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Book Challenges In Your Library: Tips for librarians facing harassment and threats

Book challenges are happening at an unprecedented rate, as documented in PEN America's 2022 Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools report. The challenges to books in schools and libraries reflect a growing national campaign by community and parent groups, and even some elected officials, who are demanding book removals, as well as changes to library policies and procedures. This campaign has resulted in online harassment, threats, and even physical intimidation and attacks against librarians and library personnel.

This guidance is intended to equip librarians with strategies to navigate online abuse. While this resource acknowledges the ways that online abuse can move offline, it is primarily focused on digital safety. For a discussion of physical safety in libraries, see: "We Need to Talk About Library Security" and Creating Safer Libraries . If you're looking for helpful resources on physical safety, check out: Front Line Defenders Workbook on Security and CPJ's Journalist Security Guide (especially chapter 9); Although these resources were designed for journalists and activists, the basics of physical safety are broadly applicable.

IDENTIFY

Naming the abuse you're experiencing online will help you determine how to respond to, navigate, and communicate about it. Common abusive tactics include: hateful speech (for eg, calling people "groomers" or "pedophiles"); threats of physical or sexual violence; impersonation accounts; doxxing; nonconsensual intimate imagery; sexual harassment; and cyber mobs. For more information on these and other types of online abuse, see PEN America's Field Manual: Identifying Abusive Tactics Online .

DOCUMENT

Documenting the online abuse you experience creates a record of what's happening, which is critical if you decide to engage law enforcement or pursue legal action, and can be helpful in conversations with allies and managers. It allows you to collect information about harassers and track patterns of abuse and escalations of harmful behavior. Take a screenshot, save direct links to any social media messages, and save any emails, voicemails, or texts (including platform, handle/email address, date, time, etc.). NOTE: If you use an online platform's tools to report online abuse and the abusive content gets removed before you've documented it, you lose evidence.

› For more information, see: PEN America's Field Manual: Documenting Online Abuse

ASSESS SAFETY

You are the best judge of whether online abuse has made you concerned about your physical safety and/or that of your family or colleagues. If you have received a direct or veiled threat of physical or sexual violence-or if you are facing physical intimidation or are concerned about physical attacks-consider informing your employer, contacting security at your library or school district, and/or engaging local law enforcement. It can also help to contact trusted friends and family, a lawyer, and/or a nonprofit organization that supports individuals facing abuse.

› For more information, including a list of relevant nonprofits, see PEN America's Field Manual: Assessing the Threat , Engaging Law Enforcement , and Online Harassment Resources .

NOTIFY AND COMMUNICATE

Consider alerting your manager, HR, or whomever you feel most comfortable speaking to at your library or school district about the online abuse you're being subjected to-and share documentation. While speaking about online abuse can elicit feelings of anxiety or fear, remember that abuse is intended to isolate - communicating with trusted allies can help.

› See PEN America's Field Manual: Talking to Employers and Professional Contacts.

BLOCK, MUTE, REPORT

Social media platforms have features that can help you navigate online abuse. You can block accounts (so they cannot communicate with or follow you). You can mute accounts or specific posts or words (so you don't have to see them). And you can also report abusive content to try to get a post taken down or an account suspended for violating platform rules.

› See PEN America's Field Manual: Blocking and Muting AND Reporting

BOLSTER YOUR CYBERSECURITY

Make a list of your top ten most sensitive online accounts (email, social media, banking, etc.) and safeguard them against hacking and impersonation by creating long complex passwords and setting up two-factor authentication. Using a password manager can help. It's also critically important to take some time to review and tighten the privacy and security settings on your social media accounts. For example, if you have your social media accounts set to be publicly visible to everyone, consider making your accounts more private, even just temporarily until the harassment has passed.

› See PEN America's Digital Safety Snacks and Field Manual: Password hygiene ; Securing accounts ; and Anti-doxing ; Citizen Lab's Security Planner ; and The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy

REACH OUT

Online abuse can feel profoundly isolating and disempowering. Seeking support from friends and family and connecting with colleagues and other librarians can really help. Confronting abusive trolls head on can lead to escalations in harassment and is rarely productive. Speaking out against harassment and taking control of the narrative can be empowering, but it's important to familiarize yourself with the social media rules and expectations of your employer first.

› See PEN America's Field Manual: Talking to Friends and Family AND Deploying Supportive Cyber Communitie s, as well as Approaching Counterspeech .

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

Online abuse can elicit feelings of fear and shame. It can do real damage to mental and physical health and affects people differently depending on life experience, race, gender, background, etc. Remember: online abuse is not your fault and you are not alone. Resist the urge to ignore how you're feeling and try to carve out time for self-care.

› See PEN America's Field Manual: Advice from Psychologist and Practicing Self-Care

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A Tip Sheet for Librarians Facing Harassment

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Book challenges are happening at an unprecedented rate, as documented in PEN America's 2022 Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools report. The challenges to books in schools and libraries reflect a growing national campaign by community and parent groups, and even some elected officials, who are demanding book removals, as well as changes to library policies and procedures.

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More than 25 organizations join forces with the American Library Association to Unite Against Book Bans

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Campaign urges decisionmakers to oppose book bans, protect the freedom to read The American Library Association (ALA) and a coalition of more than 25 groups are banding together to empower individuals and communities to fight censorship and protect the freedom to read. Organizations including the Am…

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Toni Morrison once called the practice of banning books a "purist and yet elementary kind of censorship designed to appease adults rather than educate children."

Morrison was objecting to a proposed ban "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, shortly before she died in 2019. It's probably safe to assume she also would offer harsh words over the removal of her own novel, "The Bluest Eye," and a number of others from school libraries in Wentzville, Missouri.

That particular book ban, enacted in January, is now at the center of a lawsuit brought against the Wentzville School District by the ACLU of Missouri. Leading the charge is a group of high school students who argue they have the right to read those books - and that the school unconstitutionally targeted works by "racial or sexual minorities."

Efforts to stop students from reading certain books have escalated quickly in the name of "parents' rights," and despite national attention, the anti-reading movement shows no signs of slowing down. Just this past week in Missouri, Attorney General Eric Schmitt created an online platform to make it easier for parents to report to the state what they consider objectionable books and lessons.

Finding lists of challenged books is easy. But what about a list of books so good, so crucial to understanding the world and the diverse people and stories within it, that not reading them would be the real travesty?

Books so powerfully relatable that being unable to access them constitutes the real threat to students' wellbeing?

After all, once you immerse yourself in someone else's perspective, your world view doesn't shrink back to its previous size. And I consider that a good thing.

I reached out to some of the smartest Kansas Citians I know to help compile such a list for today's youth.

These are the books they recommended. It's far from a complete guide for self-education, but it's a pretty great place to start.

At her longtime tailor shop in Metcalf South Mall, Sonia Warshawski got the nickname Big Sonia - for the size of her personality, and not her physical stature. Warshawski is a Holocaust survivor, and the subject of a documentary, " Big Sonia," made by her granddaughter.

In 1942, when Warshawski was 17, she was sent to a Polish ghetto and then later taken by train to a concentration camp. There, she saw her mother enter a gas chamber and never emerge.

When the Holocaust survival memoir "Maus," by Art Spiegelman, was banned in Tennessee schools, people expressed outrage. Educational settings seemed to be showing a preference for the sanitized Holocaust narratives of bystanders, rejecting outright the stories of those who experienced concentration camps first-hand.

Warshawski tells her own story at middle schools, prisons and film festivals. In fact, she gets so many requests for reading recommendations that her list was ready to go before I asked. Here are a few:

Growing up in Queens, New York, Vladimir Sainte was a handful by his own admission. Unsure what to do with him, Sainte's Haitian-born parents sent him to live with an uncle in Kansas City. Now, he works at University Health (formerly Truman Medical Center), helping young people struggling with anxiety and behavior issues - like he once did.

One of his go-to methods is bibliotherapy - the use of literature to help a person externalize their own dilemmas, and hopefully see themselves differently. But Sainte started encountering clinical situations requiring books he couldn't find.

He told me about one child with brown skin who wanted to change that aspect of himself so desperately that he'd begun trying to remove it - using sandpaper. That kid's struggle to feel comfortable in his own skin prompted Sainte to start writing books himself.

"When I think of books that I would urgently want to get in the hands of young people in our community, I immediately think about books focusing on mental health and race," Sainte says.

Sainte recommends:

Known for her 30-year tenure as owner and operator of the Reading Reptile - a playfully iconoclastic children's bookstore first located in Westport, then in Brookside - Debbie Pettid is now building exhibits for The Rabbit hOle, her soon-to-be children's literature museum.

One of her recommendations - "Hole In My Life" by Jack Gantos - is a memoir about smuggling drugs and getting caught. Pettid acknowledges that this is an unconventional background for a children's book author. But she thinks it's important for young people to see someone make a mistake, be accountable for it, and then grow.

"One event should not define your entire life," she says.

Pettid recommends:

More than 45 years ago, a bookstore called The Hub was the place to go in Kansas City if you wanted to get your hands on Black literature and history - the kind not available in white-owned bookstores, and not yet taught in schools.

Owners Dorothy and James McField - a married couple - told KCUR that the idea for The Hub came from a casual conversation among friends brainstorming about what their Kansas City, Kansas, community needed. The McFields suggested a bookstore.

"And they all laughed at us," James then recalled. "'Where you going to put it?' they wondered. '5th and Quindaro!' And they laughed louder."

The couple sent along reading recommendations for young people seeking to inform themselves today, but they had trouble narrowing down their list. "It's really hard to choose," Dorothy wrote.

Natasha Ria El-Scari doesn't shy away from taboo; she once wrote a manifesto on the importance of mothers talking to sons about sex.

So maybe it's not surprising that all of the books El-Scari recommends have been banned or challenged at some point. But that's not why she wants young people to read them.

El-Scari decribes "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker as "a triumph of the human spirit" and a portrayal of "what unconditional love looks like." She calls "If Beale Street Could Talk" by James Baldwin "probably one of the most beautiful and frustrating books ever."

El-Scari recommends:

You probably know Suzanne Hogan as the producer and host of A People's History of Kansas City from KCUR Studios. But she's got a lot of other claims to fame in town, too. Hogan was an original founder of the 816 Bike Collective, and she's a touring musician with a punk band.

Knowing that Hogan is building a personal library of Kansas City history books, I asked if there was anything in her treasure trove that should be required reading in local high schools. She thought of one book immediately: "Racism in Kansas City: A Short History" by G. S. Griffin.

"I've read a lot of history books about Kansas City, and they're not all - how do I say this a nice way - easy to digest? They can be pretty hard to sift through," Hogan says.

But she says Griffin's book is an exception, adding that racism is an important part of our city's history, one she doesn't think students get enough of a chance to explore.

Hogan's other recommendation is a novel that made an impression on her, back when she was in high school

"We are living in science fictional times," wrote Izzy Wasserstein in a 2020 op-ed in the Kansas Reflector.

The Kansas-based writer argued that science fiction can't really help us predict the future, but it can help guide us through the surreally bizarre challenges of the present: climate change, a global pandemic, political upheaval.

"Science fiction is the literature of the human species encountering change," Wasserstein wrote. "It doesn't tell us what tomorrow holds, but it helps us see how we might survive and even thrive in these dangerous times."

In 2022, Wasserstein draws our attention to a handful of particularly helpful titles, including "The Four Profound Weaves," by R.M Lemberg. One cover blurb calls this book "the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now."

Adib Khorram has just published a book he expects will get challenged if not banned. His other books already have. And plus? "It's very gay," he explains nonchalantly.

Khorram himself grew up queer and Iranian in the Midwest in the 1980s and 1990s. And he would have loved to see himself in the books he read in school - but he never did.

Khorram is part of a larger movement in YA fiction to correct that, for kids of many backgrounds and identities. He also keeps up with the genre's newest authors and books. For a recommended reading list, Khorram tells me about "Strange Grace," by Tessa Gratton, another local author.

"It takes place in a kind of small fantastical town where nothing bad ever happens, except every seven years they literally sacrifice one of their children to a forest. It's really a story about how young people are often responsible for fixing the mistakes of their elders," Khorram says. "And if that's not a perfect metaphor for what's going on now."

Khorram also recommends "Proxy" by Alex London as a reflection on the digital landscape, as well as what Khorram calls "death-stage capitalism."

This is, of course, a list that could go on indefinitely. All the books people deserve to be able to read would require a whole library - and that's the point.

But I know this list will keep me reading for quite a while.
Copyright 2022 KCUR 89.3

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A book list for teens who refuse to be told what they can't read

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Are there books that contain ideas so crucial to understanding the world that it's actually dangerous not to read them? KCUR reached out to Kansas City's biggest book-readers and change-makers to find out what titles they'd put on such a list. Here's what they said.

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The Teen Banned Book Club meets biweekly at Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown, Pa., to discuss books that have recently or historically been banned. (Lisa Diffenbaugh)

As book banning in schools reached unprecedented heights in the United States, 14-year-old Joslyn Diffenbaugh was having none of it.

"It's really problematic, because books are the only way that you can be in another person's shoes," said Joslyn, a self-proclaimed "book nerd," who lives in the small town of Kutztown, Pa., near Allentown.

She has read several books that have been banned by school districts across the country, including " The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas and " All American Boys " by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds, both of which deal with police brutality.

"They were really eye-opening," said Joslyn, an eighth-grader at Kutztown Middle School. "They are books that make you think."

As attempts to forbid books increased both in Pennsylvania and in other school districts nationwide, Joslyn felt she needed to do something. Like several other teens across the country, she started a banned book club - where members read books that have been outlawed in schools and then meet regularly to discuss them.

"These books are great works of literature, and I really just didn't understand why so many people wanted to ban them," Joslyn said. "It's important that people read these books because it helps them grow."

A third-grade class was stunned with a free ride to college

For her, the tipping point came in late October, when a Texas Republican lawmaker launched an investigation into school libraries in the state, and compiled a list of 850 titles - written mainly about race and sexuality - demanding that schools reveal whether they carry the books.

Local attempts at restricting books have been on the rise in Pennsylvania, too. In January, the Kutztown School Board voted narrowly to keep " Gender Queer: A Memoir " by Maia Kobabe, in the high school library, despite outcry from some parents and community members.

The soaring efforts to challenge books "compelled me to start something where we could talk about banned things," Joslyn said.

Her mother enthusiastically encouraged Joslyn to form her own "Teen Banned Book Club," which is what they decided to call the group.

"Reading a book about racism doesn't make you racist and reading a book about gender identity isn't going to make you transgender," Lisa Diffenbaugh said. "Reading a book only benefits you."

With support from her family, Joslyn reached out to Firefly Bookstore, a local shop, asking if they would be willing to help facilitate a banned book club for teens.

Rather than starting a book club at school, "we wanted it to be open to kids from other districts, and we wanted the freedom where everyone could express their opinions without someone saying those opinions are wrong," Joslyn said.

Bookstore staff members were on board right away.

"All of us here at Firefly Bookstore are in agreement that book banning is wrong," said Jordan Busits, a sales associate who offered to help run Joslyn's book club. "Books are meant to say something about the author themselves, who they are or what their world views are, and by banning those books we are essentially banning their voices."

Two recent reports underscore the growing movement to ban books in school districts nationwide.

Black woman named high school valedictorian 38 years after snub

Last month, PEN America, a nonprofit focused on freedom of expression, published a report, which found that there have been 1,586 book bans - many of which feature racial and LGBTQ themes - in U.S. schools over the previous nine months.

In the same week, the American Library Association released its annual report on book censorship, which found that there were 1,597 book challenges or removals in 2021 - marking the highest number in the association's 20-year history. Most of the titles were penned by LGBTQ or Black authors.

There is even a baby book, " Everywhere Babies," that was included on a list of books targeted for removal in Walton County, Fla.

The book bans have mostly been fueled by parents, politicians and pundits. At the district level, many of the book bans are being done by school administrators in secret, as a way of avoiding controversy.

Young people who want the freedom to read a wide variety of topics have made their own path, not just by starting book clubs, but also by filing lawsuits.

"It's so encouraging to see them rallying to be able to have the books that they deserve," said Nicole Cardoza, the founder of Banned Books Book Club, a monthly virtual book club, online library and fund to support threatened books. "They deserve to see stories that represent their own lived experiences."

Millions of bees were dying on a tarmac. Local beekeepers ran to help.

In addition to hosting monthly book clubs, "we are also buying books to send to schools and libraries across the United States," Cardoza said, adding that her organization offers "resources and training" on how to start a book club, so that students like Joslyn have the tools they need.

The Teen Banned Book Club had its first meeting at the Firefly Bookstore in January, and the group of 12 teens have been congregating every other week since. The club's youngest member is in seventh grade, and the oldest is in 10th grade.

So far, they have read six novels, including George Orwell's " Animal Farm" and " 1984," as well as "Melissa" by Alex Gino and " Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You " by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

"We made a list of historically banned and recently banned books," said Joslyn, who consults with Busits and book club members to select titles.

"One of my biggest fears early on was that no one would show up, but it's really cool to see that people are willing to talk about these hard topics," Joslyn said, explaining that she has also been stunned by the media attention her initiative has received. "I never thought that so many people would be interested in this tiny little book club in this tiny little town."

When Bridget Johnson, 13, heard about what the teens were doing, she was eager to join.

"I love the book club," she said. "It's connecting through reading and learning, and it's a really special experience."

Since participating in the club, Johnson said it doesn't make sense to her why many of the books are blacklisted.

"A lot of the time, after I've read the book, I'm just like, 'Why was this even banned?' " she said.

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Jillian Rager, 14, another member of the Teen Banned Book Club, said restricting material makes it more desirable to young people.

"If you're going to ban a book, it's just going to make kids want to read it more," she said, adding that discussing books with peers has helped her think more critically about them.

Joslyn said she has learned a lot, too, and has also found a diverse group of new friends who share her love of literature.

"There are other book nerds out there that are really interested in these banned books," she said. "It gives me hope for the future."

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Upset by book bans, teen starts forbidden book club in small Pa. town

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As book banning in schools reached unprecedented heights in the United States, 14-year-old Joslyn Diffenbaugh was having none of it. "It's really problematic, because books are the only way that you can be in another person's shoes," said Joslyn, a self-proclaimed "book nerd," who lives in the small town of Kutztown, Pa., near Allentown.

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Most of the targeted books are about Black and L.G.B.T.Q. people, according to the American Library Association. The country's polarized politics has fueled the rise.

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As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

Attempts to ban books in the United States surged in 2021 to the highest level since the American Library Association began tracking book challenges 20 years ago, the organization said Monday.

Most of the targeted books were by or about Black and L.G.B.T.Q. people, the association said.

Book challenges are a perennial issue at school board meetings and libraries. But more recently, efforts fueled by the country's intensely polarized political environment have been amplified by social media, where lists of books some consider to be inappropriate for children circulate quickly and widely.

