Flying Dog Takes Over DC-Area Libraries DMV During Banned Books Week

Flying Dog Brewery is providing Little Free Libraries across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia with a supply of books that have been banned and challenged. In each book is a Flying Dog bookmark that proudly states, ‘I’m with the banned.’ These community-based ‘take a book/leave a book’ bookstalls selected by the brewery are located in Frederick and Baltimore in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Alexandria and Arlington in Virginia. The 5 libraries in each location range from residential boxes to locations within retailers, museums, and bars.

“If you're offended by different world views and controversial ideas out of fear and ignorance, you're the problem, not books and freedom of expression,” said Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery. “Ban censors, not books.”

Flying Dog has a long history of standing up to censorship. When Colorado, Michigan, and most recently North Carolina, violated Flying Dog's 1st Amendment rights, the brewery sued and won all three times. While on the surface these lawsuits are about beer labels, they’re really about defending the 1st Amendment at the margin where all of these battles are fought. Civil liberties are not lost overnight, they are chipped away at bit by bit unless vigorously defended, Flying Dog said.