Banned Book Events

Martín Espada Poetry Reading

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

Ira H. Rubenzahl Student Learning Commons (Building 19), Forum (First Floor) - Campus Map

Visitors may park their cars in E Lot (near Admissions and Building 19) - Parking Map

Award-winning poet Martín Espada will read from his new book, Jailbreak of Sparrows, and answer questions from the audience. April is National Poetry Month, and Espada is one of the 28 authors featured in the STCC Library’s 2025 exhibit, Classics Reimagined: Find Belonging in Literature. 

Books will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be served. This event is open to the public.

About the Poet: Martín Espada has published more than twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. His new book of poems, Jailbreak of Sparrows, was published by Knopf in 2025. His previous book, Floaters, won the National Book Award for Poetry and a Massachusetts Book Award. His poetry collections from Norton include Vivas to Those Who Have Failed (2016), The Trouble Ball (2011), The Republic of Poetry (2006), Alabanza (2003) and Imagine the Angels of Bread (1996). He is the editor of What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump (2019). Espada has received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Creeley Award, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, the PEN/Revson Fellowship, a Letras Boricuas Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. The title poem of his collection Alabanza, about 9/11, has been widely anthologized and performed. His book of essays and poems, Zapata’s Disciple (1998), was banned in Tucson as part of the Mexican-American Studies Program outlawed by the state of Arizona. A former tenant lawyer with Su Clínica Legal in Greater Boston, Espada is a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

September 23-27, 2024 | Banned Books Week 

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. At STCC, we promote intellectual freedom all year long with the Periodic Table of Banned Books. 

We encourage you to visit the exhibit during Banned Books Week, and then enter a raffle to win one of three awesome tote bags filled with books and other goodies. 

You can enter the raffle with this online form, or get a paper ticket when you visit the library. 

Learn at the Library - Generative A.I. 

When: Feb. 22, March 7, and March 27, 2024

Where: Library Teaching Lab

Did you know that artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to support book banning in U.S. schools? According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “Broad book bans are a threat to free speech. Using generative AI tools to comply with those bans only makes them more dangerous.” This spring, the STCC library is offering a workshop series on generative AI to help STCC students, faculty, and staff learn about AI language tools: what they’re good for (or not), and how to use them safely. Practicing, proofreading, or brainstorming? Check. Book banning? Not so much!

April 13th, 2023 | Creative Writing Workshop

When: 12:30pm - 1:30pm

Where: In-person Library Lab (Building 19, 2nd floor)

April 10th, 2023 | Movies That Matter: "Shang Chi"

When: 12:15pm

Where: Building 19 Forum (ground floor)

March 20th, 2023 | Movies That Matter: "Till"

When: 12:15pm

Where: Building 19 Forum (ground floor)

March 6th, 2023 | Gift Card Giveaway!

When: Pay attention to the Banned Book of the Week starting March 6th. Enter to win by March 31 (see instructions below).

Where: Virtual

 $$$ ENTER TO WIN A $50 VISA GIFT CARD! $$$ 

ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS: Keep track of the “Banned Book of the Week” posts on the homepage of our banned books website for four weeks, starting the week of March 6th. Every Monday we post a new Banned Book of the Week. Then, fill out this form https://forms.gle/aMTA2ByXf7Eyzott9. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to be logged into your STCC email to access the form. Only STCC students are eligible. You must fill out the form by March 31st to win. If you can correctly name all four books which are featured on the website between the weeks of March 6th and March 27th, you will be entered for the chance to win! Only one student will win. The winner will be contacted via their STCC email. 

