CBC & ECAR Free Speech Award

The Children’s Book Council (CBC) and Every Child a Reader (ECAR) annual Free Speech Award recognizes the exceptional work of advocates of free speech. Co-sponsors of this award are Publishers Spotlight, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, and The Stratton Fund at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

This newly created annual award honors a person who has done exceptional work in the area of preserving every young person’s access to books and every author’s freedom of speech and expression. Beginning in 2025, the CBC and Every Child a Reader will recognize a person who has made—and continues to make—a vital and lasting impact in the fight against book banning.

2025 CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL & EVERY CHILD A READER FREE SPEECH AWARD WINNER

The Children’s Book Council (CBC) and Every Child a Reader, the CBC’s award-winning 501c3 literacy charity, is very pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural Children’s Book Council & Every Child a Reader Free Speech Award.

Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson, an author, poet, and writing teacher, is nationally known as a fierce advocate for young people’s freedom to read and carries out her mission as an independent researcher focused on the networks, organizations, and individual actors who are leading book banning and book challenge efforts in our nation’s school libraries and public libraries.

Carl Lennertz, Executive Director of the CBC and Every Child a Reader, said, “We’ve been in the fight against book bans along with other major national organizations for over five years now and counting, and Dr. Magnusson’s work has been pivotal to all of us and the media as the leading researcher tracking book bans and challenges in all 50 states. Her work is selfless, passionate, and vital to the cause of free speech. It’s time that she be recognized for this heroic work.”

Tasslyn Magnusson said, “I’m deeply honored to be recognized by the CBC and Every Child A Reader. I love children’s literature. It changes lives; it saves lives. Everyone involved with producing literature understands this, from the authors to the editors, from the illustrators to the publishers. They understand that stories shape how young people understand the world, their capacity to imagine it better. They listen to young people; they meet their needs. You never know which access to which book is going to inspire the next generation of scientists, doctors, educators — and storytellers. That is the beauty of children’s literature and the magic of its home – the library. When I saw this very special thing threatened, I had to act. Authors who had helped me, taught me, inspired me, were asking for help tracking the bans on their books that were spreading like wildfire. I had to do something. I started counting. 

Books saved me – as a child and adult. And every kid deserves the chance for a book to do the same. To give them a mirror to find themselves and their voice or a keyhole through which to understand difference. This is what I hope my work will ultimately do: celebrate literature for children and young people and restore the freedom to read and learn that is a fundamental right of us all. 

Please know that I have not done this work alone. I share this award with an array of extraordinary people who also do what they can, where they can, in the fight against book censorship. I share this with parents in Florida and Texas and journalists in Illinois, with my incredible colleagues and countless allies, and with the teachers and librarians who have borne the brunt of standing up to defend our books in the face of a tidal wave of hate, censorship, and recrimination. But most of all, I share this with the writers and readers who make children’s literature transformative. I do this work so that they can continue to do so, today and into the future.”

Dr. Magnusson’s spreadsheet of book bans and challenges has been available online since October 2021 to aid library organizations, library staff, education stakeholders, and concerned parents. All these resources continue to be available free of charge to aid local and statewide efforts to defend the freedom to read, the role of libraries in communities and schools, and, most especially, support the people and ideas the books represent.

The CBC will donate 250 new children’s books to a library, libraries, or charities of her choice and Lennertz will discuss Dr. Magnusson’s work with her on a CBC-sponsored Zoom call in the spring.

If you would like to donate in support of our work in fighting against book bans, Every Child a Reader has an easy-to-use tax-deductible donation page.

Read more about our work in the fight against book bans.