INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is highlighting the value of free and open access to information during Banned Books Week.

The organization celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week through daily programming and welcoming school librarian and Indiana Library Federation advocate Chad Heck as an activist in residence for the week as protests against censorship.

Fiona Duffy, the museum’s communications manager, and Chris Cecil, Kurt Vonnegut Memorial board member, stopped by Daybreak to speak on the importance of this week.

“This week really kicks off banned books week. We do a number of different programming throughout the building and throughout the week to really just kind of highlight free speech and common decency, which is what Kurt stood for, and that’s the values that the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and library stands for,” Cecil said.

The program series begins Oct. 1-7 at Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, 543 Indiana Ave. Admissions to the museum will be “pay what you can” through KVML’s Kickstarter campaign to meet a goal of $20,000.

For more information, watch the full interview above.

Programming Schedule

• Friday, September 29 Night of Vonnegut Annual Gala, 7-10 p.m.
• Sunday, October 1 Shadows on the Page: Understanding Censorship’s Threat to Literacy, 6-8 p.m.
• Monday, October 2 Hoosier Ink: Indiana Authors On Censorship, 6-8 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 3 Beyond Textbook: Students on Censorship in the Classroom, 6-8 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 4 Sip n’ Screen: The Right to Read (we bring the popcorn, you bring a blanket), 6-8 p.m.
• Thursday, October 5 Queer Resilience Open Mic: Defying LGBTQ+ Censorship Through Art, 12-2 p.m. Trisha van Cleef: A Captivating Live Painting Experience, 5-8 p.m.
• Friday, October 6 German American Day Walk and Talk with Historian Sampson Levingston of Through2Eyes and Historian Bill Selm, 1-2:30 p.m. Gender Queer: Book Discussion on the Most Banned Book, 6-7 p.m.
• Saturday, October 7 (VIRTUAL) So It Goes Literary Journal Release Party, 12-2 p.m.