It’s every frustrated educator’s dream: combining literature with fun activities to make them more “teen friendly” (whatever that means). Step aside, all you rapping high school teachers, there’s a new cool prof in town.

If you’re in Washington D.C., that is.

To draw attention to the upcoming Banned Books Week, which runs from September 25th to October 1st, the D.C. Public Library will be hiding books throughout the city. The plan is to hide several hundred copies of once-banned or challenged books in private businesses, each with a special cover detailing why the book was banned in the first place.

A photo posted by A Creative DC (@acreativedc) on

The library will be posting clues to the books’ whereabouts on its social media pages throughout the month, using the #UncensoredDC. Readers who discover the hidden books are encouraged to post a photo on their own accounts using the hashtag.

Players who are over 21 years of age will also be entered to win tickets to a fundraiser hosted by the Washington DC Public Library Foundation, “UNCENSORED: A Cocktail Party”.

In addition to the scavenger hunt, the library will also host 25 events throughout the month to discuss banned and challenged books, all commenting on this year’s theme of diversity. In a press release explaining the month’s events, the library wrote, “It’s estimated that more than half of all banned books are by authors of color, or contain events and issues concerning diverse communities, according to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.”

The titles on our #bannedbooks display are extremely dangerous and should only be read by everyone. #fREADom

A photo posted by Politics & Prose Bookstore (@politicsprose) on

So what are you waiting for? Get hunting! (And reading).

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About The Author

Mary Zakheim
Content Writer

When she is not figuring out what the middle button on her headphones is for, explaining the difference between Washington State and Washington D.C., arriving to the airport too early or refusing to use the Oxford comma, you can usually find Mary in the mountains, at a show or on her couch. Mary is a content writer at Fareportal and likes annoying her coworkers with weird GIFs throughout the day.