Challenges to certain titles have been embraced by some conservative politicians, cast as an issue of parental choice and parental rights. Those who oppose these efforts, however, say that prohibiting the books violates the rights of parents and children who want those titles to be available.

"What we're seeing right now is an unprecedented campaign to remove books from school libraries but also public libraries that deal with the lives and experience of people from marginalized communities," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the American Library Association's office for intellectual freedom. "We're seeing organized groups go to school boards and library boards and demand actual censorship of these books in order to conform to their moral or political views."

The library association said it counted 729 challenges last year to library, school and university materials, as well as research databases and e-book platforms. Each challenge can contain multiple titles, and the association tracked 1,597 individual books that were either challenged or removed.

The count is based on voluntary reporting by educators and librarians and on media reports, the association said, and is not comprehensive.

Librarians and free speech advocates have also noticed an increase in heavy-handed tactics, including high-profile political pressure against certain books and legal threats against librarians responsible for choosing reading material - and even against the books themselves.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, a Republican, ran a campaign ad featuring a mother who did not want Toni Morrison's "Beloved" to be a part of her son's high school curriculum. Another Republican, Henry McMaster, the governor of South Carolina, asked for an investigation into what he called " obscene and pornographic " materials in the state's public schools, specifically mentioning the book "Gender Queer: A Memoir," by Maia Kobabe, which the library association said was the most frequently challenged book in the country last year.

A county prosecutor's office in Wyoming considered criminal charges against library employees for stocking books such as "This Book is Gay" and "Sex Is a Funny Word." A school board member in Flagler County, Fla., filed a complaint with the sheriff's department against a book called "All Boys Aren't Blue."

Law enforcement officials determined there was no basis for a criminal investigation in either instance. But librarians say that just the specter of having to defend against charges, or to withstand such a public spectacle, is likely to have a chilling effect, discouraging library employees from ordering certain books in the first place.

Here are the ten most frequently challenged books of 2021, according to the library association.

In this 2019 illustrated memoir, Kobabe, who is nonbinary, explored questions surrounding sexuality and gender identity and the process of coming out as gender nonconforming. Most objections to the book, which has been pulled from school and public libraries across the country, point to brief references to masturbation and an illustration based on an erotic image of an older man and a boy depicted on a Greek urn. But Kobabe and others note that many of the challenges stem from the memoir's frank discussion of gender fluidity.

Evison's 2018 novel follows a young Mexican American man who works as a landscaper and is coming to terms with his sexual identity. While it was written for adults, the novel found an audience with teens and won an Alex Award, a prize given by the Young Adult Library Services Association to books written for adults that hold appeal to young adults. Critics seized on a scene that describes a sexual encounter between two boys.

Evison has said he has received death threats as a result of the campaigns to ban his book.

Johnson's memoir earned glowing reviews for its unflinching and at times exuberant look at the challenges and joys of growing up Black and queer. The book, which includes scenes that depict oral and anal sex and sexual assault, has been challenged in school libraries across the country.

Set in 1930s Texas, "Out of Darkness" centers on a romance between a Mexican American teenage girl and a Black teenage boy. The novel has been widely challenged, including by a parent at the Lake Travis Independent School District in Austin who complained about a passage where teenage boys make explicit sexual and racist comments about a Mexican American girl. Perez has argued that her novel deals with racism and sexual abuse because those are issues that young people confront in their own lives.

Thomas's young adult debut novel centers on a Black teenage girl whose friend is shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. A best seller, it helped stir conversations about police violence, but has been challenged across the country for what critics say is profanity, violence and an "anti-police" agenda.

"There's the assumption that it's an anti-police book, when the fact is it's anti-police brutality," Thomas said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Based on the author's own experience, this young adult book follows a boy on the Spokane Indian Reservation who attends an all-white school where the only other Native American is the school mascot. It won a National Book Award in 2007 in the Young People's Literature category.

The library association said it has been targeted for banning because of sexual references, profanity and the use of a derogatory term.

A novel about an awkward boy named Greg who hopes to make it through high school by keeping a low profile; his friend, Earl; and a girl who has cancer, whom Greg's mom pushes him to befriend. A New York Times best seller, it was made into a movie written by Andrews and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.

The book has been challenged because it was considered degrading to women and sexually explicit.

Published in 1970, Morrison's debut novel is considered a canonical work of American fiction. Narrated by a Black girl in Ohio, the book follows a tragic heroine who believes that she is ugly, and prays for blue eyes.

The book has been challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

A nonfiction exploration of growing up as L.G.B.T.Q., this title addresses a variety of issues including sex, politics and stereotypes. The book has been challenged because of its L.G.B.T.Q. material and themes, and for "providing sexual education," the library association said.

This book profiles the lives of six transgender or gender-neutral teenagers, largely in their own words. The book was challenged for its L.G.B.T.Q. content and because it was considered sexually explicit, the association said.

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Book Banning Efforts Surged in 2021. These Titles Were the Most Targeted.

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Most of the targeted books are about Black and L.G.B.T.Q. people, according to the American Library Association. The country's polarized politics has fueled the rise. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

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Authored by the four professional organizations for teachers: National Council for the Social Studies, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of English, National Science Teaching Association, and the National Coalition Against Censorship.

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Freedom to Teach Statement
School districts, the most active battlefield in the American culture wars today, are facing an unprecedented number of calls to remove books from schools and libraries, false claims about "obscenity" invading classrooms, the elimination of teaching about evolution and climate change, challenges to the need for making sense of and critiquing our world in mathematics classrooms, and legislation redlining teaching about racism in American history. These actions are putting excessive and undue pressure on teachers, who are caught in the crossfire of larger political conflict, motivated by cultural shifts and stoked for political gain.

Teachers are being maligned as "harming" children and are subjected to constant scrutiny (and even direct surveillance) by many parents, school administrators, and activist groups. Some are afraid to offer their students award-winning books that may violate vaguely stated laws about teaching the history of racism or that may be misleadingly labeled as pornographic. As a result, teachers' very ability to do their job is under threat.

In their zeal, activists of the current culture wars unfortunately treat teachers as if they are enemies. The truth is that teachers are uniquely important leaders who, in educating current and new generations of students, bear responsibility for this country's future. They are trained professionals with one of the hardest and most demanding jobs, a job that requires deep commitment, but brings little financial reward.

Teachers need our support; they need our trust; they need to have the freedom to exercise their professional judgment. And that freedom includes the freedom to decide what materials best suit their students in meeting the demands of the curriculum, the freedom to discuss disturbing parts of American history if and when they judge students are ready for it, and the freedom to determine how to help young people navigate the psychological and social challenges of growing up. In short, teachers need the freedom to prepare students to become future members of a democratic society who can engage in making responsible and informed contributions and decisions about our world.

The stakes are too high. We cannot let good teachers leave the field because they no longer have the freedom to do their jobs. We cannot let the education of our children and young adults become collateral damage in partisan political machinations.
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Freedom to Teach: Statement against Banning Books

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Statement of the freedom to teach and against banning books in schools and libraries. Teachers need support and trust to teach. Learn more.

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Report a Censorship Incident Form - NCTE

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INBOX is a biweekly email wrap-up of the most important stories in English language arts education, ideas for your classroom, and news from NCTE.

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12 Resources for Navigating Materials Challenges in Your Library

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Maintaining intellectual freedom in the library requires preparedness and persistence. These 12 resources will help you respond with confidence to materials challenges in your library. Protecting the Freedom to ReadResource Type: WebinarsFacing book and materials challenges can be overwhelming and frightening. Turn your concern into constructive action!

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When high school senior Cameron Samuels started attending school board meetings in the Houston suburb of Katy last year, they were typically one of only a few voices-and at times the only voice-speaking in support of student access to LGBTQ materials.

Samuels, 18, who uses they/them pronouns, started by beseeching their district to unblock websites like the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for queer youth, and to refrain from banning library books that featured LGBTQ+ characters or dealt with racism. Around the same time, a Texas lawmaker demanded that schools report their purchases of books that could "make students feel discomfort," and Samuels says adults showed up in larger numbers than not to support book removals.

"As a member of the LGBTQ community, I feel attacked because that's something that I am," Samuels says. "It's been hard to hear speakers target the LGBTQ community and say we are promoting what they call pornography in these books."

That changed on Monday, when Samuels says students spoke out against book censorship at a Katy ISD board meeting that was overflowing with supporters. The strong showing came on the heels of what they dubbed "FReadom Week," during which Samuels and other student members of the nonpartisan group Voters of Tomorrow distributed nearly 200 books featuring LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-Black, Indigenous and people of color-themes at four district high schools.

"We packed the room full," Samuels says of the board meeting. "There was so much representation from students and supporters of the LGBTQ community, and it was great to see how our FReadom Week had been a success."

Students with Voters of Tomorrow distribute books at Jordan High School in Katy, Texas, in February 2022.

Samuels and their peers are part of a growing movement of students who are pushing back against book bans across the country. As challenges against books about race, gender and sexuality continue to gain traction, New York high school student Jack Lobel says students deserve to learn from literature with perspectives from the LGBTQ+ community and writers of color.

"For book banning in particular, a lot of the coverage has been around lawmakers, authors, parents and school boards, but young people are the one missing out on these important conversations," says Lobel, 17, who serves as communications director for Voters of Tomorrow. He adds that book distributions are taking place in Texas and Virginia. "Young people are the leaders of tomorrow, and we deserve to have these books be part of our curricula."

It's not just Lobel's group making waves. In the past month, Pennsylvania students have garnered national recognition for successfully fighting back against their school district's ban on anti-racist books. A group of Texas middle schoolers started the Round Rock Black Students Book Club to dig into literature that represents them. And Missouri students are suing their school district over a banned book list that includes Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye."

Students with Voters of Tomorrow give a presentation on book censorship at Taylor High School in Katy, Texas, in February 2022. The corresponding book giveaway was part of the group's "FReadom Week" in response to bans targeting of books with LGBTQ characters and racial equity themes.

"People will say that [more-inclusive curriculums] will make White people feel uncomfortable," 17-year-old Christina Ellis, one of the student advocates against Central York School District's book ban, tells the Washington Post. "Well, it's also uncomfortable for African American students to hear in classes that their ancestors were being lynched and have all the White kids turn around, look at you and stare at you while the teacher is talking to you about that."

As for Samuels, they and other Katy ISD students aren't done yet. They're planning another book distribution this week-with titles including Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and Art Spiegelman's "Maus"-and a rally against book censorship at the Texas Capitol in March.

Samuels says another disturbing aspect of the ongoing controversy is that parents receive a district notification when their child checks out a young adult novel from the library, seemingly targeted at books that feature LGBTQ+ characters and issues.

"[Some students] were like, 'Never mind, I'm not going to check that book out," Samuels says of his peers who learned of the notifications. "Those that don't know about it are forcibly outed to their parents without them knowing, and that is a big issue. Students need to have access to this affirming content."

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Students Are Jumping Into The Fray Over Book Bans - EdSurge News

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When high school senior Cameron Samuels started attending school board meetings in the Houston suburb of Katy last year, they were typically one of only a few voices-and at times the only voice-speaking in support of student access to LGBTQ materials.

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“Americans are seeing unprecedented challenges to information, knowledge, freedom, and democracy. It is unsurprising that school libraries are in the cross-hairs. A school library’s commitment to intellectual freedom provides students with access to reliable information, challenging ideas, and

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All students have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others.

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Report Challenged Library Materials in NYS

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Just in time for Women's History Month, the Republican book banners are trying to erase women's history.

On Friday, the Republican-dominated Wyoming state Senate passed a bill barring the University of Wyoming from funding "any gender studies courses, academic programs, co-curricular programs, or extracurricular programs." Unsurprisingly, the Republican senators who supported this used hyperventilating language to justify this censorship. Sen. Charles Scott called it "an extremely biased, ideologically driven program that I can't see any academic legitimacy to." And the bill's sponsor, Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, claimed that the program "caused me to lose some sleep," because "I felt that this was one that our constituents, I know certainly mine, wouldn't agree with."
RELATED: What's destroying democracy around the world? At least in part, misogyny and sexism
This move is an expansion of the same hysterics we've witnessed for the past year or so over "critical race theory." In real life, "critical race theory" describes a specific academic approach largely found in law schools and other graduate programs. But in GOP hands, it has become a broad scare term use to demonize any book or course that addresses factual history about racism, slavery or Jim Crow oppression. Books about Martin Luther King Jr., the Holocaust and the era of American slavery were immediately marked for banning. The circle of censorship swiftly expanded to expunge any acknowledgment of the existence of queer people. In Florida, the "don't say gay" bill was justified with overwrought language implying that teachers were somehow sexifying kids. It soon became apparent, however, that the bill as written is so expansive that teachers could potentially be sued simply for letting students raised by same-sex couples talk about their families in class.
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Readers will not be surprised to find out the same idiocy is going on in Wyoming, one of the most conservative and most rural states in the nation. The courses that are keeping Steinmetz up at night have titles like " Victorian Women's Lives: Their Art, Literature and Culture" and " Women, Gender & Migration." As Kate Hartmann, a Buddhist studies professor at the University of Wyoming, tweeted, this would "affect 30 academic programs and 105 courses, and limit the ability of students to learn about the many ways gender affects our past, present, and future."

Hartmann went on to note that gender affects all aspects of our lives, including health care, education and even marketing - a reality so deeply ingrained that it's frankly impossible to talk about human life without addressing it. As with the way bans on "critical race theory" have been used to attack teaching the history of the civil rights movement, this sort of ban could make it difficult to teach basic historical facts about feminism and the suffragist movement.

Steinmetz, who brought forth this bill, is no stranger to talking about the impacts of gender on human life, albeit in ways that celebrate rigid and unforgiving gender roles. She has previously backed legislation stipulating that marriage is "between one man and one woman," which would have allowed health care workers to deny care to people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. She has also backed bills banning trans girls from playing on girls' sports teams. None of these stances make sense without the acknowledgment that gender affects how people live, even if Steinmetz's views favor using gender as a tool of oppression.
RELATED: Meet Christopher Rufo - leader of the incoherent right-wing attack on "critical race theory"
Unsurprisingly, Christopher Rufo - one of the main architects of the "critical race theory" hoax - was ecstatic about this new attack on academic freedom. Of course, Rufo's claims to believe in race neutrality were always a lie, as well. He's been on Twitter screeching incoherent nonsense about how progressives supposedly want to "abolish white people," which shouldn't be a concern to the supposedly colorblind folks who "don't see" race.

That, of course, gets to the crux of this nonsense. None of these book-banning efforts are about "neutrality" or "unbiased" education. They're a blatant effort to force educators to adhere to biased, outdated and downright false views on race, sexuality and gender. Bans on talking about "sexual orientation" won't be used to punish teachers for talking about straight people or to censor books that feature heterosexual couples. Bans on "critical race theory" will only cover books that frame racism as a bad thing, but will not target books where white supremacy is unquestioned. This attack on gender studies is about censoring any education that proposes that misogyny is bad or that gender is more complicated than the religious right would have you believe. But acknowledging gender in hidebound, sexist ways will undoubtedly continue, or in fact be accelerated.
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As Yale professor and expert in fascism Jason Stanley noted on Twitter, Wyoming's proposed ban "goes much further than what Orban did in Hungary." He's referring to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, who barred two Hungarian universities from offering a master's degree in gender studies. Orbán has become a hero to the Trumpist right in the U.S., frequently praised by Tucker Carlson of Fox News as a hero who has turned a culturally rich European nation into a white nationalist utopia that Americans could emulate for the low, low price of giving up democracy. Orbán's vision isn't just racist, anti-immigrant and antisemitic. He's also, like most if not all authoritarian leaders, homophobic and misogynist, and attached to the view that a woman's place is in the home, where she can focus on breeding more white Hungarians.
RELATED: Meet James Lindsay, the far right's "world-level expert" on CRT and "Race Marxism"
This Wyoming bill serves as another reminder of how much the tide of authoritarianism in the U.S., catalyzed and to some degree led by Donald Trump, is rooted not just in racism, but a profoundly insecure sexism. Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida recently released an 11-point GOP vision for America, much of it centered on enforcing rigid gender hierarchies and heterosexuality, insisting that it's "God's design for humanity." Much of the lavish praise that Republicans have offered to Russian President Vladimir Putin - even as they try to backpedal away from his invasion of Ukraine - is also gender-obsessed. Conservatives repeatedly insist that Russia is "strong" and America is "weak," either implicitly or explicitly because of Russia's oppression of women and LGBTQ people. And of course the GOP is moving rapidly to ban abortion, having already done so in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has also signed an order that threatens to remove trans children from parents who love and accept them.

There are still questions about whether this Wyoming bill will last very long, since it likely violates the First Amendment and is so extreme that even many Republicans in that overwhelmingly conservative state oppose it. Still, the fact that it passed the state Senate represents a chilling advance of the GOP's ever-expanding book banning campaign. The right shows no signs of slowing down its campaign to terrorize educators in public schools or universities who teach anything that might conflict with old-school conservative ideology.

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First, the book-banners came for CRT and LGBTQ. Now they're censoring women's history

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Just in time for Women's History Month, the Republican book banners are trying to erase women's history. On Friday, the Republican-dominated Wyoming state Senate passed a bill barring the University of Wyoming from funding "any gender studies courses, academic programs, co-curricular programs, or extracurricular programs." Unsurprisingly, the Republican senators who supported this used hyperventilating language to justify this censorship.

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There's been a rise of "First Amendment auditors" visiting public libraries across the country and in Michigan over the last year, testing to see if they're allowed to film inside the library.

Under First Amendment "audits," when individuals go to public spaces, like police stations, city halls and libraries, to seek out First Amendment violations, have been happening for years. But according to the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), these "audits" have become more aggressive since the start of 2021.

The First Amendment protects speech, religion, press, assembly and the right to petition the government.

"What are they looking for? Every single one of them is different. Some auditors are looking for fame and fortune on YouTube and other auditors are looking for confrontation," said Deborah Mikula, executive director of the Michigan Library Association (MLA). "They're looking to be confronted, either by the staff or by police, and they're creating those videos to claim a violation of their First Amendment rights."

It is the latest issue confronting public libraries, where a debate over banning certain books has garnered national attention.

Lance Werner, the executive director of the Kent District Library system in Grand Rapids, said that each of the KDL branches have been visited by auditors, but there haven't been issues of harassment or hostility.

"We treat everybody with empathy, kindness, love and respect, even if they're coming in and filming employees or asking pointed questions," said Werner. "It's of no concern to us. We're transparent and we recognize everybody's right to be in the library. We would only care if they were interfering with other patrons."

The public has the right to film inside public buildings, but Michigan does have a Library Privacy Act, which protects a patron's right to privacy of what they read and check out at the library.

"We're paying attention to privacy issues of other patrons. That's a really important part of the conversation for our libraries. Because it's not just our librarians working at those buildings, but a lot of people are in those buildings, and we want to make sure that their privacy is upheld," Mikula said.

