Banned Book-Themed Speakeasy Raises Funds for Libraries

Cocktails and banned books come together this week to raise awareness, funds for libraries, and spirits at a pop-up speakeasy in the Washington, D.C. area.

The Banned Book Speakeasy, which runs April 23–27, is a collaboration between The Study, the bookshelf-lined, literary themed bar at the Morrison House Old Town Alexandria in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Virginia Library Association (VLA). Morrison House area marketing manager Bailey Kormick told The Washingtonian that the hotel wanted to pay tribute to “a lot of voices that are getting lost now in the media, schools, and education.”

 “This is an opportunity to celebrate those voices and to celebrate those stories,” she said.

Morrison House needed expert help getting the banned-books concept off the ground, so they turned to Lisa Varga, then-VLA executive director and now the associate executive director of the American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office.

“Typically, when we receive phone calls about banned books, it’s usually me gearing up for a tough conversation or dealing with someone’s anger,” Varga said. “To get a message from Bailey that was so positive and supportive was so refreshing.”

Kormick and Varga developed the speakeasy’s model: A four-day cocktail bar hidden behind The Study’s bookshelves with a cozy, “dark-academia” feel, featuring drinks based on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Color Purple, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and other banned books. Guests write their orders on library check-out cards, and the drinks are discreetly delivered through a stack of books by The Study’s mixologists.

One dollar from each cocktail sold will go to VLA, and banned books will be available for purchase on the last day of the speakeasy’s run with 50% of the proceeds going to VLA. The money raised will be used by VLA to fund scholarships for librarians, support Friends and Foundations of targeted libraries, and help libraries that have faced retaliatory cuts for refusing to remove certain books from their shelves.

Kormick and Varga hope the speakeasy will raise awareness about book banning.

“I think people hear about banned books, and they see maybe the stack of five or 10 books in your average media story, but there are so many more,” Varga said. “The idea of filling a space with banned books will have such a visual impact for people. They will be stunned by the books that they see in those areas.”

Learn more about The Banned Books Speakeasy, and stop by if you’re in the area!

Phil Morehart is editor of I Love Libraries and host of the How I Library podcast.

Photo: Dziana Hasanbekava