Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship

August 2025 LPL Board of Control Regular Meeting
2025-08-04 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
The regular monthly meeting of the Lafayette Public Library Board of Control. Agenda below.

August 2025 Banned Book Club
2025-08-21 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our August book is Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter, gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul – her life. (Fiction, Young Adult)
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ Resumé for Crank.

September 2025 LPL Board of Control Regular Meeting
2025-09-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
The regular monthly meeting of the Lafayette Public Library Board of Control. Agenda HERE when available.

September 2025 Banned Book Club
2025-09-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our September book is The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
The unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world’s most gifted and imaginative storytellers. The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future. One of the most important novels of the twentieth century, The House of the Spirits is an enthralling epic that spans decades and lives, weaving the personal and the political into a universal story of love, magic, and fate. (Fiction, Adult)
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ Resumé for The House of the Spirits.

Banned Books Week 2025: Read-In!
2025-10-04 11:30 - 13:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us at Cavalier House Books as we kick off Banned Books Week 2025!

Read‑In: 11:30 am – 1:00 pm – Bring your favorite banned or challenged book (or grab one in‑store) and let’s read together!

📖 Follow‑Up: 1:00 pm – Meet Amanda Jones, author of That Librarian, newly released in paperback! Amanda will share insights, answer questions, and discuss why protecting books matters now more than ever!

📍 Location: Cavalier House Books Lafayette 302A Jefferson Street

More Details & RSVP: https://bontempstix.com/events/an-afternoon-with-amanda-jones-10-4-2025

Let’s turn pages, raise voices, and champion the right to read. See you there!

An Afternoon with Amanda Jones!
2025-10-04 13:00 - 15:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
LCAC is partnering with Cavalier House Books to sponsor An Afternoon with Amanda Jones, celebrating the paperback release of her bestselling book, That Librarian. From Cavalier’s description:
We’re celebrating Banned Books Week at CHB Lafayette with special guest Amanda Jones!
Amanda will be in the store at 1 p.m. on Oct. 4 to discuss and sign her topical book, That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America in a Q&A moderated by Lynette Mejia and Melanie Brevis (both with Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship)!
That Librarian chronicles Amanda’s fight against the Livingston Parish Library Board as she stood up for diverse voices being featured on the libraries’ shelves. In the book, she shines a spotlight on the national book banning crisis plaguing the U.S. and calls on readers to rise up in defense of books.
Amanda’s visit will coincide with the release of the paperback version of That Librarian, which can be pre-ordered by 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 3 through Bon Temps Tix! Remaining copies will be available in the bookshop for the event. Her visit also coincides with the release of The Librarians documentary!
Secure your seat to this afternoon chat with Amanda through Bon Temps Tix – tickets are free!

2025 LCAC Annual Year-End Recap and Community Dinner
2025-10-08 17:30 - 20:00 | Trendy Spaces, 102 Carmel Dr, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
You’re invited to an evening of celebration and friendship as Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship hosts our annual dinner and awards banquet. This year we’ve won some incredible victories in the fight to save our library, so let’s take a moment of joy to reflect and relax! Enjoy a delicious dinner as we share our work throughout the year, highlighting everything we’ve achieved and the work we have left to do. We’ll also be presenting the LCAC FREADom Award to a member of our community who has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Lafayette Public Library remains a place where everyone feels welcome and represented. Censorship Is So 1984, so leave the Thought Police at home and come pass a good time with us!
Expect a night of celebration, recognition, and (of course) our signature Board of Control themed cocktails! Tickets are $10, and include dinner & a swag bag. A cash bar will also be available.
Don’t miss out – limited tickets available, so get yours today! Tickets available HERE.

October 2025 Banned Book Club
2025-10-16 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our October book is Maus by Art Spiegelman. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times).
Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us. (Amazon)
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resumé for Maus.

October 2025 LPL Board of Control Meeting
2025-10-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States

November 2025 LPL Board of Control Meeting
2025-11-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States

November 2025 Banned Book Club
2025-11-18 18:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our November book is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexi. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
About the Book:
A National Book Award winner
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner
Bestselling and award winning author Sherman Alexie tells the hearbreaking yet funny story about a boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation who wants to break free of the life he was destined to live.
Junior is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, based on the author’s own experiences and coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character’s art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resumé for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.

