Literati Acquires Follett Book Fairs
Subscription book box and online book club company Literati has acquired Follett Book Fairs. Follett first launched the book fairs for PreK-8 schools in 2017, but after the spread of Covid-19, several fairs were canceled. Last September, Follett announced that it would be closing down the fairs because it could not sustain the losses caused by the pandemic. Now, the fairs will now be rebranded Literati Book Fairs and will continue to service schools around the country. “The appeal for us was the high quality of the product,” said Jessica Ewing, founder and CEO of Literati. “Their product was really high quality and I liked that the focus of the fair was on books and not on non-book products or toys.” The fairs are already up and running in select schools in the Midwest, and schools in the Southeast can also book now for the 2022-2023 school year.
Mia P. Manansala Announces 3 More Books in Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series
In a tweet posted earlier this week, author Mia P. Manansala announced that Berkeley has purchased the next three books in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series. Manansala wrote that she was thrilled and thanked her agent and editors for their “endless support & guidance.” The first book in the series Arsenic and Adobo was released in 2021. The second novel Homicide and Halo Halo will be out in February of this year.
Grassroots Organizations Work to Get Books to Incarcerated People
Abolition Apostles, Noname’s Radical Hood Library, the Inside Books Project, Books Through Bars, and many other grassroots organizations across the country are working to get books to incarcerated people. Grassroots organizers say they hope to build relationships with incarcerated people through these book-giving programs. Daniel Schaffer, a collective member of NYC Books Through Bars, said, “It’s very much a mental health issue. Even just getting a piece of mail, a package, can be a highlight of your day, your week, your month.” The benefits of reading while incarcerated are well documented, but many of the new rules and censorship in prisons has made it more difficult for these organizations to get books to the people who need them. Visit these organizations’ websites to find out more about how you can help.
How Are Censors Encouraging Others to Join Their Campaigns?
Here’s all of this week’s book censorship news from across the USA.