As more and more bills impacting our freedom to read get proposed, the importance of speaking about them directly to legislatures can not be understated. In this workshop webinar, American Bookseller Association’s Philomena Polefrone, EveryLibrary’s Peter Bromberg, and PEN America’s Laura Benitez will share the basics of testifying about bills to state legislative committees.

This webinar will go over the basics of book ban-related bills, speaking to legislative committees, and how to strategize comments to effectively get their message across. Participants will walk away with information about giving public comments and crafting the most effective possible testimony.

Participants

Philomena Polefrone (she/her) is the Associate Director of American Booksellers for Free Expression, the free expression initiative of the American Booksellers Association. She holds a PhD in American Literature from Columbia University and is the author of The ABA Right to Read Handbook: Fighting Book Bans and Why It Matters (2024).

As Associate Director for EveryLibrary Peter Bromberg brings over 30 years of library experience to his work advocating for libraries on local, state, and national levels. He provides pro bono consulting to librarians, boards, associations, ballot committees, and grassroots community groups, helping them to fight censorship through the use of effective messaging and political strategies to build coalitions and community support.

Laura Benitez (she/her) is the State Policy Manager for PEN America’s U.S. Free Expression Programs. She tracks state-level legislation and policy trends that threaten free expression, with a particular emphasis on education issues across the 50 states.