The Michigan Library Association, which oversees the state's 396 library systems, has been working to train librarians on how to de-escalate situations.

"We're trying to make sure that our librarians feel comfortable in dealing with First Amendment audits, and that's really all we can do," Mikula said.

Libraries have been under an especially watchful eye in recent months as nationwide conversations about book-banning have started to heat up.

Most of these fights, organized by Republican groups, like the national organization No Left Turn in Education, have been targeting school libraries and aiming to ban books that discuss race, gender and sexuality.

But Werner said that since the start of last summer, the number of book challenges KDL has received has significantly increased, with informal challenges coming in about weekly.

There are very few books that would get banned from any of the KDL public libraries, Werner said. For a book to be removed from the library's collection, it would have to be pornography or child pornography - which is not protected by the Constitution.

According to the ALA's preliminary America's Libraries , more than 330 unique book challenges nationwide were reported in the three-month period between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, 2021. In that timeframe, there have been more than double the number of reports from 2020 (156 challenges) and it will likely outpace 2019 figures (377 challenges).

"We want to do the best we can by people and we're going to protect the Constitution," said Werner. "We're going to treat everybody with kindness and society's going to do what it's going to do. I just wish everybody would understand that we really don't have any agenda and we don't support any agenda. We are politically agnostic."
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter. Related: Sign up for The 74's newsletter

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Local Libraries Are Being Targeted by '1st Amendment Auditors', Book Challenges

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There's been a rise of "First Amendment auditors" visiting public libraries across the country and in Michigan over the last year, testing to see if they're allowed to film inside the library. Under First Amendment "audits," when individuals go to public spaces, like police stations, city halls and libraries, to seek out First Amendment violations, [...]

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When high school senior Cameron Samuels started attending school board meetings in the Houston suburb of Katy last year, they were typically one of only a few voices-and at times the only voice-speaking in support of student access to LGBTQ materials.

Samuels, 18, who uses they/them pronouns, started by beseeching their district to unblock websites like the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for queer youth, and to refrain from banning library books that featured LGBTQ+ characters or dealt with racism. Around the same time, a Texas lawmaker demanded that schools report their purchases of books that could "make students feel discomfort," and Samuels says adults showed up in larger numbers than not to support book removals.

"As a member of the LGBTQ community, I feel attacked because that's something that I am," Samuels says. "It's been hard to hear speakers target the LGBTQ community and say we are promoting what they call pornography in these books."

That changed on Monday, when Samuels says students spoke out against book censorship at a Katy ISD board meeting that was overflowing with supporters. The strong showing came on the heels of what they dubbed "FReadom Week," during which Samuels and other student members of the nonpartisan group Voters of Tomorrow distributed nearly 200 books featuring LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-Black, Indigenous and people of color-themes at four district high schools.

"We packed the room full," Samuels says of the board meeting. "There was so much representation from students and supporters of the LGBTQ community, and it was great to see how our FReadom Week had been a success."

Students with Voters of Tomorrow distribute books at Jordan High School in Katy, Texas, in February 2022.

Samuels and their peers are part of a growing movement of students who are pushing back against book bans across the country. As challenges against books about race, gender and sexuality continue to gain traction, New York high school student Jack Lobel says students deserve to learn from literature with perspectives from the LGBTQ+ community and writers of color.

"For book banning in particular, a lot of the coverage has been around lawmakers, authors, parents and school boards, but young people are the one missing out on these important conversations," says Lobel, 17, who serves as communications director for Voters of Tomorrow. He adds that book distributions are taking place in Texas and Virginia. "Young people are the leaders of tomorrow, and we deserve to have these books be part of our curricula."

It's not just Lobel's group making waves. In the past month, Pennsylvania students have garnered national recognition for successfully fighting back against their school district's ban on anti-racist books. A group of Texas middle schoolers started the Round Rock Black Students Book Club to dig into literature that represents them. And Missouri students are suing their school district over a banned book list that includes Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye."

Students with Voters of Tomorrow give a presentation on book censorship at Taylor High School in Katy, Texas, in February 2022. The corresponding book giveaway was part of the group's "FReadom Week" in response to bans targeting of books with LGBTQ characters and racial equity themes.

"People will say that [more-inclusive curriculums] will make White people feel uncomfortable," 17-year-old Christina Ellis, one of the student advocates against Central York School District's book ban, tells the Washington Post. "Well, it's also uncomfortable for African American students to hear in classes that their ancestors were being lynched and have all the White kids turn around, look at you and stare at you while the teacher is talking to you about that."

As for Samuels, they and other Katy ISD students aren't done yet. They're planning another book distribution this week-with titles including Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and Art Spiegelman's "Maus"-and a rally against book censorship at the Texas Capitol in March.

Samuels says another disturbing aspect of the ongoing controversy is that parents receive a district notification when their child checks out a young adult novel from the library, seemingly targeted at books that feature LGBTQ+ characters and issues.

"[Some students] were like, 'Never mind, I'm not going to check that book out," Samuels says of his peers who learned of the notifications. "Those that don't know about it are forcibly outed to their parents without them knowing, and that is a big issue. Students need to have access to this affirming content."

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Students Are Jumping Into The Fray Over Book Bans - EdSurge News

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When high school senior Cameron Samuels started attending school board meetings in the Houston suburb of Katy last year, they were typically one of only a few voices-and at times the only voice-speaking in support of student access to LGBTQ materials.

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On Tuesday this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed legislation that strengthens the protection from frivolous lawsuits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suits, are a strategic form of litigation that is used by wealthy plaintiffs...

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On Tuesday this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed legislation that strengthens the protection from frivolous lawsuits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suits, are a strategic form of litigation that is used by wealthy plaintiffs...

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Dear Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, 2/18/22

I recently read with interest your call to remove 282 books from your local school library. In it, you claim to have reviewed yourself all of these books and deemed them unfit for K-12 usage (quite a range there!).

I saw that you included among these books my 2020 novel, THE BRIDGE.

First off, thank you for reading my book! I would be happy to chat with you about the book, to see what you took from it.

Second, I want to say up front that I believe your intent here is to protect your children. I echo your concern; I also want safety for children. It's one of the main reasons I write books for young adults.

THE BRIDGE, as you know, is about two teens, Aaron and Tillie, who are severely depressed. They are both suicidal, and they meet atop the George Washington Bridge in New York City. From there, the book splits into four parts, illustrating all the possible scenarios about what could happen: they could both jump, they could both NOT jump. Or one or the other could jump. The novel follows the impacts of these decisions all the way out, so that readers can come to understand two things-just how difficult it is to be depressed and navigate the disease of depression, and also just how devastating one loss to suicide is to the whole world.

I was a bit surprised to see THE BRIDGE on your list for removal from the library. Not entirely surprised, as I was aware of Matt Krause's list of 850 books he wants removed, which includes five of my titles. But still I was a bit startled, especially when I read your review of why the book ought to be removed.

You wrote that the book "Contains 1 or more of the following: Marxism, incest, sexual explicit material - in written form and/ or visual pictures, pornography, CRT, immoral activities, rebellious against parents, and the material contradicts the ISD's student handbook." As I looked through your screeds, it seems that this is how you describe each of these books. It's as if you cut and pasted that complaint 282 times. That surprised me, because you took the time, you say, to read each of these books. That's a lot of reading! Surely you have thoughts about these books you read beyond some cut and paste jargon?

So I want to address these concerns. While I disagree that books should be removed from libraries because some people are uncomfortable with the content, I felt it made sense to go through these since you specified your issues with THE BRIDGE.

There is no Marxist philosophy in this book. In fact, its author is a capitalist. Of course, since we live in a free country, a book with Marxist philosophy ought to be able to exist in a library, so long as it isn't threatening to overthrow the government. But that seems like a moot point here.

Incest is not a part of THE BRIDGE. In fact, my book does not include explicit sexual activity, though one student at one time writes a poem about wishing she hadn't had sex with a boy. It is not explicit. In fact, I have read a lot of young adult lit, and I know very few books that include incest, and in each of those cases, it depicts incest in order to help readers who have been through that trauma, not to glamorize it. If you wish to start a petition banning books that glamorize incest in school libraries, I might actually sign it. That's simply not happening here.

Sexual (sic) explicit behavior: I had to think about that one, since teens are sexual beings and sometimes have sexual thoughts. Both Tillie and Aaron have sexual thoughts, but they aren't explicit in their thinking. No one has sex in this book. That is not what the book is about.

Pornography: There is no pornography in my novel.

CRT: I believe you are referring to Critical Race Theory. My book doesn't touch on this. Some of my others do, but this book, again, is about suicide and depression. One of the characters is Korean and was adopted at a young age by a white family. At moments she describes what it feels like to be of a different race than her parents and sister, but at no point does this novel delve into theories about race or a screed about racial inequality. I do wonder what your concern is here, as my understanding is that CRT is a scary buzzword for "teaching history as it happened." What is the problem with teaching American history, and the fact that this country was built on slave labor? What would you have books say instead? I think it is very important to learn about history. We learn about challenging times in history so that we don't repeat them.

Immoral Activities: Wow, that's quite an umbrella there. We'd have to dig a bit deeper to know what you mean, but one thing I will say is that misbehaving is often central to literature, as novels always have a conflict. If you are referring, as sometimes people do, to sex before marriage, or taking street drugs, I think you will agree that these things do not happen in THE BRIDGE. I have read some books in which characters do have sex and take drugs, and my take is that it is rarely done to titillate, or to glamorize drug use. Usually in YA literature, drug use is depicted as something negative, and that is as it should be. Now, it is possible you consider Aaron's sexuality immoral, since he's gay, but Aaron has never had sex. So unless you are the thought police (and I'm pretty sure those people are on the Left, correct?), I can't really see how anything about Aaron's behavior in this book is immoral.

Rebellious (sic) against parents: Ah. I think at one point in this book, Tillie skips school. She is depressed, and she is in a therapist's office with her mother in the waiting room, and she realizes they want to commit her to an institution because she is so deeply depressed, and she freaks out and flees the office. This is, in fact, rebellious behavior. It is also exactly the kind of thing that could happen in the world. I read that you have an elementary school daughter. Congratulations! I don't have kids, but I have many friends who do. If this sort of rebellious behavior is means for taking a book out of a library, I think you have some exciting and potentially difficult discoveries in front of you when your daughter reaches adolescence. I won't spoil them. You'll find out when you have a teenager!

I don't have the ISD handbook, so I don't know what's in it specifically. But I do think that if you want to have all the characters in novels adhere to a school handbook, you might have trouble finding novels. In THE WIZARD OF OZ, Dorothy drops a house on a witch. Is murder allowed in the handbook? In A TALE OF TWO CITIES, a French aristocrat runs down a working-class child with his carriage. I would assume this would be considered poor behavior in your district. Should we ban these books, too? Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, the truth is that stories, both fictional and non-fictional, include behaviors that might be considered outside the bounds of how schools might like their students to behave. People lie and cheat and steal. Find me a book for teenagers where no one behaves poorly, and I'll show you a boring book!

You suggest that the libraries in your district remove THE BRIDGE from its shelves. I guess the question I want to ask, since you have read the book, is: why?

Why, exactly, are you wishing to remove a book about suicide and depression from your libraries?

Perhaps you are concerned for the safety of your students. If so, I applaud you. Health and safety of young people is at the top of my list of concerns, too. As I wrote THE BRIDGE, I spent a lot of time ensuring that I wrote my book in a way that would help teens, not trigger them by making suicide somehow glamorous or sexy. Just like a doctor, who takes an oath to "do no harm," I take my craft very seriously. I want my books to leave the world better than they found it.

That said, we live in a society where, increasingly, young people are dying by suicide. The reasons for this are too long to go into here, but I would say that among the reasons is isolation and feeling alone and misunderstood.

Right there, in a nutshell, is why I write books for teens. I felt isolated and alone and misunderstood as a teen. I so wished there was a book out there that had a person going through what I was going through. See, I was gay. I knew I was gay because of my thoughts, not because of any book or TV show, because there were basically none of those things back when I was in school. At the time, I was depressed and suicidal because I felt so alone. So I wanted to make sure no other young person went through that.

I am concerned about the young people in the McKinney Independent School District, because in my experience, kids are the same everywhere. There are depressed kids everywhere. There are isolated, at-risk kids everywhere. There are LGBTQ kids everywhere. Getting rid of books from the library won't change that; it will just make life that much harder and more isolated for those children.

Do you think there should be books in the library that might help a depressed teenager feel a bit more understood? A book that stresses the importance of staying another day, even when everything feels hopeless? Knowing how concerned you are for the safety of your daughter, I would actually guess you would want a book like that available to your child when she gets older. Perhaps I am wrong.

My concern is that you didn't actually read THE BRIDGE and said that you did. I say this because your list of 282 books includes the exact same concerns for each book. That seems lazy, at best. At worst, it is deceitful, which, I imagine, goes against the ISD handbook. I certainly hope you're not doing that! It would be hypocritical to behave in ways that go against the values we try to instill in our children.

I think you didn't read THE BRIDGE, and that in fact you would have been better served to include a book of mine that was more focused on LGBTQ representation. Not because you would be right, but at least then we could have a conversation about why you're wrong about that, too.

I can say with total honesty that I wish the best for your child. I want for her to have every opportunity for joy and success in life. To experience freedom and happiness.

What I wonder, though, is whether you feel the same way for kids who suffer from depression? Or for kids who are gay? The truth is that like it or not, some kids are gay. Some kids are trans. To make the world safer and better for them, we need to have representation of those people in books. Books with LGBTQ characters save lives. I know because of the hundreds of emails I've received from kids who have told me my books saved their life.

Perhaps you would like it better if those kids repressed those desires and didn't act upon them. Or tried to pray the gay away. I've seen that movie. I have met hundreds of men and women over the course of my life who have tried to do that. It doesn't end well for them, nor does it end well for their spouses.

You might say this is blasphemous, but here is a question for you: what if it turns out your daughter is lesbian or bisexual? You might think this is impossible; I can tell you from experience that I have met hundreds if not thousands of teens and parents in that situation. Kids from conservative, religious households. Parents who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and anything else is immoral.

My question is, if it turns out your child is lesbian, or bi, or trans, what would you wish for them? Would you want them to feel loved and safe, or would you want them to feel alone and ashamed?

You might think now you'd prefer the latter, but I see from the fact that you are doing so much to try to keep your child safe that perhaps you might change your mind about that. According to a 2021 national study by The Trevor Project, 42 percent of LGBTQ youth considered suicide last year. The number is much higher for trans and non-binary youth. I have heard the argument that this shows that LGBTQ youth are simply troubled, but I can tell you that's not right. LGBTQ youth are at risk precisely because of endeavors like yours that aim to erase people like them from the library.

I'll end with a prayer for you, because I know that you are religious. I pray that you and your family find prosperity and joy. I hope that in your prayers tonight, you will pray for at-risk kids who need these books. Because in many cases, their lives depend on it.

Sincerely,

Bill Konigsberg

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An Open Letter to Parents Who Wish to Ban My Books from School Libraries - Author Bill Konigsberg

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Dear Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, 2/18/22 I recently read with interest your call to remove 282 books from your local school library. In it, you claim to have reviewed yourself all of these books and deemed them unfit for K-12 usage (quite a range there!). I saw that you included among these...

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Students have repeatedly vandalized Pride posters at Spencer Lyst's high school in Williamson County, Tennessee. Teachers have skipped over LGBTQ issues in class textbooks. Trans kids in his state have been legally barred from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. Parents have called on school officials to remove books about sexual orientation and gender identity from the county's elementary curriculum. And while leading hisschool's Pride club at a September homecoming parade, Lyst and other LGBTQ students were booed by a group of parents.

"I'm so used to it, but it shouldn't be something I have to think about," Lyst, 16, said of the near-constant feeling of being attacked at school because of his identity.

He even said it's "difficult" to walk into the school bathroom for fear of what or who "might be in there."

"Like, can I go to the bathroom or am I going to get hate for just existing?" he said.

Lyst's school experience is a far cry from an isolated case.

Since the start of the school year, school officials in states across the country have banned books about gay and trans experiences, removed LGBTQ-affirming posters and flags and disbanded gay-straight alliance clubs. In school districts throughout the nation, students have attacked their queer classmates, while state lawmakers have filed hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills with many seeking to redefine lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students' places in U.S. schools.

"There is no separating any of these things," Mary Emily O'Hara, the rapid response manager at LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, said at a media briefing on Monday. "What we're seeing here is anti-LGBTQ groups, on a national level, making schools the new battleground across the board, across various kinds of school policies and various forms of legislation. Schools are the target right now for the anti-LGBTQ movement."

In the majority of cases, conservative school officials, lawmakers and parents say LGBTQ issues do not belong in school because they are "political" and "not age-appropriate" for students. Conversely, queer youth and their families, along with LGBTQ and ally teachers, say they feel they are being "erased" from the U.S. education system.

'I'm not going back in the closet'

South Florida mom Jennifer Solomon, 50, has four children. Her eldest child, Nicolette, 28, is a lesbian who teaches fourth grade in Miami-Dade County. Her youngest, Cooper, 11, identifies as male, but Solomon said his "expression is female." Cooper "never wanted to be a girl," his mom explained, but he prefers to wear his school's girls uniform and enjoys dressing up like a fairy-tale princess for fun.

"An easy way to describe it is that he's the opposite of a tomboy," she told NBC News.

Despite how hard she works to protect her children, Solomon - who leads her local chapter of PFLAG, an LGBTQ family advocacy group - said the slew of anti-LGBTQ school policies "keeps me up at night."

On Monday, Solomon's governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, signaled that he would support a new piece of state legislation - titled the Parental Rights in Education bill, but dubbed the " Don't Say Gay " bill - that would prohibit the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in schools.

Speaking at a news event in Miami, DeSantis said it is "entirely inappropriate" for teachers to be having conversations with students about gender identity, citing alleged instances of them telling children, "Don't worry, don't pick your gender yet," and "hiding" classroom lessons from parents.

"Parental rights? Whose parental rights? Only parental rights if you're raising a child according to DeSantis?" Solomon, who is a nurse manager at a health care company, said of DeSantis' concerns. "DeSantis tries to paint this picture that every family is this 1950s mom and dad with two kids and a cat and dog. That is not what Florida looks like; that is not what the country looks like."

"DeSantis has found a weak spot, and that weak spot is children," she added, suggesting that DeSantis is supporting the measure for political gain.

Nicolette Solomon said she is already hesitant to mention her wife - and by default her sexuality - at school, but she said passage of the "Don't Say Gay" bill would be "the straw that breaks the camel's back" and vowed to quit if it becomes law.

"If I can't be myself, seven hours a day, five days a week, then I'm going back in the closet, and I can't do that. It's not good for my own mental health," she said. "And I don't think I can bear to see the students struggle and want to ask me about these things and then have to deny them that knowledge. That's not who I am as a teacher."

