The Rhode Island Freedom to Read Coalition is a coalition of organizations which support the Freedom to Read movement in Rhode Island. Members include the ACLU of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Center for the Book, and Rhode Island Library Association, among others.
Authors Against Banned Books is a national coalition of writers, illustrators, editors, and the creators of books which supports the freedom to read without censorship or constraint. It opposes book bans and promotes a diversity of voices being available in schools and libraries. The Rhode Island chapter supports state legislation S0238, H5726: the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Act.
Jeanette Bradley, a member of the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Coalition, is an author and illustrator of children’s picture books, and a member of the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Coalition and Rhode Island Authors Against Book Bans. Bradley’s book, Something Great, was challenged in New England and received soft censorship elsewhere.
Ephemera collected and donated by Jeanette Bradley containing the marketing and public relations materials created by the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Coalition and the Rhode Island Authors Against Book Bans related to the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Act (S0238, H5726) before the Rhode Island General Assembly in 2025. The collection also includes sample zines, membership buttons, sticker sheets, and lists of banned or censored books.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research.
Rhode Island Freedom to Read ephemera, MSS-0161, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College
The collection was loosely arranged by Jeanette Bradley.
The collection was donated in 2025 by Jeanette Bradley, a member of the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Coalition.
Processing and description was created by Adrienn Mendonca-Jones in 2025 under the supervision of Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Veronica L. Denison.
Duplicate zines were removed from the collection
Materials from this collection have not been digitized