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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 22h

It kills me how much cooler you are than I'll ever be

Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 22h

My favorite part of doing Banned Books Week lessons with my students is seeing their indignant outrage at Captain Underpants being banned for nudity

Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

It is now Banned Books Week here in the United States. And while my charity bundle is still going, I want to take a moment to compile a thread about book bans for those of you who may want more information.

To start: a "banned book" does NOT refer to a book that is nationally banned (yet). (1/17)

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Reposted by Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon

Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

It is now Banned Books Week here in the United States. And while my charity bundle is still going, I want to take a moment to compile a thread about book bans for those of you who may want more information.

To start: a "banned book" does NOT refer to a book that is nationally banned (yet). (1/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 2d

Go read my thread and learn things cowards

Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

It is now Banned Books Week here in the United States. And while my charity bundle is still going, I want to take a moment to compile a thread about book bans for those of you who may want more information.

To start: a "banned book" does NOT refer to a book that is nationally banned (yet). (1/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

And if you want to pick up some games from me at a super low price AND support the work I do AND help Unite Against Book Bans, you can purchase my bundle here: itch.io/s/160722/uni...

(17/17)

Unite Against Book Bans Clawhammer Bundle by Clawhammer Games

A bundle by Clawhammer Games, $10.00 for 6 games

itch.io

Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

If you want to support Unite Against Book Bans, you can do so here: uniteagainstbookbans.org/support-the-...

(16/17)

Support the campaign to #UniteAgainstBookBans

It's the season of giving, and we're asking for your support in the fight against censorship.

uniteagainstbookbans.org

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Book bans are happening everywhere. If you live in a blue state like me, they can feel far away, but I can assure you first hand that they're not. In the last year alone I've dealt with over a dozen book challenges, and I work at a school with less than 400 students.

This is real. (15/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

You can also join Unite Against Book Bans, or donate to them. They're a national organization that's run lockstep with the American Library Association, and they (we) do great work.

My own charity bundle is donating proceeds to them too. Link is at the bottom. (14/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Write letters to your local papers speaking out against book bans. Lobby with local officials through letters or phone calls. Many local officials are literally just normal people. A lot of them will be willing to get coffee with you and chat.

It makes an enormous difference. (13/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Attend library and school board meetings (they're mandatorily public) and show your support for library workers.

Also, ASK IF THEY HAVE A POLICY FOR BOOK CHALLENGES. Many libraries don't, but they SHOULD. It may seems counterintuitive, but having that policy is armor, not a vulnerability. (12/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

I want to be crystal clear here: this is NOT NORMAL. This is a new strategy. A new attack against intellectual freedom. Libraries and schools are already under dire threat from the Trump administration, and that's putting everyone's communities on the line. You can fight back. (11/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Nearly 75% of recent book bans result from such organized campaigns or legislative measures rather than isolated parental complaints. During the 2024-25 school year alone, PEN America documented nearly 7,000 individual book bans in public schools, most in Republican-led states. (10/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

These groups often share lists of targeted books online, influence local school board decisions, and work alongside elected officials to push for new policies or legislation that restrict access to books about race, gender identity, sexuality, and history. (9/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

I'm not getting tinfoil hat here. Moms for Liberty has over 200 chapters nationwide, advocating for the removal of books about LGBTQ+ people and people of color from schools. And there are more: No Left Turn in Education, MassResistance, the list goes on. (8/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Here's the kicker: we saw more books banned in 2023 than in any other year in American history. Why? Because what started as a grassroots initiative to keep libraries "wholesome" and "appropriate," which often means anti-queer and anti-black, has become an organized, national attack strategy. (7/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

The unfortunate reality is that without a book ban policy in place, libraries are deeply, deeply susceptible to grassroots movements to get a book taken off the shelves. The complainants only need the board to say yes once. And they'll keep asking until they get the answer they want. (6/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

See, there's nothing stopping a complainant from rechallenging the next day, or week, or month. There's nothing stopping them from getting their spouse, their friends, their book club (if they even read), their neighbors, their friends at church to submit challenges as well. (5/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Once a book is challenged, if a library/school doesn't have a policy in place to handle that challenge, it's literally all down to vibes. The board or administration might meet with the complainant, they might reject the complaint outright... and that's where most complaints end. But not all. (4/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

The process of challenging a book differs from library to library, district to district. But generally speaking, a concerned community member (we'll come back to this later) will file a complaint with the library in question, either to admin (public) or the board (school). (3/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

Book bans are local, or, at worst, county-wide. There are some credibly threatening statewide book bans starting to crop up as well, but those are largely new (and deeply frightening).

In order for a book to be banned from a school or public library, it first has to be challenged. (2/17)

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 3d

It is now Banned Books Week here in the United States. And while my charity bundle is still going, I want to take a moment to compile a thread about book bans for those of you who may want more information.

To start: a "banned book" does NOT refer to a book that is nationally banned (yet). (1/17)

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Reposted by Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon

marn s. lastname @corpserevivers.bsky.social · 5d

your name is a two syllable word meaning gift from god

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Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 6d

which movie are we subtweeting this time?

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Reposted by Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon

Andrew Beauman 🔜 GameHole @andrewbeauman.com · 6d

So many Indies are scared of being an evil mega corp and instead choose poverty wages.

I've undercharged for my content due to wanting to remain "competitive" at cons. But every time I've set my prices more fairly (to myself), I've seen almost no negative reaction. Go get paid, friends.

Plus One Exp | Staying Home For PAXU (cause we live in Philly) @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 6d

When you go to print your #TTRPG remember that you need to charge at least about 6x the cost to print for sustainability.

Small to midsize publishers can take advantage of scale & you can't.

You are not Wizards, Evil Hat, Exalted Funeral, or Modiphius.

Ideally charge 10x an pay a bill.

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Reposted by Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon

AdamMakesTTRPG @adammakesttrpg.bsky.social · 6d

What an absolute bargain!

Sylvan Lawrence Is Revving Up For BATSCon @lonelamplighter.bsky.social · 6d

I've got all of my games bundled for $10 (around 90% off) to do a charity drive for Unite Against Book Bans. I would love to get some traction on it!

itch.io/s/160722/uni...

Unite Against Book Bans Clawhammer Bundle by Clawhammer Games

A bundle by Clawhammer Games, $10.00 for 6 games

itch.io

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