(Image: Seattle Women’s Chorus)

12th Ave is home to the city newest little free library as the Seattle Women’s Chorus headquarters has become a center of celebrating free expression with a banned book drive and Saturday’s performances of a Banned & Beloved concert at First Hill’s Town Hall:

Banning books is a nationwide issue. In just the first half of the 2022-23 school year, there were 1,477 instances of individual books banned, an increase of 28 percent from the second half of the prior school year, the vast majority of which are written by or about LGBTQIA+ individuals and people of color and centered on race, sexual orientation and gender, according to PEN America.

While Washington state is often praised as a progressive safe haven for diverse voices and inclusion, books continue to be challenged – most notably over the past few years in the Kent, Mukilteo and Walla Walla school districts. Overall, books challenged in Washington jumped from 10 to 42 between 2017 and 2021, according to the American Library Association.

Donated banned books were collected at Third Place Books locations and placed in little free libraries across the area. Some contained free tickets to the Saturday performance.

The new Banned & Beloved concert features custom-composed songs based on banned books, with performances at 1 PM and 5 PM on Saturday, February 3rd at Town Hall. Learn more at seattlechoruses.org.

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