In less than two months since the start of the year, conservative state lawmakers have filed more than 170 anti-LGBTQ bills - already surpassing last year's 139 total - with at least 69 of them centered on school policies, according to Freedom for All Americans. The nonprofit group, which advocates for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections nationwide, said in an email that it didn't track LGBTQ school policy bills last year, as it was not as much of a "sweeping trend" as it is now.

Three states - including Lyst's home state of Tennessee - passed bills last year that allow parents to opt students out of any lessons or coursework that mention sexual orientation or gender identity, according to GLSEN, an advocacy group that aims to end LGBTQ discrimination in education. In addition to the "Don't Say Gay" bill advancing in Florida, there are 15 bills under consideration in eight states that would silence speech about LGBTQ identities in classrooms, according to free speech nonprofit organization PEN America.

But perhaps the biggest trend in state bills targeting LGBTQ youths are those focused on transgender students.

Last year, legislators in at least 30 states weighed legislation that would bar trans students from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity, according to LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign. Nine of those states enacted the bills into law. So far this year, 27 states have proposed similar bills, with South Dakota enacting its version of the legislation into law this month.

While not school related, there has also been a slew of bills that seek to prevent transgender youths from accessing gender-affirming health care. At least 20 states have proposed such measures since early 2021, with two states - Arkansas and Tennessee - enacting these bills into law. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Arkansas law in July after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged it in court on behalf of trans youths and their families.

Cooper Solomon said he thinks lawmakers are pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation "because they were born in another time."

"I guess back then, a long time ago, they didn't accept this, and they thought it was really bad," the fifth grader said. "I would just like them to know that it's OK to be like this, and it's not going to hurt anyone."

'My community was under attack'

Legislation aside, the last straw for Jack Petocz, 17, was when his high school in Flagler County, Florida, removed a young adult memoir detailing the trials of being a Black queer boy: George M. Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue."

In November, a school board member filed a criminal complaint against school officials for allowing copies of the book- which has been challenged in at least 19 states -to remain in two of the county's high schools. The complaint was dismissed, but the superintendent decided to keep the book off of shelves until new policies are drafted to give parents more control over the library's collection.

"I felt that my community was under attack, that they were trying to silence LGBTQ+ experiences and voices within our community," Petocz, who is gay and led a student protest in response to the book's removal, said. "We're already a minority. Why are you trying to suppress this critical information within our libraries, you know? These books are critical to providing a sense of identity."

Books about race, sexual orientation and gender identity have historically been challenged in schools, but over the last several months, school libraries have seen a surge of opposition.

In the fall, as book bans started to take off in counties across the country, national groups - including No Left Turn in Education and Moms for Liberty - began circulating lists of school library books that they said were " indoctrinating kids to a dangerous ideology " to rally support.

The bans then became a talking point in the contentious Virginia governor's race, where the Republican candidate, former private equity executive and political newcomer Glenn Youngkin, made education a central issue of his campaign and swept to victory.

Youngkin's victory prompted other politicians to jump onto the issue, with the governors of Texas and South Carolina urging state school officials in November to ban several books, deriding them as "pornography" and "obscene" content.

School board members in Virginia's Spotsylvania County made national headlines after calling for LGBTQ books with "sexually explicit" material to be incinerated.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in November that while challenges to books with LGBTQ- and race-related content have historically been "constant," the association has recently seen a "chilling" uptick.

"I've worked at ALA for two decades now, and I've never seen this volume of challenges come in," she said."The impact will fall to those students who desperately want and need books that reflect their lives, that answer questions about their identity, about their experiences that they always desperately need and often feel that they can't talk to adults about."

To counter LGBTQ book bans - and school bans on race-related texts - a group of more than 600 writers, including bestselling children's author Judy Blume; publishers; bookstore owners; and advocacy groups signed a joint statement in December condemning the trend, arguing it "threatens the education of America's children."

Setting a 'different tone'

While state bills and book bans have garnered the most media attention, advocates say there are a host of other troubling trends adding to the distress that many queer students are feeling: removals of Pride flags and other LGBTQ-affirming symbols from classrooms, disbandments of gay-straight alliance clubs and resignations of teachers in protest of anti-LGBTQ policies.

In the fall, for example, rainbow stickers were ordered to be scraped off classroom doors at MacArthur High School near Dallas.

"While we appreciate the sentiment of reaching out to students who may not previously always had such support, we want to set a different tone this year," an email from a school official addressed to school staff read. NBC News obtained the email from a MacArthur High School teacher.

The sticker removals prompted a protest from the student body, but the pushback did not successfully encourage school officials to change their stance on the policy.

School board members in Newberg, Oregon, made national headlines in the fall for taking similar actions. In September, the school board banned educators from displaying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags and other symbols it considered " political " in school.

"We don't pay our teachers to push their political views on our students. That's not their place," the school board member who authored the policy, Brian Shannon, said at a recorded board meeting.

The policy prompted town protests that attracted some members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that has endorsed violence, who counterprotested the efforts. An attempt to recall Shannon and another school board member over the flag removals failed last month.

Some teachers have resigned in school districts over similar measures, like a Missouri teacher who resigned in September after his district mandated that he take down his Pride flag and not discuss human sexuality or "sexual preference" at school. In December, parents accused teachers at a middle school in Tennessee of trying to " indoctrinate " kids into being gay after helping students start a gay-straight alliance club.

In addition to parents, school officials and lawmakers, classmates are among those targeting LGBTQ students, according to advocacy groups and local news reports.

A national survey of LGBTQ students published in 2020 by GLSEN found that 69 percent of respondents reported experiencing verbal harassment at school based on their sexual orientation, 57 percent based on their gender expression or outward appearance, and 54 percent based on their gender identity.

Last year, more than a dozen local news articles -from California to Florida - reported on trans students being harassed or attacked by other students, some of them in bathrooms. However, advocates say it is unclear whether the attacks have increased or whether local outlets are reporting them at greater rates.

Impact of affirmation

Advocates have long been warning educators about the mental health risks plaguing LGBTQ youths and how anti-LGBTQ policies can exacerbate them.

A survey last year by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, found that 42 percent of the nearly 35,000 LGBTQ youths who were surveyed - and over half of trans and nonbinary youths - seriously considered suicide within the prior year. Separately, two-thirds of LGBTQ youths said debates about anti-trans legislation have impacted their mental health negatively, according to a small survey The Trevor Project conducted in the fall.

However, researchers at The Trevor Project have also found that LGBTQ youths who reported having at least one LGBTQ-affirming space - such as a school, home or workplace - were significantly less likely to attempt suicide.

With that in mind, Lizette Trujillo drives three hours a day back and forth to her 14-year-old transgender son's school in Tucson, Arizona. From the time when he socially transitioned in 2015, Daniel's school was open to the idea of letting him use the bathroom that corresponded with his gender identity - which Trujillo said was not a given in Arizona - and already had experience teaching trans youth.

Trujillo said while the commute "is not without its challenges," sending Daniel to a school where he is "not 'othered'" has made him happier.

"The biggest difference at my school is that I'm supported by all my teachers and the principal and staff; I have access to sports and the bathrooms," Daniel said. "It makes learning easier."

It also freed up space for his mother to focus on securing her son gender-affirming health care, filing for new identification documents and working through emotional hardships.

"What people don't realize is that you're not just worried about school when your child socially transitions," Trujillo said. "As you start this gender journey, you start to hit walls, and you're like, 'Oh, I didn't realize I needed that,' or, 'I didn't realize that was going to be a problem. I didn't realize we were going to lose family.'"

In response to the slew of challenges plaguing LGBTQ students and teachers, President Joe Biden has vowed to lend his support. Earlier this month, the White House issued a rebuke of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, while connecting the legislation to the disputes happening nationally.

"Make no mistake - this is not an isolated action. Across the country, we're seeing Republican leaders take actions to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and most troubling, who they can or cannot be," a White House spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. "This is politics at its worse, cynically using our students as pawns in political warfare."

Students 'fighting for their basic rights'

There are a number of examples across the U.S. of students getting proactive and successfully turning around anti-LGBTQ policies.

Aaryan Rawal, 17, was one of more than 400 students in Fairfax County, Virginia, who successfully urged their school officials to reinstate two LGBTQ books in November. Rawal, who is gay, said he was relieved when school board members heeded students' demands, but he lamented that the organizing efforts forced him to miss class and lose sleep.

"No student in any county in this country wants to go to school fighting for their basic rights," Rawal said. "Instead of doing statistics homework or hanging out with friends, we were expected to go to school board meetings and lobby school board members for stuff that really shouldn't be up for debate."

Last month, a group of students in Palm Beach, Florida, met with their newly hired superintendent to describe their experience being LGBTQ in their county's schools. They went around, one by one, and relayed stories of harassment and assault from students and bullying from teachers, according to two students who attended the meeting.

"Students have just gotten a collective consciousness that, 'School sucks and because I'm LGBT this is to be expected,' and that's not normal," Marcel Whyne, a nonbinary high school student who attended the meeting, said. "That shouldn't be the level of standard that we have for LGBT kids. You're entitled to be treated like your peers and go to school and, you know, just be bored at school like a normal student, not terrified that you're going to be harassed and have photos taken of you and be embarrassed and assaulted just because you're trying to be who you are."

As for Spencer Lyst, in Tennessee, he set out to start his high school's Pride club, Indy Pride, last fall with the goal of spreading awareness about the school's LGBTQ community and providing "a place for people who may feel like they don't have one." While being booed by adults at his school's homecoming was a "difficult" experience, he said he remains undeterred.

"People should know that no matter what bill they try to pass or book they try to ban or thing they try to ban teachers or students from talking about in schools, it doesn't change who people are, and it doesn't change who we're going to continue to be," Lyst said. "So trying to take a legal route to 'protect your kids' doesn't work. They are who they are, and if you can't accept that, maybe it's you who has some work to do."

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Politicians target LGBTQ kids in national erasure campaign from classrooms to sports fields

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Facing limiting legislation, book bans, harassment and more, gay and transgender youth say they are being "erased" from the U.S. education system.

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NEW YORK (AP) - Until a year ago, Stephana Ferrell's political activism was limited to the occasional letter to elected officials.

Then came her local school board meeting in Orange County, Florida and an objection raised to Maia Kobabe's graphic novel "Gender Queer: A Memoir." And the county's decision last fall to remove it from high school shelves.

"By winter break, we realized this was happening all over the state and needed to start a project to rally parents to protect access to information and ideas in school," says Ferrell, a mother of two. Along with fellow Orange County parent Jen Cousins, she founded the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which works with existing parent groups statewide on a range of educational issues, including efforts to "keep or get back books that have gone under challenge or have been banned."

Over the past year, book challenges and bans have reached levels not seen in decades, according to officials at the American Library Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other advocates for free expression. Censorship efforts have ranged from local communities such as Orange County and a Tennessee school board's pulling Art Spiegelman's graphic novel "Maus," to statewide initiatives.

"There are some books with pornography and pedophilia that should absolutely be removed from K through 12 school libraries," says Yael Levin, a spokeswoman for No Left Turn in Education, a national group opposed to what it calls a "Leftist agenda" for public schools that has called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the availability of "Gender Queer" among other books. "Now we're not talking about a public library or bookstores. We're talking about K through 12 school libraries, books that are just pornographic and with pedophilic content."

According to PEN America, which has been tracking legislation around the country, dozens of bills have been proposed that restrict classroom reading and discussion. Virtually all of the laws focus on sexuality, gender identity or race. In Missouri, a bill would ban teachers from using the "1619 Project," the New York Times magazine issue which centers around slavery in American history and was released last fall as a book.

The responses have come from organizations large and small, and sometimes from individuals such as Ferrell.

The American Civil Liberties Union, PEN America and the NCAC have been working with local activists, educators and families around the country, helping them "to prepare for meetings, to draft letters and to mobilize opposition," according to PEN America's executive director, Suzanne Nossel. The CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, has said he will personally donate $500,000 for a book defense fund to be run in partnership with PEN. Hachette Book Group has announced "emergency donations" to PEN, the NCAC and the Authors Guild.

Legal action has been one strategy. In Missouri, the ACLU filed suit in federal court in mid-February to prevent the Wentzville school district from removing such books as "Gender Queer," Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" and Keise Laymon's memoir "Heavy." The civil liberties union has also filed open records requests in Tennessee and Montana over book bans, and a warning letter in Mississippi against what it described as the "unconstitutionality of public library book bans."

Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, cited the U.S. Supreme Court's 1982 ruling declaring that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books." The tricky area, Eidelman acknowledged, is that schools officials are allowed to ban books for reasons other than not approving of the viewpoints the books express. Officials might determine, for instance, that the book is too profane or vulgar.

"The problem is just that often our definitions, for example, of vulgarity or age appropriateness, are for lack of a better word, mushy, and they can also hide or be used as pretext for viewpoint-based decisions by the government," she said.

Two anti-banning initiatives were launched in Pennsylvania. In Kutztown, eighth grader Joslyn Diffenbaugh formed a banned book club last fall that began with a reading of George Orwell's "Animal Farm." The Pennridge Improvement Project has started a drive to purchase books that have been removed from schools, including Leslea Newman's "Heather has Two Mommies" and Kim Johnson's "This is My America," and place them in small free libraries around the district.

The wave of bans has led to new organizations and to a change of focus for existing groups. Katie Paris, an Ohio resident and the founder of Red, Wine & Blue, a national network of politically engaged "PTA mamas and digital divas" founded in 2019, said that last year she began receiving calls from members begging for help as debates over "critical race theory" erupted.

Red, Wine & Blue started online sessions it calls Trouble Maker Training, which includes such guidance as "Present a calm face to counter the yelling and shouting" and "Own individual freedom: You can decide what is right for your child, but you don't get to dictate what's right for other families." Red, Wine & Blue also launched a website that tracks book bans, raised about $65,000 to organize against bans and is organizing an event in March featuring authors of banned books and parents from communities where books are being challenged.

"We think education works best when it's parents and teachers working together," says Paris, the mother of 7- and 3-year old boys. "And if you don't want your child to have access to a book, then opt them out. That's fine. You just don't want to just take that opportunity away from my kids."

Trying to get a book restored is often like other kinds of community activism - letter writing, speeches, attending meetings.

Meenal McNary is a member of the Round Rock Black Parents Association, based about 20 miles from Austin, Texas. The association was founded in 2015 after a Black teenager was slammed to the ground by a police officer, but more recently became active in diversifying the curriculum and fighting efforts to remove books. Last year, a parent's objection led to Round Rock school district officials considering whether "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You," by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, should be taken off middle school reading lists.

"We worked with a middle school teacher who started a petition, and that gained a lot of traction, with more than a 1,000 signatures," McNary says. The district followed a three-step review process - culminating with a school board vote - during which McNary and others helped organize people into writing letters, turning up for board meetings and telling others about the petition.

"We had children speaking up in favor of this book, even though it was traumatic for some of them to read," McNary says. "We had everyone from middle school students to grandmothers and grandfathers stating their reasons why this should remain on the shelves. The board ended up voting in our favor and the book is still there."

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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.

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Activism grows nationwide in response to school book bans

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NEW YORK (AP) - Until a year ago, Stephana Ferrell's political activism was limited to the occasional letter to elected officials. Then came her local school board meeting in Orange County, Florida and an objection raised to Maia Kobabe's graphic novel "Gender Queer: A Memoir."

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The EveryLibrary Institute and EveryLibrary are partnering with Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson, an independent researcher focused on the networks, organizations, and individual actors who are leading book banning and book challenge efforts in our nation's school libraries and public libraries.

Dr. Magnusson's spreadsheet of book bans and challenges has been available online since October 2021 to aid library organizations, library staff, education stakeholders, and concerned parents. Her findings have helped numerous school libraries and public libraries. Through this partnership, EveryLibrary and ELI are supporting her ongoing research and monitoring as well as aiding in the discoverability of these valuable resources online. All of these resources continue to be available free of charge to aid local and statewide efforts to defend the freedom to read, the role of libraries in communities and schools, and, most especially, support the people and ideas the books represent.

Dr. Magnusson's Database of Book Bans and Challenges in the United States 2021 - 2022

Dr. Magnusson's research begins near the start of the 2021-22 school year. The tabs are organized by School District, Books Challenged/Banned in School Districts, by public libraries, and books banned/challenged in school libraries. Additional tabs include lists of groups formed to push book bans and challenges and organizations and groups formed to push back against these political actions. The final tab is a list of other relevant articles found during research which includes student and teacher responses to bans as well as investigative pieces on funding of the political groups supporting bans.
The data is available as view only - with sorting capabilities at: "Censorship Attacks".
Please note that no personal information is collected or solicited by Dr. Magnusson or EveryLibrary/ELI when you visit these free resources. Information about groups and individuals who are involved in book bans or materials challenges are cross-referenced from publicly available sources like news reports, online forums, and social media posts. Dr. Magnusson invites people to report new information or help correct errors and omissions by contacting her at [email protected] .

Our hope is to help stakeholders understand and differentiate between legitimate questions of local concern and the politicized or performative book and materials challenges that are attacking our libraries. If you are concerned with book banning efforts in schools and libraries, please visit EveryLibrary's Action site to learn more and to sign up to be a part of this national network.

The EveryLibrary Institute is a donor-supported 501c3 non-profit research and public policy organization dedicated to the future of libraries. We are only able to support this kind of important work because of our donors. Please consider making a donation today .

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Book Censorship Database by Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson

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EveryLibrary Institute is a 501c3 organization that supports library funding in the United States.

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Discussion over which books are available in school libraries took center stage at the Eanes school board meeting on Tuesday, with people both for and against removing certain titles from the shelves addressing the board.

The board did not take action regarding library books during the meeting, since no such item was on the agenda, though the board did vote unanimously to name Deputy Superintendent Jeff Arnett the next Superintendent. Arnett had been namedthe sole finalist for the position last month.

During the public comment, most people spoke in favor of keeping books in the libraries, including several middle and high school students, citing the need for diverse literature that teaches readers about the world and the human experience. The parents who spoke in favor of removing certain books from the library cited what they felt was inappropriate political and sexual material that the district should not make available to students.
More: Jeff Arnett named lone finalist in Westlake superintendent search
The discussion came about a week after a list of over 300 books was circulated in the Westlake community with details about titles available in Eanes libraries. The majority of the books on the list are labeled as including LBGTQ content or characters, and many are also labeled as containing themes about race or racism. Books are also categorized as containing curse words, violence, rape or other explicit material.

The list was posted on social media by Eanes Kids First, a group of parents that has been active for about a year and a half and has advocated against the district's diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, among other things. According to the group's Instagram post, the list of books was compiled by the Travis County chapter of Mom's for Liberty, a national conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights.
More: Need a book recommendation? This is what Westlake readers checked out in 2021.
Challenges to books in public school classrooms and libraries have been on the rise recently in Texas and around the country, with high-profile cases in the Leander school district and the McKinney school district north of Dallas. Staff at the American Library Association Office For Intellectual Freedom said last fall that they were seeing an "unprecedented" number of challenges across the country, often targeting books by and about LGBTQ people and people of color.

