Name
Content-Based Attacks on Stores
Date
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Time
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location Name
Governor's Square 11, Concourse Level, Plaza Building
Description
An increasing number of stores are facing harassment, threats, vandalism, and other types of attack because of their curation of books and events. Sometimes these are one-off instances, but in other cases, it has snowballed into extended campaigns targeting stores with hundreds of calls and messages in addition to protests, threats, and vandalism. American Booksellers for Free Expression, ABA’s free expression initiative, has been supporting stores one by one as these issues arise, but there are steps you can take now to make yourself more resilient and less likely to be targeted. This workshop will go over some common themes in these attacks, resources available to guide your response, some common pitfalls, and ways to proactively defend against them.
Speakers
Philomena Polefrone, American Booksellers Association - Harrison, NY