Submit your art for Banned Books Week trading cards

BANNED BOOKS WEEK, the annual celebration of the freedom to read, will run from September 27 through October 3, 2015, and will be observed in libraries, schools, bookstores and other community settings across the country.

This year, Banned Books Week will focus on Young Adult fiction. In recent years, the most frequently challenged books in libraries have been Young Adult (YA) titles. Six YA titles were on the list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2014, according to the American Library
Association. Attempted bans on books of all kinds also frequently occur under the guise of protecting younger audiences.

One of the features of this year’s activities will be the creation of Banned Books Trading Cards. Chapel Hill Public Library is just one of many sponsoring a competition for artwork for these cards. The library is asking local artists from Orange, Durham, Wake, Chatham and Alamance Counties in North Carolina to create small (5” wide and 7” tall) works of art inspired by a banned or challenged book or author.

Seven of this year’s new works will be selected by a jury and printed as trading cards. The artwork will appear on the front of the card and the artist’s statement as well as information about the book and its author will be on the back. Winners will receive a $100 prize. There will also be a special $100 award for best entry by an artist under the age of eighteen. All entries will be displayed during Banned Books Week.

All entries must be received by August 17, 2015. For details, guidelines and rules of submission, see chapelhillpubliclibrary.org.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Association of College Stores, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, People For the American Way Foundation, PEN American Center, and Project Censored.