Judith Krug Fund Banned Books Week Event Grants

Each year FTRF distributes grants to non-profit organizations to support activities which raise awareness of intellectual freedom and censorship issues during the annual Banned Books Week celebration (September 22-28, 2019). Libraries, schools and universities are encouraged to apply. Grants are awarded at two levels, $1,000 and $2,500. To be eligible for a grant, organizations must not have been a recipient of an FTRF grant within the past five years.

Grantees are encouraged to share their events on social media and local press. A follow-up report detailing expenditures, numbers of participants, links to press coverage, and a narrative of the event is due within six weeks of the Banned Books Week celebration.

The 2019 Banned Books Week celebration is September 22-28, 2019. Click here to apply 

2018 Banned Books Week Grant Recipients

Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA. Library staff will host an "Edible Banned Books Festival," where professional and amateur bakers create a banned book cake masterpiece. Local patrons and community partners will vote for noteworthy banned book delicacies and bid on their favorite cakes to then take home. All money raised will be donated to Literacy Volunteers of the Winchester Area.

Independence Public Library, Independence, KS. The library will promote three local events: a community-wide mural competition with a concept of the freedom to read; a debate between the local community college and high school debate teams about censorship; and “Rock the Block: I’m with the Banned,” a community-wide street celebration celebrating the freedom to read.

James F. Byrnes High School, Duncan, SC.  In their program “Some Rights Reserved: South Carolina Speaks Out,” students and staff will highlight book challenges that have occurred in South Carolina and censorship issues in STEAM.

Moreno Valley High School Book Club, Moreno Valley, CA. The highschool will plan activities such as a banned book “cartmobile,” a jailbird photo booth opp, a hands on trivia game, crafts and an informal book discussion. This will be their first Banned Book Week/Freedom to Read event.

Suffolk Public Library, Suffolk, VA.Through their “Banning Books Silencing Stories: Alt Rebels” program, library staff, patrons, and community members of all ages will be given the opportunity to explore and focus on banned books as seen through the lens of an alternative universe scenario where books are banned, and ideas are dangerous.

Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC. The university will highlight books that have been banned across the state of North Carolina in libraries and in prison systems. Interactive week-long activities will build off this year’s theme of “Banning Books Silences Stories.”

From the 2016 Grantees

On the evening of Friday, April 15, 2016 Banned: A community conversation about censorship and free speech (Banned) and Friends of Hemming Park co-hosted The Lorax Movie and Green Market, a family-friendly event in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Event activities tied together two important issues during the week preceding Earth Day: the need to protect trees and our environment and the freedom to read. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is a favorite banned classic that highlights the environmental impact of deforestation; the Year of the Trees was the Earth Day 2016 theme.

Troy University Libraries, a 2016 BBW grant recipient, celebrates the freedom to read.

Past Krug Fund grant recipients

Banned Books Week 2017

Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Smith River, Calif
Rutgers University Libraries in New Brunswick, NJ
Carrol County Library in Huntingdon, Tenn.
University of North Florida’s Thomas G. Carpenter Library in Jacksonville, Fla.
Alhambra Civic Center Library in Alhambra, Calif. 
Thorntown Public Library in Thorntown, Ind. 
City Lit Theater Company in Chicago, IL

Banned Books Week 2016

Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library, Tucson, AZ
Kimbel Library and Bryan Information Commons, Conway, SC
Springfield Local High School, New Middletown, OH
Saint Paul Public Library, Saint Paul, MN
Troy University Libraries, Troy, AL
The Water Buffalo Club, Los Angeles, CA

Banned Books Week 2015

Chapel Hill Public Library, Chapel Hill, NC.
Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis, IN.
Remembering for the Future Community Holocaust Initiative in Neptune Beach, FL.
SA Youth, an organization that works with at-risk youth in San Antonio, TX.
Virginia Beach Public Library, VA.

Read more in our press release.

Banned Books Week 2014

Seven organizations were recipients of 2014 Krug Fund Banned Books Week event grants!

Read more about their grants in our press release. 

Banned Books Week 2013

Seven organizations were recipients of 2013 Krug Fund Banned Books Week event grants! 

Read more about their grants in our press release. 

Banned Books Week 2012 

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

        

Two of the 2012 Krug Fund recipients subsequently received $10,000 John Cotton Dana awards for excellence in promotion of library services.  Congratulations to Cal Poly's Kennedy Library and Lawrence Public Library! 

Banned Books Week 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. 

Banned Books Week 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.