Since the inception of Banned Books Week in 1982, libraries and bookstores throughout the country have staged local read-outs as part of their activities. This year, for the first time, readers from around the world will be able to participate virtually in Banned Books Week, Sept. 24 – Oct.1. During this year’s celebration of Banned Books Week, readers will be able to proclaim the virtues of their favorite banned books by posting videos of themselves reading excerpts to a dedicated YouTube channel.

Most people will use the instructions below to upload videos. If you are a bookseller, please contact Chris Finan at chrisabffe [dot] org for special instructions. If you are a librarian and would like more information other than what is listed below, please contact Nanette Perez at nperezala [dot] org.

When you can upload videos

You can start uploading videos now and throughout Banned Books Week. You are also welcome to post after the week and throughout the year.

Criteria

You have two video options for the Banned Books Virtual Read-Out:

1) You can submit a video no more than two minutes long of a reading from a banned or challenged book. Here is a list of banned literary classics as well as a list of frequently challenged books throughout the years. You should also check out Mapping Censorship and Robert P. Doyle's Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read for more ideas. Banned Books: Challenging our Freedom to Read is available for purchase at the ALA Store or can be found at your local public library.

2) A video of an eyewitness account of local challenges can be submitted. This video should be no longer than three minutes long.

How to upload your videos

You will need a YouTube or Google account in order to participate. Once you have one, please sign into YouTube and follow their instructions on how to upload a video. A video tutorial on how to upload onto YouTube can be found here.

As the video downloads, you will need to update the TItle, Description, and Tag fields with the following information to help ensure that your video will be featured on the Banned Books Week Read-Out channel:

Title
The title of your video should include "Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out." A good example is "A reading from The Perks of Being a Wallflower for the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-out" or "Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out: A reading from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Description
You may use the description to explain why the book you chose to read an excerpt from is your favorite banned/challenged book or offer more details about an eyewitness account of local challenges.

Tag
The most important part of the download is the tag. Please tag your video with "virtualreadout" to help ensure that the video will be featured on the Banned Books Week You Tube Channel.

Final Step

Once you have posted your video, please send e-mail with the subject heading "Link for the BBW Virtual Read-Out!" to bbwala [dot] org with the link to your video. The video will then be featured on the Banned Books Week YouTube channel. Please allow a couple days for your video to be featured on the channel.