This blog post is by Kate Selvitelli, the National Education Association’s Student Activist of the Year and founding president of the Charleston Co. (SC) Academic Magnet High School chapter of DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Advocacy Organization)—a Unite Against Book Bans partner.
DAYLO is a student-led pro-literacy group from South Carolina. Founded in 2021, DAYLO focuses on reading diversely as a form of advocacy, fostering empathy and understanding among students, and empowering their community service through inclusive literacy programs on and off campus. We were honored to attend the 2025 ALA Annual Conference this weekend to share more about our work, joined by thousands of library professionals, educators, publishers, authors, and intellectual freedom activists and advocates.
Local Success Brings National Attention and Documentary Feature
In 2022, DAYLO was catapulted into the spotlight when 97 school library books were challenged in Beaufort County, SC. Six DAYLO students from three high schools spoke out during a year-long review process, resulting in the return of 91 of the 97 books. In response to that effort, our work garnered national coverage—including from PEN America, the National Coalition Against Censorship, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Education Week, Book Riot, and Nick News.
Our successful pro-literacy approach to youth advocacy also became the subject of an award-winning documentary film, Banned Together, produced by Atomic Focus. The documentary follows DAYLO from local to regional to national advocacy opportunities, including speaking at the Rally for the Right to Read at the 2023 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.
We were excited to return to ALA this year to headline a special event for intellectual freedom supporters.
“Banned Together” Screening and Organizing Event at ALA
Unite Against Book Bans hosted a screening of Banned Together on Saturday, June 28, followed by a panel discussion moderated by school librarian/advocate Eboni Henry and featuring film producer Allyson Rice, educator Dorri C. Scott, DAYLO co-mentor Jonathan Haupt, and myself, founding president of DAYLO’s largest chapter.
UABB’s screening, discussion, and organizing party were community-building experiences which rallied like-minded people and echoed the overarching message of the diverse literature we seek to defend: you are not alone.
Building Community Through Advocacy
Book bans inflict great injustices on readers and writers across the nation as an inherently subtractive act—removing books, access, histories, identities, safety, and truth—offering only extremism, fear, and hatred in unfair trade. DAYLO counters this with advocacy committed to being additive: augmenting the experiences of our students and the communities we serve.
UABB’s screening, panel, and networking opportunities re-affirmed the vital importance of the pro-literacy vision we share in DAYLO, the multitude of avenues to advocacy available to all of us committed to the ideals of our democracy, and the continued embrace of support between library professionals and those who trust and treasure them.
Looking Ahead: Growth and Gratitude
Since documentary filming concluded, DAYLO has grown to include nearly a dozen chapters across South Carolina, with more than 150 student members. We also developed youth advocacy toolkits for GetReadyStayReady.info and READCON.info, to inform and inspire fellow student advocates and adult advisers. We’re beyond grateful to UABB for being a force-multiplier in the advocacy space, for giving DAYLO such a celebratory welcome back to ALA, and for always echoing the memorable mantra of the Freedom to Read Foundation, as seen in Banned Together’s footage of the 2023 convention: Free people read freely.
