The Defender Award
The DLDF, through the Dramatists Guild, presents the annual Defender Award to the person or group who fought back to support free speech on our stages. Notable winners of this award include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail and Jeffrey Seller, Howard Sherman, the family of Alice Childress, as well as an attorney from Davis Wright Tremaine, students from Parkland High School in Florida who wrote a song to speak out against gun violence, and the National Coalition Against Censorship. In May 2026, the DLDF presented the Defender Award to Margie Marie Lawson and Liberty Welch for their advocacy on behalf of artistic freedom following the cancellation of Boy My Greatness at the University of Central Oklahoma.
From the Archives:
2023 DLDF Defender Awardee
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned Initiative
The Brooklyn Public Library is one of the nation’s largest library systems and among New York City’s most democratic institutions. As a leader in developing modern 21st-century libraries, it provides resources to support personal advancement, foster civic literacy, and strengthen the fabric of community among the more than 2.7 million individuals who call Brooklyn home.
On April 13, 2022, The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) launched a new campaign, titled Books Unbanned, to help teens combat the negative impact of increased censorship and book bans in libraries across the country. BPL's Books Unbanned is a national campaign to provide access to books to young people. The program allows young adults ages 13 to 21, nationwide, to apply for a free eCard from BPL, unlocking access to the library’s extensive collection of half a million eBooks and audiobooks.
Good for one year, the Brooklyn Public Library eCard is designed to complement access to resources for teens in their local communities. The card provides access to 350,000 e-books, 200,000 audiobooks, and over 100 databases. Teens will also be connected to their peers in Brooklyn, including members of BPL’s Intellectual Freedom Teen Council, to help one another with information and resources to fight censorship, book recommendations, and the defense of freedom to read.