Banned Together Screening

Since it was published in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, the dystopian novel detailing the ills of a society where books are illegal, has been widely taught in high school English. Yet, in recent years book banning has somehow become more common. For example, PEN America, an organization dedicated to protecting free expression in literature, found more than 10,000 instances of book banning during the 2023-24 school year. That’s why films like Banned Together, showing at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library a day before the presidential inauguration, are important to view. The 90-minute documentary details the story of students in Beaufort, South Carolina, who fight to reinstate books removed from their school’s library. Throughout the film, their work against censorship reveals the “dark forces behind the accelerating wave of book bans in the U.S.”

Banned Together Screening • Sun, Jan. 19 from 2-4 pm • Free • Ages 12+ • Coeur d’Alene Public Library • 702 E. Front Ave., Coeur d’Alene • cdalibrary.org