Carolyn Foote, a retired Eanes librarian of 29 years, spoke against removing books from the library. She said at the board meeting that the goal of a school library is to offer books that encompass students' varied interests, abilities and maturity levels, and that teach critical thinking skills.

"Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, a researcher, wrote that books serve as mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors for our students," Foote said. "Mirrors are books that mirror our own experiences and they help us know we're not alone in the world. Windows are books that help us see in someone else's life and have empathy for their experience, and maybe have an experience we'd never have."

Parents who spoke out in favor of removing books from the library said that making certain subject matters available to students violated parent's rights to introduce concepts to their kids in their own way.
More: Westlake school board discusses vendor for diversity initiative curriculum consulting
"A group of concerned parents found and revealed a list of 333 books related to the promotion of sexual behavior, identity politics, activism and critical race theory in Eanes libraries," parent Brian Talley said.

Talley made an argument that has also been made in other school districts when parents complain about content they find explicit or offensive - that the presence of books with sexual material in libraries, including books with sexual violence, normalizes sex and sexual violence and makes children more vulnerable to sexual abuse.

Several of the speakers in favor of keeping books on the shelves were students, including Lesleigh Golson, who attends Hill Country Middle School and who spoke about her love of reading and the importance of books in teaching empathy.

"I know parents want to shelter their kids. But if a kid is old enough to experience racism, sexism, homophobia, then kids are old enough to learn about it, because if kids learn about it properly, they won't do it," she said. "You can't just ban books. This is supposed to be the land of the free so please tell me why we are going back in time and banning books?"

Westlake High School Junior Dylan Franzen also spoke against removing books from the library.

"I think we'd be moving backwards if we took away some of the books," he said. "As a kid, I know how to work the internet. I know how to use my iPhone, I know how to use a computer, iPad, and I can pretty much find any information I want to, regardless of a paper copy of a book."

District administrators have previously outlined the process for challenging library books. As part of a discussion in January about hiring a diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum consultant, Chief Learning Officer Susan Fambrough said the book challenge process includes filling out a form and then a committee will review the challenge and come to a decision.

The Picayune has requested information from the district about how many formal challenges it has received regarding books this year and is waiting to hear back.

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Statewide debate over what books are in school libraries arrives in Westlake

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Discussion over which books are available in school libraries took center stage at the Eanes school board meeting on Tuesday, with people both for and against removing certain titles from the shelves addressing the board.

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Trevor Noah had harsh words for people trying to ban books on last night's episode of the popular comedy/news program, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The comedian focused his disbelief, ire, and cutting humor on those driving the current upswing in book censorship efforts across the United States, questioning and criticizing their intentions and motives.

"You can see how crazy this book banning trend has gotten, right? They're banning books about race, about gender, about sexuality, about emotions, about history," Noah said. "Guys, that's all books. Think about it: You take away those books and what are you going to be left with, huh? A how-to book about making pottery?"

Noah said these censorship efforts aren't about protecting children from being exposed to "objectionable materials." Rather, they're about fracturing an already divided country and further widening cultural differences.

"I guarantee you, the vast majority of schools don't even have the most outrageous books that are on these [banned books] lists," Noah said. "What's happening here is that people are finding the most scary parts of the most scary books, and then they're making a bad faith argument that kids are being bombarded with all this stuff. So, all the books have to go.... People are using these books as an excuse to go after all the books they don't like."

Noah continued: "This isn't about books. This is about keeping the culture war going for political benefits.... And the problem with waging a culture war instead of debating a political issue is that when people are fighting a war, they don't want to just win an argument. No, they want to punish the enemy."

Noah highlighted instances in Wyoming, Oklahoma, Texas, and other states where measures have been introduced and considered by state and local legislatures to punish school librarians for stocking particular books. A news clip of a librarian detailing how they received threats to their life because of these efforts was particularly jarring.

Noah summed it up succinctly: "Just think about how insane things have gotten where school librarians feel scared for their safety."

Watch the full clip below. And stay tuned for a surprise cameo by LeVar Burton at the end!

If your school or library is experiencing a book challenge, contact the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom or your state library association for help.

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Trevor Noah Speaks Out Against Banning Books

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Trevor Noah had harsh words for people trying to ban books on last night's episode of the popular comedy/news program, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The comedian focused his disbelief, ire, and cutting humor on those driving the current upswing in book censorship efforts across the United States, questioning and criticizing their intentions and motives.

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Judi Moreillon Special to the Arizona Daily Star

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Local Opinion: Banning books doesn’t solve problems. It creates them.

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OPINION: “We cannot say we are for equity and democracy until full school staffing includes professional librarians serving their schools in fully-stocked school libraries,” writes Tucsonan Judi Moreillon.

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Sophomores created the student-run club at the beginning of the school year after reading books banned in Leander ISD classroom libraries.

AUSTIN, Texas - Sophomores Ella Scott and Alyssa Hoy run the Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club.

"We kind of just like saw all the book censorship that was happening in the classrooms that applied to what we were reading, and we were just really interested in learning more about that and getting students involved in that process," 15-year-old Scott said.

Scott and Hoy launched the club at the beginning of the school year, including a coinciding Instagram account, but had started planning the idea at the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

"We were looking at the list of the books that they banned and we were scrolling through it and it was so long," Scott said. "We had read, like, most of those books. We're like, 'I love that book and I love that book too.' And they were all on the list, and we had no idea that the list was even made for the longest time."

Leander ISD released a new list of books banned from classroom libraries and book club reading lists in the fall. The VHS Banned Book Club has started reading books from the new list.

So far, about a dozen students from different grade levels get together for 30 minutes every two weeks during a study hall period at VHS. They discuss the book they're reading. The members are in the middle of "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Perez, discussing why it was banned and why it should or shouldn't be banned.

"We have successfully gotten 'Kiss Number 8' added back to the library," Kendall Howe, also a sophomore and the club officer who creates the biweekly discussion questions, said. "To find like the value and power in a book, I think it mostly comes from the emotions and the reaction that you have from reading the book."

They also want to reinstate books they don't believe are inappropriate for high school students. The group read Kiss Number 8 by @colleenaf and sent this message to the Community Curriculum Advisory Committee. The book was later reinstated. pic.twitter.com/3DoysEcwna
- Mike Marut (@MikeMarutKVUE) February 15, 2022

Howe's questions typically center around discussing when readers feel their most energized reactions.

Through this club, Scott and Hoy want students to have a greater voice in what books are reviewed and deemed appropriate for high school students.

"No one's book taste is quite the same, so I think that having a wide variety of all these different books is really important," Hoy said. "Sometimes reading a book and finding themselves within the pages of that book is really important."

Hoy believes all the books that came under review within Leander ISD the past year should be available for students to read, that the possibility of reading these books should be left up to students on an individual basis.

"If students want to read these books, they should be allowed to read these books, and if they don't, they don't have to read them," Hoy said. "They should just be available to them, to someone if they want them. And I think with the, you know, restriction of some of these books ... I feel like student perspective isn't really being asked when they make these decisions. I feel like it isn't happening with students in the conversation."

According to Leander ISD, students can take part in the CCAC reviews whenever reading materials are challenged. But, according to a spokesperson for the district, rarely do more than a couple of students participate. Each CCAC has students, parents, teachers and community members as part of the committee.

Late last year, Williamson County Commissioners and Leander ISD leadership exchanged emails regarding CARES Act funding. The Commissioners Court initially threatened to withhold CARES Act reimbursements earmarked for the district because of LISD's review process. In the end, commissioners said as long as LISD's process has greater transparency, the district would receive the money.

Teachers, parents and authors initially took this as a sign the Commissioners Court would withhold funding unless more books available to students were found inappropriate. A spokesperson for Williamson County said commissioners declined an interview for this story because how people interpreted commissioners' actions "was not the intention."

In the fall of 2021, State Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) released a list of 850 books he wanted to see get reviewed by school and district leaders across the state, arguing they may be inappropriate for students. The list and announcement ignited investigations across Texas into what books were made available to students.

According to LISD, none of the books that students in the VHS Banned Book Club are reading are available through classroom libraries. Students can find the books in school and district libraries, or obtain them on their own.

"Because we're kids in high school, we think it's important to have the kids around us have like a chance to speak, and we're going to be the ones that help them get their voices out for it," Howe said.

Mike Marut on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Vandegrift students create 'Banned Book Club,' hoping more student voices will be heard

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Sophomores created the student-run club at the beginning of the school year after reading books banned in Leander ISD classroom libraries. AUSTIN, Texas - Sophomores Ella Scott and Alyssa Hoy run the Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club.

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The New York State Board of Regents Policy on Diversity,Equity and Inclusion

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The New York State Board of Regents Policy on Diversity,Equity and Inclusion

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Please note: Our Student Opinion questions specifically invite the voices of young people. We ask that adults respect the intent of this forum and refrain from posting here.
Across the United States, parents, activists and lawmakers are arguing that some books, especially those about sexual and racial identity, do not belong in school libraries.

Have you witnessed these book challenges in your school? What do you think about them?

In " Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S.," Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter write about the phenomenon:
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

What do you think about efforts across the nation to remove books - especially ones that address race, gender and sexuality - from school libraries?

How do you think these bans affect students, teachers and librarians?

In your opinion, what makes a book "appropriate" or "inappropriate" for inclusion in a school library? If you were a school librarian, what criteria would you use to determine whether a certain book should be included in the library?

What's the best way to address parents' concerns that a book in a school library is inappropriate for their child? Should the library remove the book? Should a library have a policy in place to stop individual students from checking out a book if their parents disapprove of it? Or are there better solutions that don't involve changing what books are available in a library?

Jack Petocz, a student who protested a book ban in his school, argued that removing books about racism and L.G.B.T.Q. issues was discriminatory. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Do you think the books in your school library represent a diverse range of perspectives and experiences? What subjects are adequately covered? What kinds of books would you like to see more of?

In Wyoming, a county prosecutor's office considered charges against library employees for stocking books like "Sex Is a Funny Word" and "This Book Is Gay."

In Oklahoma, a bill was introduced in the State Senate that would prohibit public school libraries from keeping books on hand that focus on sexual activity, sexual identity or gender identity.

In Tennessee, the McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel "Maus" from an eighth-grade module on the Holocaust because of nudity and curse words.

Parents, activists, school board officials and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades. The American Library Association said in a preliminary report that it received an "unprecedented" 330 reports of book challenges, each of which can include multiple books, last fall.

"It's a pretty startling phenomenon here in the United States to see book bans back in style, to see efforts to press criminal charges against school librarians," said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of the free-speech organization PEN America, even if efforts to press charges have so far failed.

Such challenges have long been a staple of school board meetings, but it isn't just their frequency that has changed, according to educators, librarians and free-speech advocates - it is also the tactics behind them and the venues where they play out. Conservative groups in particular, fueled by social media, are now pushing the challenges into statehouses, law enforcement and political races.

"The politicalization of the topic is what's different than what I've seen in the past," said Britten Follett, the chief executive of content at Follett School Solutions, one of the country's largest providers of books to K-12 schools. "It's being driven by legislation, it's being driven by politicians aligning with one side or the other. And in the end, the librarian, teacher or educator is getting caught in the middle."

Among the most frequent targets are books about race, gender and sexuality, like George M. Johnson's " All Boys Aren't Blue," Jonathan Evison's " Lawn Boy," Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer" and Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye."

The article continues with a student's perspective on a ban in his school:

Jack Petocz, a 17-year-old student at Flagler Palm Coast High School who organized the protest against the book ban, said that removing books about L.G.B.T.Q. characters and books about racism was discriminatory, and harmful to students who may already feel that they are in the minority and that their experiences are rarely represented in literature.

"As a gay student myself, those books are so critical for youth, for feeling there are resources for them," he said, noting that books that portray heterosexual romances are rarely challenged. "I felt it was very discriminatory."

Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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What Do You Think About Efforts to Ban Books From School Libraries?

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Please note: Our Student Opinion questions specifically invite the voices of young people. We ask that adults respect the intent of this forum and refrain from posting here. Across the United States, parents, activists and lawmakers are arguing that some books, especially those about sexual and racial identity, do not belong in school libraries.

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In response to Texas Rep. Matt Krause's published list of 850 books on race and sexuality that he targeted for their subject matter -many of which were pulled from school library shelves-a group of Texas school librarians has decided to push back. Last November, they orchestrated #FReadom Fighters, a social media campaign with the goal of supporting authors, teachers, librarians, and students in their pursuit of intellectual freedom. In a matter of months, the organization's work has amassed thousands of supporters, both at the state level and across the country, and incited other likeminded groups to take action.

As the war on books persists, amid repeated requests from parents, state officials, and policy makers to ban books that speak to a broader culture, efforts from the #FReadom Fighters continue to ramp up by highlighting books that promote diversity and inclusivity. "The #FRreadom Fighters are a shining example of the power of librarians' voices when there is a need to unite," said Shirley Robinson, executive director of the Texas Library Association.
Shelf Talkers
The concept for #FReadom Fighters germinated when two colleagues-retired Texas school librarian Carolyn Foote and Leander, Tex., school district coordinator Becky Calzada-shared with each other their frustrations about the growing number of book challenges. "When Krause released his list, that got us even more engaged," Calzada said. Upon noticing the attention that the #txlege hashtag was receiving, they decided to stage a Twitter takeover by emphasizing the books they loved. After joining forces with two other school librarians (who remain anonymous), they invited other industry friends and authors to share positive messages about personally meaningful titles-using the #FReadom Fighters hashtag-and watched their efforts begin to take shape online.

On launch day, November 4, 2021, #FReadom Fighters garnered 13,000 tweets, much to the organizers' surprise. "We had planned all this in secret, so we were amazed that this was happening even before starting a Twitter account," Foote said. "We saw ourselves as a guerilla effort, serving as a rapid response team." The @FReadomFighters Twitter account and website soon followed, updated with weekly and monthly action plans to support fellow librarians in their day-to-day operations. Ideas for #FReadom Fridays varied, from inviting authors to show letters they had received from readers about why their books were so powerful, to asking people to share books that had had an impact on them. A more recent prompt focuses on celebrating wins: sharing success stories of books that have been put back on shelves.

When posting on social media, participants are asked to tag #FReadom and #txlege, furthering their reach. Foote and Calzada believe in the power that these posts are having on the community at large. "It speaks to me about the hunger that people have to speak positively about defending libraries," she said. For Calzada, it's also about the hunger for connection. "Librarians are singletons in a school community and it can be very isolating for them," she noted. "Using these hashtags allows them to connect with other librarians experiencing similar challenges."
Strength in Numbers
Inspired by the work behind the #FReamdom Fighters movement, the TLA has taken its own steps to help support member librarians. Following the release of Krause's list, the association issued a statement condemning censorship and infringement on students' First Amendment rights. Webinars and training sessions designed to assist members with related concerns were conducted last fall, while a dedicated helpline was established in December to provide a listening ear for librarians. "Volunteers provide resources, answer questions and share their own experiences in responding to materials challenges," Robinson said.

Also motivated by the #FReadom Fighters is former Texas high school English teacher-turned-author Ashley Hope Pérez, whose YA novel Out of Darkness (Holiday House, 2015) was challenged last year for its depiction of a romantic relationship between a Mexican American teenage girl and an African American boy. Following the viral video of a Texas mother's criticism of Perez's book at a local school board meeting, it was removed from high school libraries in Texas, Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, and Georgia. Pérez has since partnered with PEN America to advocate for the inclusion of diverse books and has been involved with #FReadom Fighters from the start. "Their efforts emphasize what these books that are under attack offer to young people: powerful, positive messages," she said.

To date, the @FReadom Fighters account has nearly 6,700 followers and has yielded almost 4,000 tweets. "We are providing people with a mentor, not a model," Calzada noted. "We were originally thinking about what's happening in Texas, but we can also offer the opportunities for others to learn from us." As evidence of a strong following, during the last FReadom Friday challenge, 40% of the letters written to school board members were from states other than Texas, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, Idaho, Utah, Washington, and Georgia.

As censorship continues to threaten schools' access to books that represent all races, cultures, genders, and backgrounds, the work of the #FReadom Fighters is poised to become even more essential. "All students deserve to find themselves in books," Robinson said. "We must protect our school librarians' right to fulfill this vital role."

"It's our goal to keep us all on the straight and narrow... to be positive and a source of hope," Foote said. "We are highlighting what's going on, but we are also sharing solutions."

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Texas Book Ban Prompts School Librarians to Launch #FReadom Fighters

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In response to Texas Rep. Matt Krause's published list of 850 books on race and sexuality that he targeted for their subject matter -many of which were pulled from school library shelves-a group of Texas school librarians has decided to push back.

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An NJ school librarian offers a revealing account of her personal and professional life when people vilified her in an attempt to remove books from her library. She also presents ideas for the ongoing fight against censorship.

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On Tuesday this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed legislation that strengthens the protection from frivolous lawsuits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suits, are a strategic form of litigation that is used by wealthy plaintiffs...

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On Tuesday this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State signed legislation that strengthens the protection from frivolous lawsuits. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suits, are a strategic form of litigation that is used by wealthy plaintiffs...

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KATY, Texas - From a secluded spot in her high school library, a 17-year-old girl spoke softly into her cellphone, worried that someone might overhear her say the things she'd hidden from her parents for years. They don't know she's queer, the student told a reporter, and given their past comments about homosexuality's being a sin, she's long feared they would learn her secret if they saw what she reads in the library.

That space, with its endless rows of books about characters from all sorts of backgrounds, has been her "safe haven," she said - one of the few places where she feels completely free to be herself.

But books, including one of her recent favorites, have been vanishing from the shelves of Katy Independent School District libraries the past few months.

Gone: "Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)," a book she'd read last year about a gay teenager who isn't shy about discussing his adventurous sex life. Also banished: "The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy," "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "Lawn Boy" - all coming-of-age stories that prominently feature LGBTQ characters and passages about sex. Some titles were removed after parents formally complained, but others were quietly banned by the district without official reviews.

"As I've struggled with my own identity as a queer person, it's been really, really important to me that I have access to these books," said the girl, whom NBC News is not naming to avoid revealing her sexuality. "And I'm sure it's really important to other queer kids. You should be able to see yourself reflected on the page."

Her safe haven is now a battleground in an unprecedented effort by parents and conservative politicians in Texas to ban books dealing with race, sexuality and gender from schools, an NBC News investigation has found. Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.

Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin regions - a small sampling of the state's 1,250 public school systems - revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this school year. In comparison, only one library book challenge was filed at those districts during the same time period a year earlier, records show. A handful of the districts reported more challenges this year than in the past two decades combined.

All but a few of the challenges this school year targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex. Many of the books under fire are newer titles, purchased by school librarians in recent years as part of a nationwide movement to diversify the content available to public school children.

