College and Villanova University in Pennsylvania and at the University of Southern California.

• ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, was awarded a 2012 Krug Fund grant for their 17th annual "fREADom: A Celebration of the Freedom to Read,” Read-Out and the second annual "Banned After Dark” event featuring performances of banned or challenged plays, songs and other works. This is the second grant for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which also was awarded a grant in 2010.

• St. Catharine College (Ky.), for a cook-out, chalk drawings and their fifth annual, three-day-long Banned Books Week Read-Out.

 
• Simon Sanchez High School (Guam), for Read-Outs, posters and a "Roadside Wave,” featuring celebratory boards and signs. This will be the first commemoration of Banned Books Week for the school, based in Yigo on the northernmost part of Guam.

2011

Six grants were awarded in 2011: Bay County Public Library and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression each were awarded $2,500 grants; Springfield-Greene County Library District, North Dakota Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee, Thomas F. Holgate Library at Bennett College, and Skokie Public Library all received $1,000 grants.

2011 Krug Fund grant recipient press release

Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Banned Books Week 2011 compilation video

Photos from the winners of the 2011 Krug Fund-sponsored events

2010

Seven organizations were awarded Banned Books Week inaugural Krug Fund event grants in 2010. They were: Iowa City Public Library, Takoma Park Maryland Library, Canisius College, Santa Monica Public Library, St. Catharine College, Dayton Metro Library - East Branch, and ACLU of Pennsylvania.

2010 press release

2010 compilation video:

Photos from the 2010 Krug Fund-sponsored events

How to apply for a Banned Books Week event grant

Applications for the 2013 Krug Fund Banned Books Week event grants will open in late March 2013.

Questions? Contact Jonathan Kelley at jokelley@ala.org or (800) 545-2433 x4226; or Nanette Perez at nperez@ala.org or (800) 545-2433 x4221.