“If you're for the right thing, you do it without thinking.”
— Maya Angelou
The Project
I Know Why the Caged Book Sings is a grassroots project dedicated to reclaiming banned books and returning them to our communities.
The current administration is working to erase freedom of speech, the press, and assembly, especially through the implementation of book bans. This project aims to restore these First Amendment rights by stocking local free libraries with titles targeted for their themes of identity, including race, gender, sexuality, and power—because free minds need free access.
Starting in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve stocked local free libraries in our neighborhood with curated titles of books whose themes are more relevant now than ever—we invite you to take action towards collective change and connection by doing the same in your own community.
Join our quiet literary resistance.
How to Get Started
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Visit our book list for suggestions.
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Find a free lending library near you.
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Join us on Instagram.
We stamp each book with the logo designed for this project. Thank you to GetStampeduk for the logo design—we appreciate your creativity and are grateful that your work is part of the project.