"Why are we sexualizing our precious children?" a Katy parent said at a November school board meeting after she suggested that books about LGBTQ relationships are causing children to improperly question their gender identities and sexual orientations. "Why are our libraries filled with pornography?"

Another parent in Katy, a Houston suburb, asked the district to remove a children's biography of Michelle Obama, arguing that it promotes "reverse racism" against white people, according to the records obtained by NBC News. A parent in the Dallas suburb of Prosper wanted the school district to ban a children's picture book about the life of Black Olympian Wilma Rudolph, because it mentions racism that Rudolph faced growing up in Tennessee in the 1940s. In the affluent Eanes Independent School District in Austin, a parent proposed replacing four books about racism, including "How to Be an Antiracist," by Ibram X. Kendi, with copies of the Bible.
Read more: Here are 50 books Texas parents want banned from school libraries
Similar debates are roiling communities across the country, fueled by parents, activists and Republican politicians who have mobilized against school programs and classroom lessons focused on LGBTQ issues and the legacy of racism in America. Last fall, some national groups involved in that effort - including No Left Turn in Education and Moms for Liberty - began circulating lists of school library books that they said were " indoctrinating kids to a dangerous ideology."

And during his successful bid for governor in Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin made parents' opposition to explicit books a central theme in the final stretch of his campaign, leading some GOP strategists to flag the issue as a winning strategy heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

The fight is particularly heated in Texas, where Republican state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have gone as far as calling for criminal charges against any school staff member who provides children with access to young adult novels that some conservatives have labeled as "pornography." Separately, state Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, made a list of 850 titles dealing with racism or sexuality that might "make students feel discomfort" and demanded that Texas school districts investigate whether the books were in their libraries.

A group of Texas school librarians has launched a social media campaign to push back.

"There have always been efforts to censor books, but what we're seeing right now is frankly unprecedented," said Carolyn Foote, a retired school librarian in Austin who's helping lead the #FReadom campaign. "A library is a place of voluntary inquiry. That means when a student walks in, they're not forced to check out a book that they or their parents find objectionable. But they also don't have authority to say what books should or shouldn't be available to other students."

Ten current or recently retired Texas school librarians who spoke to a reporter described growing fears that they could be attacked by parents on social media or threatened with criminal charges. Some said they've quietly removed LGBTQ-affirming books from shelves or declined to purchase new ones to avoid public criticism - raising fears about what free-speech advocates call a wave of " soft censorship " in Texas and across the country.

Five of the librarians said they were thinking about leaving the profession, and one already has. Sarah Chase, a longtime librarian at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb, said the acrimony over books contributed to her decision to retire in December, months earlier than she'd planned.

"I'm no saint," said Chase, 55. "I got out because I was afraid to stand up to the attacks. I didn't want to get caught in somebody's snare. Who wants to be called a pornographer? Who wants to be accused of being a pedophile or reported to the police for putting a book in a kid's hand?"

In interviews and recorded comments at school board meetings, parents who've pushed for book removals described doing everything in their power to shield their children from sexually explicit content on the internet, only to discover it's readily available in school libraries.

"It's not censoring to guard minors from exposure to adult-themed books," Kristen Mangus, a parent, said at a meeting in November of the Keller Independent School District Board of Trustees, a suburban district outside Fort Worth that's fielded dozens of requests to ban books in recent months. "If they choose to check out from the public library with a parent, then so be it. But there is no reason whatsoever to have these books in our schools."

Some protesting parents have insisted that their opposition is about sexually explicit books, regardless of the races or sexual orientations of the characters. They point out that some of the books being challenged feature heterosexual sex scenes. But in many instances, parents and GOP politicians have flagged books about racism and LGBTQ issues that don't include explicit language, including some picture books about Black historical figures and transgender children.

Free speech advocates and authors deny that any of the books in question meet the legal definition of pornography. Although some include sexually explicit passages or drawings, those scenes are presented in the context of broader narratives and not for the explicit purpose of sexual stimulation, they said.

"Some parents want to pretend that books are the source of darkness in kids' lives," said Ashley Hope Pérez, author of the young adult novel "Out of Darkness," which has been repeatedly targeted by Texas parents for its depiction of a rape scene and other mature content. "The reality for most kids is that difficulties, challenges, harm, oppression - those are present in their own lives, and books that reflect that reality can help to make them feel less alone."

Several queer students, meanwhile, said the arguments by some parents, specifically the idea that it's inappropriate for teenagers to read about LGBTQ sexual relationships, are making them feel unwelcome in their communities.

"Reading books or consuming any kind of media that has LGBTQ representation, it doesn't turn people gay or make people turn out a certain way," said Amber Kaul, a 17-year-old bisexual student in Katy. "I think reading those books helps kids realize that the feelings that they've already had are valid and OK, and I think that's what a lot of these parents are opposed to."

'Short-circuiting' the process

This fall wasn't the first time Texas parents packed school board meeting rooms to complain about the corrupting influence of books.

Every year for nearly two decades beginning in the late 1990s, the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union surveyed every public and charter school in Texas to document attempts to ban library books. The annual reports paint a picture of past censorship movements, and make clear that the volume of challenges now hitting schools is unlike anything previously recorded in the state.

In the early 2000s, a conservative backlash to the Harry Potter book series, which some Christian leaders condemned as a satanic depiction of witchcraft, fueled a surge of book banning attempts in Texas, according to the ACLU data. But even at the peak of that wave, the Texas ACLU never documented more than 151 school library book challenges in one year. About half that many were documented in just the first four months of the 2021 school year at only a small sampling of Texas school districts, according to the records obtained by NBC News.

During the 2018-19 school year, the last time the ACLU conducted the censorship survey, Texas schools reported only 17 library book challenges statewide. Twice as many have been filed so far this school year at Keller ISD alone.

"I've been doing this work for 20 years, and I've never seen the volume of challenges that we're seeing right now," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association, which tracks attempts to ban library books nationwide.

Caldwell-Stone said the number of Texas book challenges documented in the records obtained by NBC News likely represents a vast undercount, because it doesn't account for books that are being removed from shelves based on verbal complaints at board meetings or parent emails, often in violation of school district policies.

In response to past censorship movements, the American Library Association developed guidelines for schools to prevent the sudden and arbitrary removal of books. Under the guidelines, which have been adopted by most large districts in Texas and nationally, parents are asked to fill out forms explaining why they believe a book should be banned. Then a committee of school employees and community volunteers reviews the book in its entirety and determines whether it meets district standards, keeping in mind that a parent's ability to control what students can read "extends only to his or her own child," according to language included in most district policies.

A challenged book is supposed to remain on shelves and available to students while the committee deliberates, and the final decision should be made public, Caldwell-Stone said.

"What we're seeing these days is a short-circuiting of that process, despite the fact that school boards often do have these reconsideration policies on their own books," she said. "They're ignoring them to respond to the controversy and the moral panics that they're getting targeted with at school board meetings, and books are being abruptly removed."

That scenario has been repeated at several Texas school districts in recent months, NBC News found. In December, the Denton Independent School District near Dallas made headlines when administrators pulled down a copy of "All Boys Aren't Blue," a memoir by queer Black author George M. Johnson, after learning that parents in neighboring towns had concerns about it. A district spokesperson, Julie Zwahr, said school officials are now reviewing a total of 11 library books to determine whether they are "pervasively vulgar," even though the district has received only one formal book challenge this school year.

The North East Independent School District in San Antonio hadn't received any library book challenges from parents as of December, according to records provided to NBC News. But that month, administrators directed librarians to box up more than 400 titles dealing with race, sexuality and gender.

At a subsequent school board meeting, North East leaders said that they had pulled the books for review after Krause, the Republican lawmaker, distributed his list of 850 titles that he said violate new state laws governing how sex and race are addressed in Texas classrooms. North East spokesperson Aubrey Chancellor did not respond to a reporter's request for comment, but told the Texas Tribune in December that the district asked staff to review books on Krause's list "to ensure they did not have any obscene or vulgar material in them."

"For us, this is not about politics or censorship, but rather about ensuring that parents choose what is appropriate for their minor children," she said then.

In another instance, the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, responding to an NBC News public records request, reported that it had received zero library book challenges in 2021. But emails reviewed by a reporter show that a parent had complained informally in August to a Carroll administrator and two school board members about the book, "Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out," by Susan Kuklin.

"There is extreme sexual content in that book that isn't even appropriate for me to put in an email," the parent wrote.

Rather than requiring the mom to fill out a form to initiate the district's formal library review process, Chase, the recently retired Carroll librarian, said an administrator shared the email with her and another librarian, and in order to avoid conflict, they agreed to remove the book from high school shelves.

"I hate that we did this, because we didn't go through the formal review ourselves," Chase said. "I think a lot of librarians are making decisions out of fear, and that puts us in a position of self-censorship."

Book fight spreads from Virginia to Texas

Mary Ellen Cuzela, a mother of three in Katy, a sprawling and booming suburb outside Houston, had never thought much about what library books her kids might have access to at school. But in September, she heard then-candidate Youngkin mention a Virginia school district's fight over " sexually explicit material in the library " during his campaign for governor against Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

Curious, Cuzela searched the Katy Independent School District's catalog and was surprised to find that one of the books at the center of the Virginia fight, "Lawn Boy," by Jonathan Evison, was available at her children's high school.

Cuzela picked up a copy from the public library and "was absolutely amazed" by what she read, she said. The book, which traces the story of a Mexican American character's journey to understanding his own sexuality and ethnic identity, was "filled with vulgarity," Cuzela said, including dozens of four-letter words, explicit sexual references and a description of oral sex between fourth-grade boys during a church youth group meeting.

"I don't care whether you're straight, gay, transgender, gender fluid, any race," she said. "That book had it all and was degrading for all kinds of people."

She soon discovered that several other young adult books that had been targeted in Virginia and other Texas districts were available at Katy ISD. Cuzela shared her findings with some "like-minded parents," and together they set out to get administrators to do something.

The school system, a diverse district of nearly 85,000 students, had already made national headlines that fall when administrators temporarily removed copies of "New Kid" and "Class Act" by Jerry Craft from school libraries after parents complained that the graphic novels, about Black seventh graders at a mostly white school, would indoctrinate students of color with a "victim mentality" and make some kids feel guilty for being white.

But Cuzela said she and her friends were having a hard time getting Katy administrators to take their concerns about sexually explicit books seriously. So they hatched a plan, and on Nov. 15, she and five other moms showed up at a Katy school board meeting with a stack of books.

One by one, they took turns at the lectern during public comments. Cuzela implored the board to audit all of the district's library books and get rid of those that are too obscene to be read aloud in public.

"If you are filtering a student's internet access," she said, "why are we not filtering the library?"

Minutes later, Jennifer Adler, a mother of five, held up a copy of "Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)," by L.C. Rosen, for the board to see. Adler explained that the book is about a character named Jack, who writes a teen sex advice column for an online site. Then she began reading.

"' I wonder how he does it ... how he gets all that D?' " Adler said, reading the first in a series of explicit excerpts referring to anal and oral sex.

After ending with a passage that included a detailed description of male genitalia and advice on how to give oral sex, she looked up at the board members, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"I cannot even imagine how I would feel if my child came home with this type of book," said Adler, whose oldest child is in middle school. "We cannot unread this type of content, and I would like to protect my kids' hearts and minds from this."

The audience, packed with parents and community members who shared her concerns, erupted in applause.

'Taking the matter seriously'

Rosen, the author of "Jack of Hearts," wasn't surprised when he heard about the demands to ban his book in Katy. Like other authors whose books have been targeted in recent months, Rosen said parents have been reading passages out of context.

At the time of the book's release in 2015, the School Library Journal, a magazine that districts rely on to select library books, wrote that the dearth of "sex positive queer literature" made "Jack of Hearts" an " essential addition to library collections that serve teens."

The sex advice columns written by the book's protagonist are part of a bigger narrative that's meant to empower queer teens and help them feel safe talking about their sexuality, Rosen said.

All of the questions answered in Jack's advice column were submitted by real students, Rosen said. And the author consulted with sex education experts to write Jack's responses, with the goal of providing LGBTQ teens with practical information that's often omitted from sex ed classes.

"I think it's troubling when they can't distinguish between porn - which is not meant for education - and a book like mine that's trying to educate teenagers and tell them, 'It's OK to have these desires; here's how to act on them consensually and safely,'" Rosen said.

Cuzela and her allies, who denied that they were specifically targeting LGBTQ content, saw things differently. And so did Katy ISD leaders, according to internal messages obtained by NBC News.

Rather than asking the parents to file formal challenges or forming a committee to review the books they'd read aloud, Darlene Rankin, the district's director of instructional technology, sent an email the day after the school board meeting directing school staff to immediately remove two titles from all libraries: "Jack of Hearts" and "Forever for a Year," by B.T. Gottfred.

"If these books are currently checked out to students, you must contact the student in order to have the book returned," wrote Rankin, who declined an interview request.

In the weeks that followed, Katy parents continued applying pressure, calling on the district not only to audit libraries for vulgar content, but to overhaul the selection process to de-emphasize recommendations from prominent book review journals, arguing that those groups are pushing a liberal agenda.

In early December, Superintendent Ken Gregorski responded to those demands, announcing in a letter to all parents that the district was launching a broad review of its library books to remove any that might be considered "pervasively vulgar." Gregorski, who declined to be interviewed, invited parents to report other books they want removed and assured them that he would "ensure the district is taking the matter seriously and putting into action the plans that resolve the issues for which we are all concerned."

In total this school year, according to internal messages, the district has launched reviews into at least 30 library books and so far has deemed nine to be inappropriate for students at any grade level, including five that prominently feature LGBTQ characters. Several other books, including "This Is Your Time," by the civil rights era icon Ruby Bridges, were deemed inappropriate or too mature for young children and removed from either elementary or middle school libraries.

Most of these reviews were opened without a formal book challenge, records show, even though one is required under Katy ISD's local policy.

In at least two instances, according to three district employees with knowledge of the review process, senior district administrators have ordered books to be removed from libraries even after review committees examined them and voted to keep them in schools. The district employees spoke to a reporter on the condition of anonymity, worried that they might be disciplined for sharing their concerns publicly.

In response to detailed written questions, Katy ISD spokesperson Maria DiPetta wrote that "the district will have to kindly pass on your request." (After this story's publication, DiPetta followed up to say that the district declined a parent's request to remove the children's book about Michelle Obama.)

Cuzela said she's pleased that the district is now taking her concerns seriously and hopes administrators go further. Although she doesn't believe most librarians are knowingly stocking shelves with "pornographic material," she agrees with Abbott's call for criminal charges against any who do, including in Katy.

"We have laws in Texas against providing sexually explicit material to children," she said. "It's a law on the books, and if they knowingly are providing this, they need to be advised and investigated."

Foote, the retired school librarian who's leading a statewide campaign against book bans, said Katy's approach is flawed, not only because it lacks transparency and opens the door for additional censorship attempts, but because of the signal it sends.

"You can't overstate the impact these decisions can have on LGBTQ students and even teachers," Foote said. "Intentional or not, these bans are sending a message to them about their place in the community."

On the phone at her high school library, the queer Katy student who worries her parents won't accept her for who she is said she was outraged when she found out librarians had started removing books - especially "Jack of Hearts."

"For me, a lot of these books offer hope," the student said. "I'm going to be going to college soon, and I'm really looking forward to that and the freedom that it offers. Until then, my greatest adventure is going to be through reading."

Like other library books she'd read that centered on LGBTQ characters, the student said "Jack of Hearts" gave her a sense of validation. The main character, a 17-year-old who isn't shy about his love for partying, makeup and boys, was a sharp contrast to her own high school experience, constantly on guard against saying or doing anything that might lead to her being outed.

The book, she said, made her feel less alone.

Rosen, the author, has heard similar things from other teenagers. When he gets those messages, he said he usually replies to say that he hopes things will get better.

But then he adds: "I can't promise that it will."

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Book banning in Texas schools: Titles are pulled off library shelves in record numbers

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Facing pressure from parents and threats of criminal charges, some districts have ignored policies meant to prevent censorship. Librarians and students are pushing back.

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Attacking books has been an American tradition since 1650, when Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony seized William Pynchon's "The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption," labeling it blasphemous for saying obedience, and not suffering, led to atonement. In 1885, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was banned for "coarse language" (and much later for the use of the n-word). "On the Origin of Species," probably the most influential book ever banned, was censored in 1895 for violating Christian beliefs. From 2000-2009, the Harry Potter books were the most challenged, accused of promoting the occult and Satanism. From 2010-2019, it was Sherman Alexi's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." A key objection: The main character, Junior, masturbates.

Now we are seeing a new wave of book bans, marked by an unprecedented number of challenges and intense polarization. Its focus: narrowing the universe of information in schools and public libraries that might challenge young people on race and gender - the same issues at the center of the political and cultural wars ripping through the country. Glenn Youngkin (R), for instance, won the governorship of Virginia in November after highlighting concerns about the teaching of Toni Morrison's "Beloved"; some parents held that the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel portrayed the horrors of slavery with overly explicit depictions of sex, violence and bestiality.

"This is certainly a reflection of what is going on right now in this country," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, which monitors book bans and issues annual lists of the most challenged. "There is dispute and debate over what kind of government and society we want to be. Book bannings are part of that."

Advocacy groups are working to nationalize book challenges, this time with the help of conservative TV and talk shows, that for the past few decades have been mostly local events. Some state legislators are threatening punitive action against anyone in schools or libraries who spreads material deemed obscene or harmful to minors. And now students, parents, librarians and school boards are fighting back, calling the push censorship.

The current book banning crusade has its roots in the social justice movement that arose after the 2020 murder by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Caldwell-Stone said. The "rising awareness of racism in society" sparked pushback. President Donald Trump's October 2020 executive order banning diversity training in federally funded agencies - to stop, he said, "efforts to indoctrinate government employees with divisive and harmful sex- and race-based ideologies" - ignited assaults on the teaching of systemic racism in U.S. history and society, as well as portrayals of the lives of members of the LGBTQ community.

"We see these efforts to narrow what is available to young people in an effect to preserve a status quo that valorizes the Founding Fathers and that is theoretically colorblind, but that seems not to include the actual voices of the people who have been impacted by racism or discrimination in our society," Caldwell-Stone said.

What is critical race theory, and why do Republicans want to ban it in schools?

George M. Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue," a memoir-manifesto that follows the author's path as a queer Black man in New Jersey and Virginia, is one of the many LGBTQ books being challenged in school districts and libraries, this one in more than a dozen states, for sexually explicit material. The fight over teaching systemic racism has seen bans of tomes such as Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America," as well as a version for young people co-authored with Jason Reynolds. The complaints include Kendi's public statements about racism and accusations that the book does not discuss racism against all people.

The books that are often the first to come off bookshelves after challenges are those involving sexual material and gender issues. Those calling for their removal say explicit sexual material is inappropriate for children and can leave them confused about their gender.

