Fall-ing for Books This September

September is a hopping month for book lovers and readers, and National Read a Book Day, Buy a Book Day, Libraries Remember Day and Banned Books Week prove it! And it couldn’t be easier for you and your student to celebrate them.

Read and Buy

On September 6 Read a Book Day, take a couple of hours to indulge in a new story or an old favorite.

Support your local bookstore by purchasing (online or in person) a book for Buy a Book Day on September 7. Consider visiting your local thrift stores and flea markets for some great finds. You never know what hidden treasures you might find there!

Pro-tip:. Make a “date” with your student to go browsing. Designate quiet time to read at home. Or bring your favorite reading material to your local coffee shop and grab a pumpkin spice latte. Ahhh….Fall.

Hit the stacks!

Participate in Libraries Remember Day. Started in response to the 9/11 attacks it is a day to celebrate the role that libraries play in the preservation of history and social welfare. Take your student to the library and reacquaint yourselves with all your local facility has to offer. There is no shortage of ways you can engage with literature at your library:

Kick it old school with a printed novel or collection of short stories, or poems.
Get lost in the illustrations of a graphic novel.
Go digital with an e-reader, or reading app on your phone, tablet, or laptop.
Read with your ears by choosing an audiobook. Pro-tip: Audiobooks make household chores, errands, and long car rides a lot more tolerable!

Start a literary rebellion!

Towards the end of the month, September 18-24, celebrate the bookish rebellion that is known as Banned Books Week. Launched in 1982 in response to the massive surge of reading material being challenged, this week historically brings the book community together to educate on the issue of censorship. This year’s theme, “Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us” will be the driving force in advocating for the right to read.

Writer and activist George M. Johnson, a critically acclaimed and frequently banned author for their memoirs All Boys Aren’t Blue, and We Are Not Broken, has been named Honorary Chair for 2022. Read more about them, their work here.

Participate in Banned Books Week by supporting various sponsors, and engaging with a book off this year’s Top 10 Challenged Books. Start a mini-book club with your student by reading the same book off the challenged list. Discuss why you think others might want to censor that work. You can also send a note of encouragement and appreciation to a banned author. The American Library Association has a letter writing campaign to put you in touch with some of them.

September is the perfect time for you and your student to have a literary adventure. Now, off you go!

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Sharon Enck