Book-It Repertory Theatre

Book-It Repertory Theatre is raising $5,000 to support the return of our beloved Danger: Books! program

Did you know that more books have been banned during the 2022-2023 school year than ever before? In a report released on April 20, 2023, PEN America recorded 1,477 separate instances of book bans across the country, including a staggering 874 unique titles in 182 school districts and 36 states. This school year has also seen the effects of new state laws that censor ideas and materials in public schools through broad efforts to label content "harmful" and "explicit." As book bans escalate, coupled with growing legislative efforts to restrict teaching about topics such as race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities, the freedom to read, think, and learn continues to be undermined for students.

Danger: Books! is a celebration of intellectual freedom in the face of censorship. Through this program, Book-It Repertory Theatre's Arts Education Program tours to schools, libraries, community centers, and other cultural spaces across Washington State, performing excerpts from books that have been banned or challenged, such as Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Beloved by Toni Morrison, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and Alice on the Outside by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Each performance culminates in a discussion of censorship and First Amendment Rights, facilitated by Book-It actors. 

Book-It has not offered Danger: Books! for the past several seasons, but as book bans continue to escalate in an alarming and deeply undemocratic manner, we believe no program could better serve our Arts Education mission of promoting the joy of reading, enhancing student and teacher learning, and inspiring the imagination. Your GiveBIG donation will help us offset touring costs for Danger: Books! in the 2023-24 season, making it possible for us to bring these great stories and valuable dialogue to as many students across Washington as possible. 

We hope you'll GiveBIG to support the return of Danger: Books!

In the 2022-23 school year...

• 30% of the unique titles banned are about race, racism, or feature characters of color
• 26% of the unique titles banned have LGBTQ+ characters or themes
• 44% of the unique titles banned portray violence and abuse, while 38% discuss topics of health and wellbeing and 30% cover topics of death and grief.

Many of these books are removed from schools prior to formal review as school districts attempt to keep up with vague and threatening new legislation that dictates the types of books that can even be in schools, or what kinds of policies they have to follow to add new books and review their collections.

For more information, we highly recommend PEN America's recent report:
Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools

About Book-It's Arts Education Program:

Our Arts Education Program brings Book-It's mission to 50,000 youth across Washington State each year. By providing inspiring, interactive arts education in a collaborative environment that foregrounds the creativity of student participants, Book-It increases student confidence and collaboration, promotes engagement with content, and enhances reading comprehension - skills that can be applied to any subject in a curriculum and increase chances of further academic success.