At an Oct. 21 school board meeting in Pennsylvania's North Penn School District, for example, Vicki Flannery, a member of the conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty, read a scene from Johnson's book, which includes two detailed sex scenes and a rape. She said to the school board members: "Do any of you - any of you - find this book that depicts a sexual encounter and rape acceptable for any minor regardless of gender or sexual orientation? Because I do not find this at all acceptable. A child is a child and if you do you belong on a national registry and not a school board."

Authors and educators say it is important for young people to have books that introduce them to sexual, gender and racial issues that many confront daily. "Books and media are essential portals that enable kids to learn about people beyond themselves," said Schuyler Bailar, an author who, while attending Harvard University, became the first openly transgender NCAA Men's Division 1 swimmer. "Books and media also provide easy access for minority and marginalized children to connect with people like themselves, allowing them to feel like they to belong in the world."

According to the American Library Association, the most challenged books of 2020 - the last year for which there are definitive numbers - was "George," by Alex Gino, about a transgender girl in fourth grade who everybody sees as a boy named George. The 2015 book was renamed this year and is now titled "Melissa," because the heroine is a trans girl, not a boy. (Gino announced that he had "made a mistake" with the original title and said it is not "okay" to ever use the old name of someone who has transitioned.)

Caldwell-Stone said that in terms of numbers, book challenges/bans in the past six months have been at their highest since the American Library Association began collecting information in 1990. More than 330 unique cases were reported from Sept. 1 to Nov. 20 more than in any other three-month period. They have continued at a strong pace so far this year, too, she said, but the numbers represent only a fraction of what is really happening. The ALA estimates that between 82 percent and 97 percent of these challenges goes unreported - or, in some cases, she said, are covered up by schools when some information about them becomes known. (About a dozen years ago, a student in Missouri sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every school district in the state and unearthed 83 challenges that year. The ALA had heard about only 12 percent of those, she said.)

This isn't the first time America has seen large-scale efforts to keep books from the hands of young people. In the early 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president, advocacy groups such as the Moral Majority, which was founded by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and had ties to the Republican Party, made lists of books it found objectionable, many with sexual themes, and prompted local challenges and book bans. The country was less polarized, the battles unfolded more slowly and the messaging was analog; Fox News hadn't even been founded. But like today, conservatives also pushed for the removal of books about abortion, evolution and politics. A big target at the time was "Forever," a Judy Blume novel about teenage sexuality. The American Library Association reported that in 1981 saw nearly 1,000 book challenges - with most, but not all, coming from conservative groups.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1982 delivered its decision in the most important case involving school libraries and the First Amendment, ruling in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School v. Pico that "[l]ocal school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books."

People trying to ban books say they aren't trying to censor material but rather to protect children from seeing things they can't handle. Although judges have largely ruled against them, the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, has become more conservative in recent years. Meanwhile, Republicans may see the issue as a winner in the midterm elections after Youngkin spent the last part of his campaign talking about parental opposition to "Beloved."

In fall 2021, as the "parental rights" movement in public schools gained steam and Republican-led states were passing legislation to limit what teachers could introduce about systemic racism, conservative advocacy groups began nationally circulating lists of books they deemed dangerous to young people, Caldwell-Stone said. The group No Left Turn in Education's bad books list is divided into three sections: critical race theory, anti-police and comprehensive sexuality education. The list includes a book titled "Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea," which, among other behaviors, describes their mating dance and explains how the male sea horses give birth.

A cascade of activity aimed at limiting book selections in schools and libraries followed. Prosecutors in Campbell County, Wyo., last October weighed - but decided not to file - obscenity charges against librarians who allowed books about LGBTQ people on the shelves. The next month, the library voted to keep three challenged books on the shelves, including "This Book Is Gay" for teens.

Also last October, a key Republican state legislator in Texas called for school districts to review whether they held any of some 850 books he listed as making kids uncomfortable or guilty. Hundreds of titles have been removed since then.

This month in Iowa, legislators went further; some Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal for anyone connected to a K-12 public school or library to spread "material the person knows or reasonably should know, is obscene or harmful to minors." The penalty could be up to two years in jail and a fine. And in Florida, the state Senate education committee has approved legislation that critics say is aimed at keeping LGBTQ resources off school shelves and supporters say is about providing transparency to parents about what their children are reading.

"It is unusual for legislators to threaten direct action," said Ada Palmer, associate professor of history at the University of Chicago.

Why 'parental rights' in schools is untenable

Banning books from libraries and schools can't prevent children from finding them. That's why some see the new book banning wave as being aimed not so much at children but at punishing teachers and librarians - and at trying to narrow curriculum and classroom debates about controversial topics. Some also see it as part of a movement by some school reformers to delegitimize public schools.

"The more we look at censorship regimes in the past - from the Inquisition to the USSR [the former Soviet Union] - the clearer it is that the main goal isn't to silence or destroy books or works that already exist," Palmer said. "It's to frighten people and discourage them from reading, buying and creating similar works in future," she argues, pointing out that Galileo's trial "frightened Descartes into withdrawing a radical treatise he was about to publish and editing it to make it much more orthodox."

In late January, a Tennessee school board voted to ban "Maus," a graphic novel in which the author relates how his father survived the Holocaust. The board's discussion mentioned, among other things, rough language and a nude drawing of a woman, according to a meeting transcript. One board member, Tony Allman, said: "It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy."

James Blasingame, an expert on young adult literature at Arizona State University, said that the disturbing nature of "Maus" is exactly what students should learn about the Holocaust - and that students are cheated from learning about the world when books like this are banned.

"It is a disturbing and shameful event in the history of the human race, and any book that purports to tell accurately what happened must also be disturbing," he said.

As the number of challenges and bans rises, so, too, does resistance from parents and students and school board members.

Black students in Texas and other states are forming groups to read books on racism that others seek to ban. An organization of suburban mothers who partnered with other groups launched a campaign called " Book Ban Busters," offering resources and support to fight books bans. Its website includes a map of places where book challenges have occurred, showing them in most states.

In January, an effort in the Kutztown Area School District in Pennsylvania to keep a book called "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe out of the high school library was defeated when the school board voted 5-4 in favor of including it.

In her speech to the North Penn school board, Flannery referenced - and rejected - criticism that book banners were "snowflakes," people who have a hard time dealing with opinions they don't agree with. But proponents may open themselves up to charges of hypocrisy. Moms for Liberty favors "parental choice," but not for parents who want to expose children to the ideas in these books.

More broadly, conservatives have lamented what they see as "cancel culture" on the left, such as in March , when the publisher of the famed Dr. Seuss books announced that six titles with racist imagery would stop being printed. "The cancel culture is canceling Dr. Seuss," Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said. Fox News's Tucker Carlson went further, saying that "if we lose this battle" to preserve the Seuss books, "America is lost." But conservatives don't seem to mind other books being canceled from schools and libraries.

Recruited by Harvard for the women's swim team, he'll jump into the pool as a man

Meanwhile, the argument is playing out in classrooms. In November, eighth-grade reading teacher Alecia Feckers resigned from the Charles City Community Schools district after being put on administrative leave for reading Bailar's short story "Catch, Pull, Drive" from the "Fresh Ink" anthology to her students.

The short story - not on the approved list of resources for the subject, social issues - reflects experiences of its author, who was recruited at Harvard to play on the women's swim team but transitioned and swam on the men's team.

After some parents complained, Feckers was investigated by the district. She decided to resign because, she said in an email, she felt it was her only option: "I didn't think I could stay there when they didn't support me or have my back."

correction

A previous version of this story misspelled Deborah Caldwell-Stone's name.

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Analysis | This wave of book bans is different from earlier ones

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Attacking books has been an American tradition since 1650, when Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony seized William Pynchon's "The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption," labeling it blasphemous for saying obedience, and not suffering, led to atonement. In 1885, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was banned for "coarse language" (and much later for the use of the n-word).

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With the severe uptick in local and statewide book challenges, ALA offers this clearinghouse of resources to assist library workers and library advocates in responding to and supporting others facing those challenges. Remember to report challenges to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, and let ALA know if you need assistance.

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With the severe uptick in local and statewide book challenges, ALA offers this clearinghouse of resources to assist library workers and library advocates in responding to and supporting others facing those challenges. Remember to report challenges to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, and let ALA know if you need assistance.

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Even with thoughtful and continual preparation, adverse legislation will sometimes be proposed in your state. Advanced planning can alleviate some of the stress on organizational leadership and individual members, and support from others can be critical to a strategic and successful response. The wo…

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Censorship News Roundup Archives - BOOK RIOT

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Nearly half of the United States have censorship bills under review or legislated. That and more of this week's book challenge news.

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Granbury Independent School District, a small public school district south of Fort Worth, Texas, became a scrimmage line in the state's ongoing controversy over book censorship in January 2022 when district officials began removing books from schools.

On Jan. 27, 2022, Christopher Tackett, the parent of a high school senior at Granbury High School, posted a photograph of two men hauling books out of the school library.

Today in Granbury ISD, at the High School library, they came with a hand cart and carried away multiple boxes of books tagged with "Krause's List".

They can do this because the board voted 7-0 on Monday to change district policy allowing books to be removed prior to a review. pic.twitter.com/7ZDhOONnjd

- Christopher Tackett (@cjtackett) January 27, 2022

The boxes in the carts are labeled "Krause's list." The photograph, along with quotes from high school students who have protested the book removal, have gone viral:

This is what a high school student told the Granbury ISD school board. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Gjq37j25Za

- Ray [REDACTED] (@RayRedacted) January 25, 2022

The above image and quote are authentic, and reflect an ongoing effort by Republican legislators in Texas to remove books about certain social topics, like race and the LGBTQ community, from school libraries. The quote came from a high school student who spoke during the school district's Jan. 24, 2022, board meeting.

The book removals have raised questions about the legality and transparency of the process.

Carolyn Foote, a retired librarian spearheading #Freadom Fighters, a movement promoting reading and information access, told Snopes in a phone interview that the removal of books from school libraries puts professional staff like school librarians in a bind because they are bound by a higher law, namely the First Amendment.

Foote pointed to a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined libraries are places of voluntary inquiry and dissemination of ideas, and thus "enjoy a special affinity with the rights of free speech and press," as the online SCOTUS archive blog Oyez.org summarized.

"As librarians we're aware of the Supreme Court ruling," Foote said. "When material is being removed from a library because someone is finding the ideas controversial, that flies directly in the face of the Supreme Court ruling, that's typically the way that ruling has been viewed."

We take a look at how the controversy evolved in Texas below.

What Is 'Krause's List' and Why Is It Important?

"Krause's list" refers to a list of 850 books compiled by Texas State Rep. Matt Krause in October 2021.

Krause cited his role as chair of the House Committee on General Investigating, in an Oct. 25, 2021, letter sent to Texas school districts in which he stated he was "initiating an inquiry into Texas school district content."

The letter included the list of 850 books and questions about whether districts had copies of those books and how much was spent on them, and also asked districts to identify additional content about other sensitive issues, namely:

[Human] sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law, or contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.

We reached out to Krause's Chief of Staff Shane Birdwell via email asking what prompted Krause to create the list, and how and why the books on the list were selected. We have not received a response, but will update this story if we do.

An analysis by the literary network Book Riot found the majority of the books on the list were about LGBTQ issues.

Shortly after Krause sent the letter and the list, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent his own letter to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which included a vague threat of criminal investigation.

In the Nov. 10, 2021, letter to TEA, which is an oversight agency tasked with providing administrative support to school districts, Abbott wrote that he was "directing" the agency "to investigate any criminal activity in our public schools involving the availability of pornography."

We reached out to TEA for comment but have not received a response to our emails and phone messages. But in a statement provided to the Texas Tribune, TEA expressed confusion with Abbott's letter, noting that it is individual districts, not TEA, that are tasked with managing school library content.

"In most school districts, the review and selection of individual library materials traditionally has been an administrative responsibility managed by professional district staff," the TEA statement said.

We have also reached out to Abbott's office for comment on his letter and related issues resulting from it, and will update this story if we receive a response.

Foote said she believes efforts to ban books from school libraries is political, as opposed to a genuine effort to protect students. In Virginia, a flashpoint in the race for governor was an effort to bar high school students from reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Beloved," a Toni Morrison classic about the horror and trauma of slavery, as part of the curriculum.

Republican Glenn Youngkin beat incumbent Terry McAuliffe, and Foote said that political operatives may have viewed his support for dropping the book as a winning strategy.

"I'm sure politicians in other states looked at that and thought, this is a way to garner some votes," Foote said. "But the problem for us as librarians and educators is that it's happening on the backs of kids. These are real kids who are getting the message that their identity is not acceptable, whether it's race, or LGBTQ identity."

The effect of the list has been controversy, and arguably, chaos. Some school districts, like Austin and Dallas, have stated they have no plans to comply with Krause's request because, essentially, there is no force of law behind it. Dallas ISD called the letter an " unofficial " request.

Other districts, like Granbury and North East, have responded by pulling hundreds of books off library shelves, and, at least in the case of Granbury, rewriting district policy to accommodate doing so.

Texas state House Democrat and Public Education Committee Chairman Harold Dutton sent Krause a letter challenging the notion that Krause has any jurisdiction to make such an official request of school districts in the first place.

"It is my understanding that members of the General Investigating Committee were never advised, nor consulted, nor ever voted on your request to Texas school districts," Dutton wrote. "Ignoring House rules and the process creates an added suspicion that only you can explain."

What Happened in Granbury

Tackett said few details have been offered to the public about how the Granbury ISD book review would be conducted, who would be responsible for it, or how those people would be selected. He said the list of books was made public when he posted it on Twitter, after receiving it in response to an open records request.

"We have no clue how long the reviews will take, we have no clue about the criteria they're using, we don't know who is on the committee," Tackett said. "With all of these things, it prompts a lot of questions about the integrity of the process."

We reached out to Granbury ISD spokesman Jeff Meador asking how the process for reviewing books taken from the school libraries will proceed.

Meador said Granbury ISD drew from Krause's list to make its own list of about 130 books to pull from the school's library shelves and put under review by a committee.

When we asked for details about how the committee will operate, who will review books, and how those reviewers were selected, Meador requested we file an open records request. We have done so, and will update this story if the relevant information is provided.

The Granbury district's actions and Tackett's tweets have created an uproar, resulting in viral stories and national news coverage.

At a Jan. 24 school board meeting, some students sharply criticized the district's decision to pull the books, resulting in name-calling by the district superintendent, who said critics were "gaslighters" intending to "incite division."

Meador pointed to a school district statement outlining the board's discretion to select books for removal. In that Jan. 27 statement, the district said:

"School board trustees recently amended local district policy to allow removal of 'materials because they are pervasively vulgar or based solely upon the educational suitability of the resource in question.'"

Meador told Snopes that as of this writing, only five books, by Young Adult genre novelist Abbi Glines, were removed from schools permanently.

"All others are only off the library book shelves pending the review, which will begin this week," Meador stated by email on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.

Many of the books on the list provided by Meador are clearly not "pervasively vulgar," as they have to do with the history of racism. Titles include a book about the history of the KKK. Many others deal with LGBTQ issues. One title deals with bioethics.

When asked whether the district followed its own rules in undertaking the book removal and review process, Meador pointed us to a legal policy that states:

Students' First Amendment rights are implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of a school library. A district shall not remove materials from a library for the purpose of denying students access to ideas with which the district disagrees. A district may remove materials because they are pervasively vulgar or based solely upon the educational suitability of the books in question.

A statement Meador made to the local Hood County News, however, pointed to political preferences being at least part of district officials' motivation:

While we acknowledge some parents and community members will not agree with the potential removal of any book, we understand the conservative climate of our community and that a large majority recognizes that several social and cultural topics are best left to parents and families to discuss with their children

When asked about the comment, Meador stated that he had no further comment.

"School district policies are sort of a trust commitment between the administration and the staff, the school board and the teachers, and the school and the community," Foote noted. "The trust is that we created these policies and this is how we interact with each other. When things start happening that venture beyond the published polices and aren't done in a transparent manner, it creates a lot of distrust with the community at large or within the school community, because you have broken that contract."

Foote said that the controversy has had a chilling effect on educators and school district professionals, and while some districts have chosen to stand up to pressure to remove books, others have taken steps like resorting to self-censorship, even if it violates their own district policies, to avoid acrimony.

Foote also said students pay the price for efforts to take books from their libraries that could help them get through challenging moments in their lives. And the nature of the books being targeted sends the message that certain minority groups are not welcome in the public schools.

"The truth of the matter is our students do live in the real world," she said. "There are students in our schools who are facing abuse, and reading a story about someone else who overcame it could really be powerful for that student. We have LGBTQ students in our schools who are struggling with acceptance, or maybe bullying. Reading about how another LGBTQ character came through that experience is important for them. Same thing with books about race. All of those stories speak to someone."

Sources:
Hixenbaugh, Mike. "Book Banning in Texas Schools: Titles Are Pulled off Library Shelves in Record Numbers." NBC News, 1 Feb. 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-books-race-sexuality-schools-rcna13886.

Chappell, Bill. "A Texas Lawmaker Is Targeting 850 Books That He Says Could Make Students Feel Uneasy." NPR, 28 Oct. 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/10/28/1050013664/texas-lawmaker-matt-krause-launches-inquiry-into-850-books.

Ellis, Danika. "All 850 Books Texas Lawmaker Matt Krause Wants to Ban: An Analysis." BOOK RIOT, 5 Nov. 2021, https://bookriot.com/texas-book-ban-list/.

Goldenstein, Taylor. "Austin ISD Is First to Defy Texas House Inquiry into Books about Racism, Sexuality." Houston Chronicle, 29 Oct. 2021, https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Austin-ISD-dismissesTexas-House-inquiry-into-16575282.php.

Lopez, Brian. "Texas House Committee to Investigate School Districts' Books on Race and Sexuality." The Texas Tribune, 26 Oct. 2021, https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/26/texas-school-books-race-sexuality/.

Pollock, Cassandra. "Gov. Greg Abbott Chastises School Board Group with Vague Accusation of 'Pornographic Images' in Library Books." The Texas Tribune, 1 Nov. 2021, https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/01/greg-abbott-texas-schools-books/.

Ellis, Danika. "All 850 Books Texas Lawmaker Matt Krause Wants to Ban: An Analysis." BOOK RIOT, 5 Nov. 2021, https://bookriot.com/texas-book-ban-list/.

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How a Small School District Became a Focal Point in the Battle Over Texas Book Censorship

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Granbury Independent School District, a small public school district south of Fort Worth, Texas, became a scrimmage line in the state's ongoing controversy over book censorship in January 2022 when district officials began removing books from schools. On Jan.

