Two panel discussions will be held in Bucks County on Saturday, October 25, by the authors of Ban This! How One School Fought Two Book Bans and Won (and How You Can Too).
Ban This! recounts the successful fight by school teachers and students against an unprecedented effort to ban library books by some members of the Central York School District School Board in September 2021.
“We are all looking for some kind of hope; for someone who has been successful in taking on the far right,” said Barbara Simmons, executive director of The Peace Center in Langhorne.
Ban This! Is a collection of essays written by Central York High School teachers Ben Hodge and Patricia A. Jackson, and (now former) students Christina Ellis, Renee Ellis, Edha Gupta and Olivia Pituch.
At the Bucks County events, Ellis, Hodge, Jackson and Pituch will discuss how a creative, effective response to book challenges can be a successful blueprint to use.
“While Bucks County has had some very consequential school board elections in the past, there is a pendulum,” said Emily Smith, Bucks County Beacon owner and publisher, referencing the 2021 elections when school board directors who aligned with groups like Moms for Liberty got elected.
“They tried to ban books in multiple school districts in Bucks. The pendulum swung and anti-inclusion majorities were voted out in 2023 in multiple school districts. This is usually when the pendulum swings back, because of both apathy and complacency,” Smith said.
Smith noted the Ban This! event, hosted by the Bucks County Beacon along with The Peace Center, Bucks County NAACP, and The Rainbow Room “can inform residents of warning signs and solutions to prevent the same thing from happening again.”
During the October 25 events, the authors will share insights into the arguments against the common reasons given to ban books in schools and public libraries; their experiences defending intellectual freedom and tips for those who wish to speak out against censorship, the press release said.
“So often, municipal elections are overlooked, and voter turnout is abysmal. It’s during those elections that school board members, township and borough council members and judges are elected,” Smith said.
READ: We Must Continue to Defend the Freedom to Read in Central Bucks School District
“Generally, less than 30% of voters vote for the positions that affect people’s lives the most. Having these book events featuring community members who fought book bans in their school district is important at this moment, because individuals have the most say in what is happening in their schools when they vote on November 4,” Smith said.
A sample from the book may be found here.
The first discussion will be held at 3 p.m., inside Newtown Friends Meeting House, located at 219 Court St.; the second will be held at 7 p.m. inside Salem United Church of Christ, 186 E. Court St. in Doylestown. Tickets cost $5.
Newtown afternoon event tickets may be purchased on this Eventbrite link.
Doylestown evening tickets may be purchased on this Eventbrite link.
“Parents have always had a choice to opt out of a book they don’t want their children to read,” Simmons explained.
She said banning books in public schools is censorship, and it needs to be called out as such.
“Let’s try to help others understand that whatever you call it, if it keeps books away from all students rather than those that opt out” it is book banning, Simmons noted.
Simmons said the idea that books containing DEI material should be banned from public school libraries or that erasing American history because “white people will feel bad” creates educational hardships and conflicts for public school educators and that “this is the [climate] public school officials are dealing with” right now.
The panel discussions are meant to not only inspire those who support intellectual freedom, but to understand how the authors were able to muster the courage and to effectively organize to push back.
“To find educators and students who stood up and won, it’s inspiring. How they did it, what the moral courage was and what was the price to pay for that moral courage. We need this kind of inspiration to keep going,” Simmons said.
She hopes the Ban This! events will inspire local residents to run for school board positions or support school board members already in place who are working against book banning in their districts.
If you go:
What: “Ban This! How One School Fought Two Book Bans and Won” authors share their experiences working against book bans in 2021 in the Central York School District in York County, PA.
When: Saturday, October 25, 2025. Newtown event at 3 p.m.; Doylestown event at 7 p.m.
Where: Newtown Friends Meeting House, located at 219 Court St., Newtown. Salem United Church of Christ, located at 186 E. Court St., in Doylestown
Cost: $5 registration fee.
Registration: Newtown afternoon event tickets may be purchased on this Eventbrite link. Doylestown evening tickets may be purchased on this Eventbrite link.
