Freedom to Read: Banned Books Community Conversation

As part of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's commitment to fostering our Freedom to Read, we are hosting an event on two evenings in which patrons will have the opportunity to engage in a series of short conversations about censorship in libraries across the country.

Come join us and rotate through a set of tables, in any order, in which our speakers will have half-hour conversations with the community. Refreshments will be provided at 5:30pm, and the conversations will be at 6:00pm, 6:30pm, and 7:00pm.

Throughout the night, you will have the opportunity to chat with each featured guest as well as other community members. It’s through discussions like these that we seek to engage in conversation and bridge the gaps with one another concerning our intellectual freedom.

Our event at University City Regional will feature: Tameka Fryer Brown Tameka Fryer Brown is a picture book author who writes to sow seeds of self-love, pride, connectivity, and inclusion in the hearts of children. A First Prize in the 2008 Cheerios® Spoonfuls of Stories® New Author Contest helped to launch her literary career.

Since then, her books have gone on to win awards like the Jane Addams Children’s Book Honor Award, the Charlotte Huck Honor Award, and the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award. They have also been featured on best book lists by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, New York Public Library, Bank Street College, NPR, Parents Latina Magazine, Little Free Library, Kirkus, SLJ and more.

Tameka’s most recent titles include That Flag, Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm's Fight for Change, and All the Greatness in You. Her latest picture book, Prayer Is, was released this past January. For more information on Tameka and her work, visit tamekafryerbrown.com Dr. Mark West Mark I. West is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has taught courses on children's and young adult literature since 1984.

He is also currently serving as the Interim Chair of the Department of Theatre. He is the author or editor of 26 books, most of which deal with children's literature and culture. He has written two books that relate directly to censorship: Children, Culture and Controversy and Trust You Children: Voices Against Censorship in Children's Literature.

Time Out Youth Time Out Youth Center offers support, advocacy, and opportunities for personal development and social interaction to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth ages 13-24.