Christian actor, filmmaker and author Kirk Cameron is scheduled to read his new children’s book about family, faith and Biblical wisdom during a story-hour program next week at two public libraries that had originally declined his request after hosting “drag queen story hour” programs in June.
So far, more than 50 public libraries have declined or failed to respond to requests by Cameron’s publisher, Brave Books, to host the author’s reading of As You Grow, which was released Dec. 1. The illustrated children’s book celebrates the positive qualities of Biblical values including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.
“I’m happy that the two libraries changed their decision and will allow my voice to be heard and my book to be read,” Cameron told Fox News Digital. “I hope they realized that their position of denying me a story hour reading was not only unfair and illegal, but that we would all be better off if we listened to each other’s perspectives.”
Cameron is scheduled to speak at the Indianapolis Public Library in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday, Dec. 29. The following day, on Friday, Dec. 30, he is scheduled to hold a story hour reading at the Scarsdale Public Library in Scarsdale, New York, about 25 miles north of Manhattan.
Cameron said he hopes that “children from Indianapolis and Scarsdale can learn something about Biblical wisdom and the fruits of the Spirit from As You Grow.”
Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, expressed his appreciation to Cameron in a Facebook post for standing up for Christians’ rights in the public square.
“Drag queens were allowed to have ‘story hour’ at these two public libraries, so Kirk Cameron decided he was going to go and tell a different story—a story with Biblical values,” Graham wrote. “At first the libraries denied him bringing his faith-based book, but recently changed their mind. His new illustrated children’s book, As You Grow, highlights the qualities of kindness, joy, patience, compassion and other fruit of the Spirit—great positive content for children to hear. I want to thank Kirk Cameron for taking a stand for the voice of Christians to be at the table in today’s cancel culture where it seems ‘anything goes’ until it comes to Jesus Christ.”
Cameron said he hoped that Christians will not allow the cancel culture to silence them. “I hope that this victory acts as a source of courage for Christians and conservatives across the country to be brave and not back down, making sure that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the darkness,” he said.
Trent Talbot, CEO of the Texas-based Brave Books, told Fox News Digital that “America’s woke libraries either need to stop hiding behind a mask of diversity or demonstrate their commitment to the type of inclusivity demanded and protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
Talbot added, “Authors of faith—like Kirk Cameron—should not be blacklisted by the nation’s public libraries just because he teaches children about the same Biblical wisdom embraced by our nation’s founders.”
“We are watching to see if our nation’s libraries are more committed to promoting woke ideology than the sharing of knowledge and the free expression of ideas.”