November 2025 Special Board Meeting
2025-11-19 14:30 - 16:30 | LCG Government Building, 705 N. University Ave, Lafayette, LA, 70506, United States
This is the yearly board training on LA open meetings law and the First Amendment as mandated by the lawsuit settlement agreed to in July. Note it will be held in the auditorium at the LCG building on N. University Avenue. You can find the agenda HERE.

December 2025 Banned Book Club - Gender Queer
2025-12-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our December book is Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. Stop in or order your copy (regular or deluxe edition) from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
About the Book:
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner
2020 Stonewall — Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resumé for Gender Queer.

January 2026 LPL Regular Monthly Board Meeting
2026-01-12 18:00 - 19:30 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
The regular monthly meeting of the LPL Board of Control. Agenda HERE.

January 2026 Banned Book Club - Nineteen Minutes
2026-01-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our January book is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
About the Book:
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens–until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state’s best witness, but she can’t remember what happened before her very own eyes–or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show–destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resumé for Nineteen Minutes.

The Librarians Screening & Panel Discussion
2026-01-16 18:00 - 21:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
We’re partnering with Cavalier House Books to host a special viewing of The Librarians at CHB Lafayette at 6 p.m. on Jan. 16!
*The Librarians* is a documentary that follows librarians in Texas, Florida, Louisiana and other states as they fight against book bans alongside concerned community members and young readers. The film features Livingston Parish librarian Amanda Jones, who wrote *That Librarian.* The documentary made its debut in 2025 at Sundance and continued on to SXSW and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

Join us at CHB Lafayette to watch this important film that focuses on the fight for books.

Q&A Following the Film!
PANELISTS
Amanda Jones, Librarian and Film Participant
Lynette Mejia, Executive Director, Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship
Moderator: Dayne Sherman, Academic Librarian

Secure your seat through Bon Temps Tix!

Extended Synopsis:
THE LIBRARIANS, which made its world premiere at Sundance and continued on to SXSW and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, explores the urgent moment we find ourselves in. As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy, flanked by concerned community members and young readers. THE LIBRARIANS is a chilling cautionary tale and rallying cry for freedom–told through the personal experiences of librarians under siege and the everyday patriots who join their ranks in defense of the books.

February 2026 Banned Book Club - Between the World and Me
2026-02-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our January book is Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
About the Book:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT
Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone)
NAMED ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY • NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY • AN OPRAH DAILY BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE PAST TWO DECADES
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, O: The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, New York, Newsday, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resumé for Between the World and Me.

March 2026 Banned Book Club - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
2026-03-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our March book is Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books on Jefferson St today!
About the book:
A Time Best YA Book of All Time
Margaret shares her secrets and her spirituality in this iconic Judy Blume novel, beloved by millions.
Margaret Simon, almost twelve, likes long hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain, and things that are pink. She’s just moved from New York City to Farbook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends—Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong.
But none of them can believe Margaret doesn’t have religion, and that she isn’t going to the Y or the Jewish Community Center. What they don’t know is Margaret has her own very special relationship with God. She can talk to God about everything—family, friends, even Moose Freed, her secret crush.
Margaret is funny and real. As you read her story, you’ll know why this book has been the favorite of millions of readers. It’s as if Margaret is talking right to you, sharing her secrets with a friend.
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resume for Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.

April 2026 Banned Book Club - 1984
2026-04-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our April book is 1984 by George Orwell. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books today!
About the book:
“Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker
In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.
Lionel Trilling said of Orwell’s masterpiece “1984 is a profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book. It is a fantasy of the political future, and like any such fantasy, serves its author as a magnifying device for an examination of the present.” Though the year 1984 now exists in the past, Orwell’s dystopian classic remains an urgent call for the individual willing to speak truth to power.
Check out Unite Against Book Bans’ book resumé for 1984.

