The American Booksellers Association (ABA) founded The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) in 1990. The ABFFE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and promote free speech in the United States. ABFFE advises individuals who oppose book challenges and bans nationally and in local communities across the country. ABFFE provides resources and education on the importance of free expression to booksellers, politicians, the press, and the public.
Legal work
ABFFE participates in legal cases involving
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
rights, including filing an
amicus brief
An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
in the Supreme Court case ''US v Stevens''. ABFFE also filed a brief in
Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations and celebrated two free speech victories in the courts after filing briefs in the
American Academy of Religion
The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association,
serving as a profes ...
,
Association of American University Presses
The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is an association of mostly, but not exclusively, North American university presses. It is based in New York City. Until December 2017, it was known as the Association of American University Presses ...
,
PEN American Center
PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate Freedom of speech, free expression in the United States and worldwide through the ad ...
, ''Ramadan v Chertoff et al.'' and ''Trump v O’Brien''. ABFFE is active in a five-year campaign to restore reader privacy safeguards affected by the
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of Congress, Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President of the United States, President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniti ...
.
The ABFFE tracks all cases of attempts by law enforcement to seize bookstore records.
Activities
Each year, ABFFE sponsors
Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individu ...
, a national celebration of the right to read, in conjunction with the
American Booksellers Association
The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States. ABA's core members are key participants in their communities' local economy and culture, and t ...
, the
Association of American Publishers
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercia ...
, the
American Society of Journalists and Authors
The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is the professional association of independent nonfiction writers in the United States.
History
The organization was established in ...
, the National Association of College Stores, and the
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
.
ABFFE also sponsors the ''Kids’ Right to Read Project'', a collaboration with the
National Coalition Against Censorship
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), founded in 1974, is an alliance of 50 American non-profit organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups. NCAC is a New York-bas ...
, that "offers support, education, and advocacy to people facing book challenges or bans and engages local activists in promoting the freedom to read."
See also
*''
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References
{{reflist
External links
Official website
Non-profit organizations based in New York City
Bookselling trade associations