Freedom Walk: New Programming to Celebrate Our Freedom to Read

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Freedom Walk: New Programming to Celebrate Our Freedom to Read

If you're ready to shift from a banned books display for Banned Books Week to educating your community on their Freedom to Read, join us for this webinar to hear how one librarian did just that. 

In this free 60-minute webinar, participants will hear from staff at Tom C. Clark High School (TX), winner of ALA's 2024 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming, as they discuss their winning program and share tips for school library professionals interested in developing a similar program.

In the face of legislative threats and scrutiny against public school libraries and access to resources, Clark High School’s winning program centered on the freedom to read and engaged the community to understand the fundamental rights of students to access a diverse range of information and literature in their school library.

In 2023, Clark High School librarian, Lucy Podmore, redesigned the school’s traditional observance of Banned Books Week into a Freedom to Read Week, introducing the Freedom Walk, an all-encompassing event for students.

Collaborating with social studies teachers to align with curriculum, the Freedom Walk occurred during student lunch periods and comprised of five stations centered around various censorship issues. The interactive stations gave nearly 500 students the opportunity to reflect and learn about their own experiences with censorship through games and introspective prompts.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to: 

• Identify elements of the censorship issues that could be used as the foundation of your Freedom Walk.

• Customize portions of the Freedom Walk to fit your community's needs. 

This webinar is presented by ALA Public Programs Office.