BY JESSICA DIPRETA

Saturday, Sept. 21, amid DeLand High School’s homecoming festivities, the love of literature was alive and well at Volusia Pride’s second annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Book Giveaway in Downtown DeLand.

Volusia Pride, which includes DeLand, Lake Helen and Daytona Beach pride organizations, joined with other local nonprofits and businesses to give away books to the community in response to book bans, not only in Volusia County but throughout Florida and the United States. 

The event provided attendees with their choice of over 800 free books ranging from fiction, children’s lit, reference and nonfiction. Showcased were those literary works that have been removed from Volusia County Schools, as well as those that were never in the library catalog.

Within the first few hours of the event, the banned titles were among the first to disappear from tables and bins into the hands of happy readers, old and young. 

The event was hosted for its second time by Downtown DeLand’s Sidecar Home Market, where patrons can enjoy craft beer and coffee or peruse an eclectic combination of vintage furniture, décor and goods crafted by local artisans. On Saturday, visitors could also enjoy a collection of outlaw titles. 

Sidecar owners, Jessie Ritz and Derek Ridgway stated they were happy to host the event as they “have always been avid readers and close with the DeLand Pride community.” 

“Information is never inherently bad,” Ridgway said.

Proceeds from bookworm wares like handcrafted bookmarks and stickers benefited Deland Pride. 

Partners included the DeLand Quakers, The Muse Book Shop, the Family Book Shop, Cliff’s Books, Fern & Fable (Ormond Beach), The West Volusia Beacon, and individual members of the community who donated works and supported the event.

Any books left unclaimed are to return to the DeLand Quakers and offered at later giveaways. Attendee and volunteer Carol Reed of the DeLand Quakers offers their collection to “anyone protecting banned books.”