Chicago Area Reading Association

We remain committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, making sure others feel accepted and that they belong.

CARA members Laura St. John, Becky McTague, Lita McClinton, and LaVerne Wright attended the 2025 IRC conference. Becky presented on supporting oracy and Laura followed up with connections to the arts and social emotional learning.

After a summer of challenging books in libraries and bookstores, the book banners are ramping up for the start of a new school year. Over the last week, we have once again tracked an increase in the number of books being pulled off of school library and classroom shelves across the country, with one school district in Florida freezing all book purchasing by its employees - and even book donations to it's schools - in the wake of Florida HB 1467, which requires all reading material in schools to be selected by an employee with special certification approved by the state (see article linked below).

Because we continue to feel frantic over this developing situation and have no idea what else to do, we continue to update our lists and displays of banned titles and we highly encourage you to read them and make up your OWN mind about them.

Here is our most current list of in-stock books facing censorship challenges in our country at the moment: https://www.andersonsbookshop.com/banned-books

*Want to learn more?*

For more about the situation in Sarasota, Florida: https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2022/08/12/sarasota-schools-library-book-purchases-donations-frozen/10307632002/

Learn more about the history of banned books, and get ready to celebrate the annual Banned Books Week 9/18-9/24: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

Pen America created an index in April (that has since grown) of these challenged books, and provided definitions of Banned, Challenged, etc.. that you might find helpful: https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/

Lesson Plan: Discuss 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” | Lesson Plan | PBS NewsHour Extra In this NewsHour lesson, students will examine the message and goals of poet Amanda Gorman as she prepares to speak at the presidential inauguration.

Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)

Introducing the finalists for the young reader’s literature category of the Book Prize. Congrats to all the finalists! So honored the judges selected : Racism, Antiracism, and You. 🙏🏾

Ibram X. Kendi on "How to Be an Antiracist" National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi discusses "How to Be an Antiracist."

Celebrating Juneteenth 2020 with The New York Public Library Join The New York Public Library as we celebrate Juneteenth on June 19, 2020. Discover the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation List for Young Readers, and engage with our online events for viewers of all ages, including an afternoon of music, conversation, and reflection, as well as special Juneteen...

ETA Created by Michelle Hamburger and Kimberly Slater Haim.
This was created in a teacher group. Lots of wonderful resources for parents and great for summer reading with kiddos! Every book or image is a clickable link.

BLM Reading Room