April 2026 LPL Regular Monthly Board Meeting
2026-04-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
The regular monthly meeting of the Lafayette Public Library Board of Control. Agenda can be found HERE. Find out more at our website: https://www.lfy-cac.org/april-2026/

May 2026 LPL Board of Control Meeting (Budget)
2026-05-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
The regular monthly meeting of the Lafayette Public Library Board of Control. Agenda will be posted here when available.
*Note* May is the yearly budget meeting.

May 2026 Banned Book Club - They Called Us Enemy
2026-05-21 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our May book is They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books today!
About the book:
A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon — and America itself — in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.
George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father’s — and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future.
In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten “relocation centers,” hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard.
They Called Us Enemy is Takei’s firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother’s hard choices, his father’s faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.
What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.
Check out the Wikipedia article on They Called Us Enemy, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s discussion of banned graphic novels (including TCUE).

June 2026 Banned Book Club - The Stonewall Riots
2026-06-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Cavalier House Books, 302 A Jefferson St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
Join us each month for thought-provoking discussions in the Banned Book Club, where we will explore the powerful stories and ideas that have been silenced by book bans across America. Every month, we’ll dive into either a book currently banned or one that examines the culture of censorship and its impact on society. Together, we’ll challenge the limits of free expression, reflect on the importance of diverse voices, and discuss why certain books are under attack. Whether you’re reading for pleasure or actively seeking ideas outside your comfort zone, each meeting offers a space for open dialogue, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the books that shape our world. Come ready to read, reflect, and resist!
Our January book is The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman. Stop in or order your copy from Cavalier House Books Lafayette today!
About the Book:
In The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets, Gayle E. Pitman’s “fresh storytelling brings emotion and depth to the history of a movement and the establishment that served as an epicenter for social change” (Publishers Weekly).
A timely and necessary read, The Stonewall Riots helps readers understand the history and legacy of the LGBTQ+ movement. The book includes contemporary photos, newspaper clippings, and other period objects, as well as a timeline, a biography, and an index. Interviews with people involved as well as witnesses bring an immediacy to the story.
In clear prose and short chapters, the book takes readers through a history of American gay life leading up to the Riots, the Riots themselves, and the aftermath. In a starred review, Shelf Awareness noted: “With meaningful content delivered in an innovative format, The Stonewall Riots deserves to be required reading for people of all ages.”
The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous, at times violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBTQ+) community in reaction to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The Riots are attributed as the spark that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement.
About the Author
Gayle E. Pitman, PhD, is a professor of psychology and women and gender studies at Sacramento City College. Her research, teaching, and writing focus heavily on gender, sexual orientation, intersectionality, and social justice. Her first children’s book won the 2015 ALA Stonewall Award. She lives in Rio Linda, California.
Praise for The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets
**STARRED REVIEW**
“With meaningful content delivered in an innovative format, The Stonewall Riots deserves to be required reading for people of all ages.”
— Shelf Awareness
“A substantive look at a key moment in the history of the LGBTQIAP-equality movement.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Pitman’s fresh storytelling brings emotion and depth to the history of a movement and the establishment that served as an epicenter for social change.”
— Publishers Weekly
“The narrative is presented through a series of “objects”: photographs of places, people, or items, such as a police officer’s nightstick, a parking meter, a matchbook, or a protest leaflet. Though each object only reveals a small part of the story, together they reveal a powerful picture and offer rich historical context . . . [An] inviting, engaging, and well-researched approach to history.”
— Booklist
“In brief chapters themed around objects and places associated with the run-up, aftermath, and three days of rioting, readers get a credible reconstruction of events and the context with which to frame it.”
— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“An important look at a major moment in American history. Readers will come to understand why the iconic Stonewall Inn is now on the National Register of Historic Places, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Monument.”
— School Library Journal
Read PEN America’s report on how this book and others were banned in Duval County, Florida.

June 2026 LPL Board of Control Meeting
2026-06-29 18:00 - 19:00 | Lafayette Public Library – Main, 301 W. Congress St, Lafayette, LA, 70501, United States
The regular monthly meeting of the LPL Board of Control. Agenda will be posted when available.
