Read OUT Loud, a national day of action in support of queer children’s books and the children who read them, will take place August 2 and 3. Watch part of the 24-hour read aloud on Zoom, sign up to read during the Zoom, or attend in-person events at bookstores and other venues.
The event, say organizers, is “a civic action to protest the tidal wave of book bans and censorship of LGBTQIA+ books in schools. It’s also an opportunity to boost the borrowing rate of queer kids’ books in libraries, boost sales of queer kids’ books at independent bookstores, read banned books out loud, and show queer families that we know that representation in the classroom matters. Bookstores, libraries and schools are being encouraged to host in-person book read-aloud sessions.”
You can participate in several ways:
- Read a book online during the Zoom—sign up for a 15-minute slot.
- While I’m not involved in organizing this event, I’ll note that if you need suggestions for what to read, you can visit my Database of LGBTQ Family Books to filter by ages, topics, and identities.
- Watch part of the 24-hour Zoom call on August 2 and 3, starting at 8 p.m. ET on August 2. Register here for the Zoom link to watch.
- Before each 15-minute spot, in the chat section of the Zoom, the organizers will have each reader list the title and suggested age range of the book they will be reading so parents and other adults can make informed decisions about whether it fits the age of their children who are watching.
- Attend a local in-person event. Follow the Read OUT Loud Instagram account, readoutloud4ever, for a list of participating bookstores and other venues.
- If you own or work at bookstore or other place that would like to participate, message the organizers on Insta.
The event is the brainchild of North Carolina activist and social practice artist Jeannie Regan, a bi, single mom to a 13-year-old queer kid, who is organizing the event with Emily, a queer/bi/nonbinary youth librarian living in Oregon.
Jeannie, who says her work “sits at the intersection of social justice and creative problem solving,” told me that she first became involved in queer-book-related matters when she started attending school board meetings during a controversy over the Epic! ebook app for elementary students. Some people thought that books on the app violated state rules about instruction on gender identity, sexuality, and critical race theory. “While we (concerned parents, teachers and Campaign for Southern Equality) were successful in getting Epic! reinstated, our schools and teachers remain under constant pressure,” Jeannie said. She was also motivated by the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which said that parents have the right to opt-out their children before LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books are used in the classroom.
It is important to me that the Zoom event is 24hrs—symbolically saying that we will not turn out the lights on this issue but will stay the course all through the night.
Her initial idea was to do a local read-in, but she soon received interest from people elsewhere. “This quickly evolved into imagining multiple in-person events in different locations, tailored to what each location wanted in terms of length of time, and age of reader/listener, and also having a way to connect nationally, via Zoom,” she explained. “It is important to me that the Zoom event is 24hrs—symbolically saying that we will not turn out the lights on this issue but will stay the course all through the night.”
Emily, a librarian whom Jeannie knew through a mutual friend, was happy to help make things happen. Emily said that they have long been an advocate for diverse children’s literature, including LGBTQIA+ children’s literature, in their work as a public librarian in four states. “I was drawn to public librarianship as an avenue for social justice and deeply believe in Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s view of children’s literature as mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors,” they explained. “Which is why I know how vital queer kids’ books are for ALL youth.”
“I’m already honored and grateful that we have multiple places in different states willing to host in-person events throughout August 2 to 3 for the 24-hour day of action,” they added. “To me the idea of trying to tie everything in as a national day of action showcases not only our power and solidarity as a queer community across the country, but it also shows each of us that we are not alone in this fight.”