For the fourth year in a row, Kirk Cameron and Brave for Good — the 501(c)(3) arm of the publisher BRAVE Books — will be bringing their right-wing, religious storytimes to public libraries across the country. “See You At the Library” was born when Cameron was “denied” the opportunity to read his book at public libraries across the country. The event has been held in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Public libraries across the country will want to be prepared for requests for individuals to host BRAVE Books storytimes this year on Saturday, October 3.
What Is “See You at the Library?”
The event aims to “awaken hearts, ignite wonder, and plant seeds of faith through stories that matter.” It is held at public libraries, but it is hosted by individuals or groups from outside the public library. The stories shared come from BRAVE Books, a faith-based publisher that publishes “pro-God stories, teaching American values for a brighter future.”
“See You at the Library” storytimes are religious, grounded in Brave for Good’s “Statement of Faith.” That statement is of a very specific brand of Christianity which upholds far-right political values, including the belief that only man and woman may be in a relationship, that abortion is a sin, that trans people don’t deserve dignity, and that it is the sacred duty to impose these beliefs upon others. Many of those values stand in stark contrast to those upheld by the public library, which welcomes and invites the whole of a community.
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The emphasis that the event puts on “wholesome” and “character-building” stories — all supplied by BRAVE Books, whose authors include Cameron, Riley Gaines, Ben Carson, and other far-right “celebrities” — is intended to continue stoking a moral panic about the books available in public libraries. The very people eager to host these events are also those showing up in board meetings and in legislative offices demanding the removal of books that don’t align with their world view. They’re not interested in a partnership; they’re interested in a complete takeover.
Public libraries are not in opposition to institutions and people of faith. Indeed, there are incredible partnerships happening across faith communities and libraries, such as Interfaith Alliance and the American Library Association’s “Faith for Libraries.” Events like “See You at the Library” push a false and damaging narrative.
What’s Unique about “See You at the Library” in 2026
This year’s take on “See You at the Library” is an interesting one, as it’s moved from being a BRAVE Books entity to one now housed beneath a new tax-deductible nonprofit in Brave for Good. Sponsors for the event are listed as HSP Direct — a direct mail fundraising agency that serves conservative causes and candidates — and Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center — an institution which “exists to uphold the Christian faith and defend America’s Constitution.” That institution brags on its website that it “equip Christians to boldly engage with political and cultural issues from a distinctly Biblical perspective. We refuse to give the Left another inch, and we’re not backing down. Neither should you.”*
Beyond the ability to continue stoking panic around public libraries, hosting “See You at the Library” in these facilities is an opportunity for the group to claim being victims of discriminatory policies. Meeting room policies have been an important topic in libraries for years, as libraries wrestle with questions like: Can anyone reserve a room? Do those who reserve a room need to have a library card? Can limits be placed on the kinds of groups and events that can be hosted in these publicly-funded rooms? These questions have merit and value, especially when considering how taxpayer money is used. BRAVE Books has likely figured out that seeking to use these meeting rooms as a for-profit entity doesn’t go as far as it would were they to incorporate as a non-profit, thus the new Brave For Good umbrella. Brave for Good became a 501(c)(3) in 2025.
That the event is scheduled just one month prior to some of the most crucial midterm elections of our time is not coincidental. This is the first time that “See You at the Library” hasn’t been held in the summer. The October 2026 timing is a prime opportunity to continue stoking panic about public institutions and to develop conservative victimhood narratives around being “denied” the right to push their agenda on everyone.
“Denial” of Public Libraries for Promoting Cameron’s Book
For the release of Cameron’s first title with BRAVE Books in 2023, the publisher and its marketing company, Amplifi Agency, attempted to rent rooms at several public libraries. They claimed that over 50 public libraries denied their offer to host story times. But this wasn’t true. Scarsdale Library in New York explained what happened: Cameron, Brave Books, and Amplifi thought they wereabove the policy and ignored the formal processfor using a room.
Cameron then claimed victory when he successfully rented rooms at other public libraries. Among them were the Sumner Public Library in Tennessee, where thedirector was firedfor “unkind pushback,” and the Indianapolis Public Library, wherehe was initially denied. Cameron claimed the denial happened because of his race and the messages in his book; the truth is far more complicated and related to policies that he and his team chose to ignore.
What gets tricky and is worth emphasizing here is when the Freedom of Speech butts heads against Freedom of Religion and more, where both intersect with the Separation of Church and State. This is why libraries emphasize that groups are responsible for “See You at the Library” events and why organizers of these events cannot suggest the library is hosting, sponsoring, or in any way connected to it.
This year’s October 3 events, being mass-coordinated by anyone who wishes to set up a story time at their local public library, are once again a ripe opportunity for all of these elements to clash and for right-wing “activists” to proclaim that a taxpayer institution is discriminating against them.
Brave Books hasdeveloped a guidefor anyone wishing to put together one of these story times.
How Can Libraries Prepare for “See You At The Library?”
Given the new non-profit status of Brave for Good, libraries may be in a different predicament with this year’s event than in prior years. Here are some things to keep in mind, whether or not your institution will be permitting room use for the event:
- Libraries would be best served by reviewing their current meeting room policies. Ensure all rules and guidelines are followed if your facilities allow BRAVE Books events.
- Meet with your legal representation on what requirements you can and cannot make of those requesting rooms. Pay particular attention to security. Someone with Cameron’s profile — whether or not he’s present — is a public safety concern. There’s tension here, too, knowing that increased law enforcement at the public library is antithetical to the tenants of librarianship and can be an impediment for the use of the facility by marginalized individuals.
- Ensure every staff member working on October 3 is aware of what’s happening — it is not out of the question that those eager to vilify library workers as “groomers” or “indoctrinators” may choose to peruse the facility outside of the event. Taking photos inside the library, including of staff, wouldn’t be out of the question.Insight about First Amendment auditscan be helpful for thinking through these tricky situations and scenarios.
Over the next few weeks, take the time to talk with staff about responding to inquiries about hosting events such as these and make sure everyone is on the same page. Prepare public statements to address questions and concerns that may arise. Ensure all levels of library workers know what’s at stake right now. These are coordinated efforts to prove a point; for Cameron and BRAVE Books, it’s to find a “gotcha” with censorship. If you don’t give them what they want, they can cry censorship, even if they perpetrate it by purposefully subverting the rules and policies.
Librariescannot rest on their laurelsof public perception. They need to ensure they’re building robust and inclusive policies and procedures that protect the interests of every patron and staff member.
As we’ve seen throughout the country, truth does not matter to those bent on their messaging and their right-wing values of authoritarianism. But your institution can continue to be a bastion of light by upholding your standards and policies, advocating for First Amendment Rights of all — not just those with the most money and political sway — and you can continue to educate your patrons about why some books get purchased and included in the collection while others, like those published by BRAVE Books, do not.
It has been a challenging number of years for libraries nationwide, following unprecedented challenges against these institutions, including state laws intended to instigate censorship and criminalize librarians. But for Christian nationalism to flourish, if faith can’t be used as a cudgel to democracy and the rights of a whole community to see and be seen in public, then they are the victims of the so-called “culture wars” that they themselves created. Events like See You at the Library only add fuel to the manufactured panic and withvery realconsequences.
*Liberty University is also linked to the partisan Freedom 250 events this year — including Rededicate 250, where taxpayer money was used to for “a historic gathering as Americans of every background across the country prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday with Scripture, testimony, prayer, and rededication of our country as One Nation to God.”
