Application Deadline: June 16

Summer 2025 Teen Advocacy Institute:
Power to the Readers

Presented by the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Youth Free Expression Program
and Brooklyn Public Library’s (BPL) Books Unbanned initiative.

Power to the Readers.
Power to the Future.

Power to the Readers is a free, online, eight-session summer training institute for high school and college students ready to take a stand for free speech, intellectual freedom, and the right to read.

Through a dynamic mix of presentations, workshops, and peer collaboration, participants will explore the First Amendment, sharpen their advocacy skills, and develop the tools needed to combat censorship and push for change in their schools, libraries, and communities.

  • Learn essential advocacy and organizing tactics

  • Engage with complex free speech issues in today’s cultural and political climate

  • Meet and collaborate with successful youth organizers and author allies

  • Gain public speaking, debate, and community dialogue skills

  • Earn a Certificate of Professional Achievement in Free Speech Advocacy

Progam Schedule

Dates:
Mondays – Thursdays
July 28 – August 7

Time:
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Location:
Online

Who You’ll Learn From

Emily Knox,
Interim Dean and Professor,
School of Information Sciences,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Emerson Sykes,
Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU
Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

Emma Karin Eriksson,
Manager of Youth Civic Engagement and Expression,
Brooklyn Public Library

Betsy Gomez,
Program Officer,
American Library Association

MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED!

Please note that speakers are subject to change. 

To learn more or if you have any questions, please contact NCAC’s Youth Free Expression Coordinator Gianmarco Antosca at [email protected].