Freedom to Read Celebration with Steven Pico at the Bettendorf Public Library -- October 5.
Monday, October 5, 6:30 p.m.
Bettendorf Public Library, 2950 Learning Campus Drive, Bettendorf IA
With the event starting with a screening of the short film FREADOM on Trial: Rights and Responsibilities in Island Trees Board of Education v. Pico, the Bettendorf Public Library hosts the Freedom to Read Celebration with Steven Pico on October 5, library director Jillian Aschliman and her panelists answering all your questions about censorship, challenge, and the right to read.
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark book-banning case Island Trees School District v. Pico. In 1977, at age 17, Steven Pico became one of the founders of the freedom to read movement when he and four other teens sued their school district in Long Island, New York, for banning 11 books from their school libraries. Board of Education v. Pico, became a landmark case in the fight against book censorship when the Supreme Court sided with the students and ruled in a 5-4 decision that “local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books." Following the Supreme Court’s decision, all 11 books were returned to the Island Trees school libraries.
A lifelong advocate of the freedom to read, Pico has been recognized by the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, East, and honored by The New Press with their 2023 Social Justice award. Past honorees have included Alice Walker, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, and Toni Morrison. In recognition of Steven’s honor, U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin issued the following statement underscoring the connections between Steven’s defense of intellectual freedom and fighting inequality:
"Censorship is the hallmark of authoritarianism. It’s no wonder, then, that some of the most commonly banned books are those that serve as cautionary tales about authoritarian states like Orwell’s 1984 and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. And of course, as the Court wrote in Board of Education v Pico, the case arising from our very own Steven Pico, the First Amendment protects not just the right to speak but ‘the right to receive information and ideas.’ Yet many books are now targets for censorship because they address racism or white supremacy as historical realities or because they render LGBTQ+ individuals as full human beings or because they introduce ideas about diversity and discrimination. The very act of reading invites empathy, which is why fighting book-bans is not simply a defense of the First Amendment but is also a defense of the principles of solidarity and truth.”
Prior to the panel discussion, and created by Bettendorf student Adrian Gillette, the FREADOM on Trial: Rights and Responsibilities in Island Trees Board of Education v. Pico documentary explores the landmark Supreme Court case in which Pico became the plaintiff in what was, until 2025, the only book-banning case to reach the Supreme Court. The documentary won third place at the National History Day contest in 2025 and was also honored with the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival Collins Road Theatres Scholarship in 2026.
In addition to Pico, the panel discussion for the Freedom to Read Celebration with Steven Pico with feature Bettendorf Public Library director Brittany Jacobs (also the Iowa Library Association President) and Linda Smithson (the Iowa School Librarian Association President-Elect). Participation in the 6:30 p.m. event on October 5 is free, and more information is available by calling (563)344-4175 and visiting BettendorfLibrary.com.