February 13th, 2023 | Movies That Matter: "Black Panther"

When: 12:15pm

Where: Building 19 Forum (ground floor)

February 6th, 2023 | Movies That Matter: "The Woman King"

When: 12:15pm

Where: Building 19 Forum (ground floor)

November 30th, 2022 | Diversity Series Speaker: Nic Stone 

When: This event already happened

Where: Virtual Event 

When we hear someone tell their story, we connect to them in a deep and more meaningful way. Beloved bestselling author NIC STONE says that stories link us together; when we listen to the lives and experiences of people who are different from us, we’ll discover our common ground. Nic’s #1 New York Times bestselling books, including the hit Dear Martin (the story of a modern teenager who writes letters to Martin Luther King Jr.) are real, emotional, and profound. She empowers us to see that our stories matter, and that we can use them to build bridges and leave a positive, vibrant legacy. 

November 9th, 2022 | Diversity Series Speaker: Dr. Lee Francis IV 

Where: Building 2 Room 703-704

Diversity Speaker & Performance Series presents Dr. Lee Francis IV for an in-person event. "Lee Francis IV, a member of Laguna Pueblo who earned a PhD from Texas State University, opened Red Planet after the first year of hosting Indigenous Comicon, in Albuquerque. “I wanted to create a space where we could continue the party all year round, and beyond an annual event.” The shop’s first titles were used books by Native authors that came from Francis’ own collection. Now he sells children’s books (quickly bought out whenever the Librarians of Color are in town for a conference) and, of course, comics. There’s even a $1 comic bookshelf for middle schoolers who stop in weekly. But for those who are visiting from other states, countries, or even continents, Red Planet is a rarity. “We are the only Native comic-book shop in the world, and only one of three Native bookstores in the U.S.,” Francis says. He uses the space as a kind of “tasting room,” for people looking to find good reads, and “as the home of Native Realities Press,” which he began in 2015." (Bio copied from Red Planet Books & Comics Website) 

November 2nd, 2022 | Banned Books Bingo

In person: Library Computer Lab, 12:15 - 1:15pm

Play Banned Books Bingo for the chance to win an STCC Swag Bag!

October 4th - November 10th, 2022 | "Murcan Tales" Exhibition by Kumasi J. Barnett 

Where: Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, Building 28 

Influenced by the aesthetics and narratives of comic books, Baltimore artist Kumasi J. Barnett’s artwork subverts and imbues the often-timeless genre with historical context and a present-day social consciousness. Beloved superheroes like “The Hulk” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” are transformed into “The Media’s Thug” and “The Amazing Black-Man.” Barnett meticulously paints directly over old copies of comic books, changing their narratives into reflections on contemporary events and the media’s portrayal of those events, and searing, sometimes painful, critiques of real social and political issues, including racism, fake news, and political corruption. Barnett will be on campus Oct 13-14 for in-person events, including meet and greet reception, student engagement activities, and Carberry Conversations interview.  See more info on the Carberry Gallery website.

October 20th, 2022 | Salons at Stowe

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is putting on a live podcast about censorship, free speech & intellectual freedom on October 20th at 7 p.m. featuring State Poet Laureate Antoinette Brim-Bell, Vonetta Lightfoot of Springfield Technical Community College & Christine Emeran of the National Coalition Against Censorship. 

October 14th, 2022 | Carberry Conversations with Kumasi J. Barnett

Join us for a virtual conversation held in the gallery between associate professor and gallery coordinator Sondra Peron and exhibiting artist Kumasi J. Barnett. All Carberry Conversations are free and open to the public via Zoom. 

October 13th, 2022 | Art Reception with Kumasi J. Barnett

Where: Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, Building 28 

The Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery celebrates Baltimore artist Kumasi J. Barnett with a reception on Thursday, October 13. “Murcan Tales,” by Kumasi J. Barnett is on view in the Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery from October 4 through November 10, 2022. This event is free and open to the public and includes a meet and greet reception and student engagement activities.

September 29th, 2022 | Diversity Series Speaker: Keith "Keef" Knight

Where: Scibelli Hall Theater (B2) 

Diversity Speaker & Performance Series Presents Keith "Keef' Knight for an in-person event. He is a cartoonist, social activist, educator and inspiration for the Hulu streaming series "Woke."