Gallery

Pendleton Fall Festival 2025

Many thanks to the community for coming by our booth at Fall Festival! We gave away over 200 books! Glad to share information about protecting the freedom to read with so many people on such a gorgeous day!

Right to Read Night – October 10, 2025

Pendleton Yoga Center and Pendleton Area Advocates for Intellectual Freedom (PAAIF) participated in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s 2025 Right to Read Night. Cassie Owens Moore, librarian at Seneca Middle School, led the discussion of the award-winning novel, Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Thank you to everyone for making this such a fun and thought-provoking event!

Read & Rise Festival – October 4, 2025

Wow! Just wow! Our speakers at Read & Rise were awesome! They shared their stories and emphasized the importance of ensuring we continue to have the freedom to read. (Scroll down to see the pictures!) Our speakers included:

Ron Rash – an educator and author of award-winning short stories, poems, and novels, including the New York Times bestselling novel Serena.
Caroline Rash – a writer, educator, and quilter. She recently published a poetry chapbook entitled Because the Bullet Arrives.
Cassie Owens Moore – an educator for 24 years, serving 23 years in public education. For the past five years she serves as a middle school librarian where she strives to connect students with books. Under her leadership, Cassie’s library was named the 2024 SC School Library Program of the Year.
Ellen Hopkins – a New York Times bestselling author of middle school books as well as novels for both young adults and adults. She is a strong supporter of the First Amendment and continues to fight against censorship. Her newest novel is Sync, about twins separated in the foster care system.
Elana K. Arnold – the award-winning author of young adults novels, among them Damsel and What Girls Are Made Of. Several of her books are Junior Library Guild selections.
Mary Foster – an educator, Board member of Families Against Book Bans (FABB), and a leader in SC Freedom to Read. She spends most of her time advocating locally and at state level on issues related to censorship, public education, and LGBTQ+ rights. Recently she was named ACLU of South Carolina’s Advocate of the Year.
Ricky Sapp – a former Clemson University football player from Bamberg, SC. In 2010 he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round. Since the NFL, Ricky has started the Ricky Sapp Foundation and holds a Ricky Sapp Football Camp in Bamberg, SC. He is the author of two books, Rickey’s Two Bullies and Dream Big.

Read this article published Sunday, Oct. 5, on The Anderson Observer website:
https://www.andersonobserver.com/news/pendleton-event-elevates-right-to-read-books-of-all-kinds
Watch the Youtube accompanying video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTePp9wU92k&t=2s