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The ALA Ecosystem Initiative is a multi-year effort to strengthen the library ecosystem through identification of shared priorities for action and unified messaging. Today, the effort is guided by the State Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Committee on Library Advocacy (COLA). The group’s charge includ…

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NJEA's officers, President Sean M. Spiller, Vice President Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, released this statement opposing attempts across New Jersey and the United States to ban books from school libraries and classrooms. Their statement also supports the right of students and families to have access to information and perspectives needed for a thorough and well-rounded education:

"We are deeply concerned by the growing number of efforts to ban a wide range of books from school libraries and classrooms. Such efforts are nothing less than a direct attack on our foundational values as a democracy including freedom of speech, the importance of honest public discourse, and the inherent value and equality of all people, regardless of race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.

"Our students deserve public schools that are bastions of truth, where they can be exposed to the diversity of people and experiences that make up our multicultural society. They deserve schools where they can learn the full account of both our history and our present so that they can be full participants in building a better, more just future.

"Banning books from school libraries is a form of lying to our children by preventing them from learning about the reality of certain experiences and events. Blocking them from experiencing the truth of history and human experience impedes their education, limits their understanding and teaches them to think of the truth as something to fear rather than something to embrace and grapple with.

"We are encouraged that some New Jersey school boards are standing up for children by resisting calls to ban books. The North Hunterdon Voorhees Board of Education recently rejected a bid to ban Juno Dawson's This Book is Gay and to affirmatively state that certain other frequently challenged books would remain accessible to NHV students. That is an important win for those students and for that community. No board member, parent or community member should be able to censor what someone else's child is allowed to read.

"But for every story of a board of education standing up for students, the First Amendment and intellectual freedom, there are far too many stories of boards that are bullied into book banning or even doing so eagerly.

"History never celebrates individuals who ban books or societies that attempt to squelch freedom and access to information. We are in a perilous time in America. We must choose what sort of society we want to be and what sort of example we want to set for our students. We call on all Americans who value freedom, democracy and truth to stand against these efforts to deny our children access to important books."

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NJEA officers: Book bans hurt students - Insider NJ

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NJEA's officers, President Sean M. Spiller, Vice President Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, released this statement opposing attempts across New Jersey and the United States to ban books from school libraries and classrooms. Their statement also supports the right of students and families to have access to information and perspectives needed for a thorough[...]

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Texas Library Association, Austin, TX. 9,905 likes · 649 talking about this · 295 were here. TLA is a professional organization promoting librarianship and library service in Texas. TLA was...

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The Suburban Women Problem - RED WINE & BLUE

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Rachel Vindman thought she'd be a card-carrying member of the GOP forever, until President Trump called her husband a traitor. Microbiologist Jasmine Clark never dreamed of running for office, but then 2016 happened. Now she's the first Black woman ever elected to represent her suburban district.

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Challenges to books about sexual and racial identity are nothing new in American schools, but the tactics and politicization are.

Jack Petocz with the protest signs he used at a school board meeting in Flagler County, Fla. Credit... Todd Anderson for The New York Times

In Wyoming, a county prosecutor's office considered charges against library employees for stocking books like "Sex Is a Funny Word" and "This Book Is Gay."

In Oklahoma, a bill was introduced in the State Senate that would prohibit public school libraries from keeping books on hand that focus on sexual activity, sexual identity or gender identity.

In Tennessee, the McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel "Maus" from an eighth-grade module on the Holocaust because of nudity and curse words.

Parents, activists, school board officials and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades. The American Library Association said in a preliminary report that it received an "unprecedented" 330 reports of book challenges, each of which can include multiple books, last fall.

"It's a pretty startling phenomenon here in the United States to see book bans back in style, to see efforts to press criminal charges against school librarians," said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of the free-speech organization PEN America, even if efforts to press charges have so far failed.

Such challenges have long been a staple of school board meetings, but it isn't just their frequency that has changed, according to educators, librarians and free-speech advocates - it is also the tactics behind them and the venues where they play out. Conservative groups in particular, fueled by social media, are now pushing the challenges into statehouses, law enforcement and political races.

"The politicalization of the topic is what's different than what I've seen in the past," said Britten Follett, the chief executive of content at Follett School Solutions, one of the country's largest providers of books to K-12 schools. "It's being driven by legislation, it's being driven by politicians aligning with one side or the other. And in the end, the librarian, teacher or educator is getting caught in the middle."

Among the most frequent targets are books about race, gender and sexuality, like George M. Johnson's " All Boys Aren't Blue," Jonathan Evison's " Lawn Boy," Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer" and Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye."

"I didn't know that was something you could do, file a criminal complaint against a book," said George Johnson, author of the memoir "All Boys Aren't Blue." Credit... Bethany Mollenkof for The New York Times

Several books are drawing fire repeatedly in different parts of the country - "All Boys Aren't Blue" has been targeted for removal in at least 14 states - in part because objections that have surfaced in recent months often originate online. Many parents have seen Google docs or spreadsheets of contentious titles posted on Facebook by local chapters of organizations such as Moms for Liberty. From there, librarians say, parents ask their schools if those books are available to their children.

"If you look at the lists of books being targeted, it's so broad," Ms. Nossel said. Some groups, she noted, have essentially weaponized book lists meant to promote more diverse reading material, taking those lists and then pushing for all the included titles to be banned.

The advocacy group No Left Turn in Education maintains lists of books it says are "used to spread radical and racist ideologies to students," including Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." Those who are demanding certain books be removed insist this is an issue of parental rights and choice, that all parents should be free to direct the upbringing of their own children.

Others say prohibiting these titles altogether violates the rights of other parents and the rights of children who believe access to these books is important. Many school libraries already have mechanisms in place to stop individual students from checking out books of which their parents disapprove.

The author Laurie Halse Anderson, whose young adult books have frequently been challenged, said that pulling titles that deal with difficult subjects can make it harder for students to discuss issues like racism and sexual assault.

"By attacking these books, by attacking the authors, by attacking the subject matter, what they are doing is removing the possibility for conversation," she said. "You are laying the groundwork for increasing bullying, disrespect, violence and attacks."

Tiffany Justice, a former school board member in Indian River County, Fla., and a founder of Moms for Liberty, said that parents should not be vilified for asking if a book is appropriate. Some of the books being challenged involve sexual activity, including oral sex and anal sex, she said, and children are not ready for that kind of material.

"There are different stages of development of sexuality in our lives, and when that's disrupted, it can have horrible long-term effects," she said.

"The bottom line is if parents are concerned about something, politicians need to pay attention," Ms. Justice added. "2022 will be a year of the parent at the ballot box."

Christopher M. Finan, the executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, said he has not seen this level of challenges since the 1980s, when a similarly energized conservative base embraced the issue. This time, however, that energy is colliding with an effort to publish and circulate more diverse books, as well as social media, which can amplify complaints about certain titles.

"Sex Is a Funny Word" is among the books being challenged. Credit... Triangle Square Press, via Associated Press

"It's this confluence of tensions that have always existed over what's the proper thing to teach kids," Mr. Finan said.

"These same issues are really coming alive in a new social environment," he added, "and it's a mess. It's a real mess."

Book challenges aren't just coming from the right: "Of Mice and Men" and "To Kill a Mockingbird," for example, have been challenged over the years for how they address race, and both were among the library association's 10 most-challenged books in 2020.

In the Mukilteo School District in Washington State, the school board voted to remove "To Kill a Mockingbird" - voted the best book of the past 125 years in a survey of readers conducted by The New York Times Book Review - from the ninth-grade curriculum at the request of staff members. Their objections included arguments that the novel marginalized characters of color, celebrated "white saviorhood" and used racial slurs dozens of times without addressing their derogatory nature.

While the book is no longer a requirement, it remains on the district's list of approved novels, and teachers can still choose to assign it if they wish.

In other instances, efforts to ban books are more sweeping, as parents and organizations aim to have them removed from libraries, cutting off access for everyone. Perhaps no book has been targeted more vigorously than " The 1619 Project," a best seller about slavery in America that has drawn wide support among many historians and Black leaders and which arose from the 2019 special issue of The New York Times Magazine. It has been named explicitly in proposed legislation.

What Is the 1619 Project?

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Political leaders on the right have seized on the controversies over books. The newly elected governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, rallied his supporters by framing book bans as an issue of parental control and highlighted the issue in a campaign ad featuring a mother who wanted Toni Morrison's "Beloved" to be removed from her son's high school curriculum.

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott demanded that the state's education agency "investigate any criminal activity in our public schools involving the availability of pornography," a move that librarians in the state fear could make them targets of criminal complaints. The governor of South Carolina asked the state's superintendent of education and its law enforcement division to investigate the presence of "obscene and pornographic" materials in its public schools, offering "Gender Queer" as an example.

The mayor of Ridgeland, Miss., recently withheld funding from the Madison County Library System, saying he would not release the money until books with L.G.B.T.Q. themes were removed, according to the library system's executive director.

George M. Johnson, the author of "All Boys Aren't Blue," a memoir about growing up Black and queer, was stunned in November to learn that a school board member in Flagler County, Fla., had filed a complaint with the sheriff's department against the book. Written for readers aged 14 and older, it includes scenes that depict oral and anal sex and sexual assault.

"I didn't know that was something you could do, file a criminal complaint against a book," Johnson said in an interview. The complaint was dismissed by the sheriff's office, but the book was subsequently removed from school libraries while it was reviewed by a committee.

At a school board meeting where the book was debated, a group of students protested the ban and distributed free copies, while counterprotesters assailed it as pornography and occasionally screamed obscenities and anti-gay slurs, according to a student who organized the protest and posted video footage of the event.

Johnson made a video appearance at the meeting and argued that the memoir contained valuable lessons about consent and that it highlighted difficult issues that teenagers are likely to encounter in their lives.

A district committee reviewed the book and determined it was "appropriate for use" in high school libraries, but the decision was overruled by the county superintendent, who told the school board that "All Boys Aren't Blue" would be kept out of libraries, while new policies are created to allow parents to have more control over which books their children can access. Several other young adult titles that had been challenged and removed were restored.

Jack Petocz, a 17-year-old student at Flagler Palm Coast High School who organized the protest against the book ban, said that removing books about L.G.B.T.Q. characters and books about racism was discriminatory, and harmful to students who may already feel that they are in the minority and that their experiences are rarely represented in literature.

Jack Petocz with the book "All Boys Aren't Blue" at his home in Florida. Credit... Todd Anderson for The New York Times

"As a gay student myself, those books are so critical for youth, for feeling there are resources for them," he said, noting that books that portray heterosexual romances are rarely challenged. "I felt it was very discriminatory."

So far, efforts to bring criminal charges against librarians and educators have largely faltered, as law enforcement officials in Florida, Wyoming and elsewhere have found no basis for criminal investigations. And courts have generally taken the position that libraries should not remove books from circulation.

Nonetheless, librarians say that just the threat of having to defend against charges is enough to get many educators to censor themselves by not stocking the books to begin with. Even just the public spectacle of an accusation can be enough.

"It will certainly have a chilling effect," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's office for intellectual freedom. "You live in a community where you've been for 28 years, and all of a sudden you might be charged with the crime of pandering obscenity. And you'd hoped to stay in that community forever."

She said that aggressively policing books for inappropriate content and banning titles could limit students' exposure to great literature, including towering canonical works.

"If you focus on five passages, you've got obscenity," Ms. Caldwell-Stone said. "If you broaden your view and read the work as a whole, you've got Toni Morrison's 'Beloved.'"

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Challenges to books about sexual and racial identity are nothing new in American schools, but the tactics and politicization are. In Wyoming, a county prosecutor's office considered charges against library employees for stocking books like "Sex Is a Funny Word" and "This Book Is Gay."

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Author shares experience with Texas attempt to ban children’s books about racism

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A number of books by Black authors are being taken out of circulation as at least 9 states have recently passed bills that would ban teaching about racism in the classroom. NBC News’ Joshua Johnson speaks with Jerry Craft, the children’s author behind the award-winning graphic novel “New Kid” which…

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KATY, Texas - From a secluded spot in her high school library, a 17-year-old girl spoke softly into her cellphone, worried that someone might overhear her say the things she'd hidden from her parents for years. They don't know she's queer, the student told a reporter, and given their past comments about homosexuality's being a sin, she's long feared they would learn her secret if they saw what she reads in the library.

That space, with its endless rows of books about characters from all sorts of backgrounds, has been her "safe haven," she said - one of the few places where she feels completely free to be herself.

But books, including one of her recent favorites, have been vanishing from the shelves of Katy Independent School District libraries the past few months.

Gone: "Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)," a book she'd read last year about a gay teenager who isn't shy about discussing his adventurous sex life. Also banished: "The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy," "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "Lawn Boy" - all coming-of-age stories that prominently feature LGBTQ characters and passages about sex. Some titles were removed after parents formally complained, but others were quietly banned by the district without official reviews.

"As I've struggled with my own identity as a queer person, it's been really, really important to me that I have access to these books," said the girl, whom NBC News is not naming to avoid revealing her sexuality. "And I'm sure it's really important to other queer kids. You should be able to see yourself reflected on the page."

Her safe haven is now a battleground in an unprecedented effort by parents and conservative politicians in Texas to ban books dealing with race, sexuality and gender from schools, an NBC News investigation has found. Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.

Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin regions - a small sampling of the state's 1,250 public school systems - revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this school year. In comparison, only one library book challenge was filed at those districts during the same time period a year earlier, records show. A handful of the districts reported more challenges this year than in the past two decades combined.

All but a few of the challenges this school year targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex. Many of the books under fire are newer titles, purchased by school librarians in recent years as part of a nationwide movement to diversify the content available to public school children.

"Why are we sexualizing our precious children?" a Katy parent said at a November school board meeting after she suggested that books about LGBTQ relationships are causing children to improperly question their gender identities and sexual orientations. "Why are our libraries filled with pornography?"

Another parent in Katy, a Houston suburb, asked the district to remove a children's biography of Michelle Obama, arguing that it promotes "reverse racism" against white people, according to the records obtained by NBC News. A parent in the Dallas suburb of Prosper wanted the school district to ban a children's picture book about the life of Black Olympian Wilma Rudolph, because it mentions racism that Rudolph faced growing up in Tennessee in the 1940s. In the affluent Eanes Independent School District in Austin, a parent proposed replacing four books about racism, including "How to Be an Antiracist," by Ibram X. Kendi, with copies of the Bible.
Read more: Here are 50 books Texas parents want banned from school libraries
Similar debates are roiling communities across the country, fueled by parents, activists and Republican politicians who have mobilized against school programs and classroom lessons focused on LGBTQ issues and the legacy of racism in America. Last fall, some national groups involved in that effort - including No Left Turn in Education and Moms for Liberty - began circulating lists of school library books that they said were " indoctrinating kids to a dangerous ideology."

And during his successful bid for governor in Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin made parents' opposition to explicit books a central theme in the final stretch of his campaign, leading some GOP strategists to flag the issue as a winning strategy heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

The fight is particularly heated in Texas, where Republican state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have gone as far as calling for criminal charges against any school staff member who provides children with access to young adult novels that some conservatives have labeled as "pornography." Separately, state Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, made a list of 850 titles dealing with racism or sexuality that might "make students feel discomfort" and demanded that Texas school districts investigate whether the books were in their libraries.

A group of Texas school librarians has launched a social media campaign to push back.

"There have always been efforts to censor books, but what we're seeing right now is frankly unprecedented," said Carolyn Foote, a retired school librarian in Austin who's helping lead the #FReadom campaign. "A library is a place of voluntary inquiry. That means when a student walks in, they're not forced to check out a book that they or their parents find objectionable. But they also don't have authority to say what books should or shouldn't be available to other students."

Ten current or recently retired Texas school librarians who spoke to a reporter described growing fears that they could be attacked by parents on social media or threatened with criminal charges. Some said they've quietly removed LGBTQ-affirming books from shelves or declined to purchase new ones to avoid public criticism - raising fears about what free-speech advocates call a wave of " soft censorship " in Texas and across the country.

Five of the librarians said they were thinking about leaving the profession, and one already has. Sarah Chase, a longtime librarian at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb, said the acrimony over books contributed to her decision to retire in December, months earlier than she'd planned.

"I'm no saint," said Chase, 55. "I got out because I was afraid to stand up to the attacks. I didn't want to get caught in somebody's snare. Who wants to be called a pornographer? Who wants to be accused of being a pedophile or reported to the police for putting a book in a kid's hand?"

In interviews and recorded comments at school board meetings, parents who've pushed for book removals described doing everything in their power to shield their children from sexually explicit content on the internet, only to discover it's readily available in school libraries.

"It's not censoring to guard minors from exposure to adult-themed books," Kristen Mangus, a parent, said at a meeting in November of the Keller Independent School District Board of Trustees, a suburban district outside Fort Worth that's fielded dozens of requests to ban books in recent months. "If they choose to check out from the public library with a parent, then so be it. But there is no reason whatsoever to have these books in our schools."

Some protesting parents have insisted that their opposition is about sexually explicit books, regardless of the races or sexual orientations of the characters. They point out that some of the books being challenged feature heterosexual sex scenes. But in many instances, parents and GOP politicians have flagged books about racism and LGBTQ issues that don't include explicit language, including some picture books about Black historical figures and transgender children.

Free speech advocates and authors deny that any of the books in question meet the legal definition of pornography. Although some include sexually explicit passages or drawings, those scenes are presented in the context of broader narratives and not for the explicit purpose of sexual stimulation, they said.

"Some parents want to pretend that books are the source of darkness in kids' lives," said Ashley Hope Pérez, author of the young adult novel "Out of Darkness," which has been repeatedly targeted by Texas parents for its depiction of a rape scene and other mature content. "The reality for most kids is that difficulties, challenges, harm, oppression - those are present in their own lives, and books that reflect that reality can help to make them feel less alone."

Several queer students, meanwhile, said the arguments by some parents, specifically the idea that it's inappropriate for teenagers to read about LGBTQ sexual relationships, are making them feel unwelcome in their communities.

"Reading books or consuming any kind of media that has LGBTQ representation, it doesn't turn people gay or make people turn out a certain way," said Amber Kaul, a 17-year-old bisexual student in Katy. "I think reading those books helps kids realize that the feelings that they've already had are valid and OK, and I think that's what a lot of these parents are opposed to."

'Short-circuiting' the process

This fall wasn't the first time Texas parents packed school board meeting rooms to complain about the corrupting influence of books.

Every year for nearly two decades beginning in the late 1990s, the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union surveyed every public and charter school in Texas to document attempts to ban library books. The annual reports paint a picture of past censorship movements, and make clear that the volume of challenges now hitting schools is unlike anything previously recorded in the state.

In the early 2000s, a conservative backlash to the Harry Potter book series, which some Christian leaders condemned as a satanic depiction of witchcraft, fueled a surge of book banning attempts in Texas, according to the ACLU data. But even at the peak of that wave, the Texas ACLU never documented more than 151 school library book challenges in one year. About half that many were documented in just the first four months of the 2021 school year at only a small sampling of Texas school districts, according to the records obtained by NBC News.

During the 2018-19 school year, the last time the ACLU conducted the censorship survey, Texas schools reported only 17 library book challenges statewide. Twice as many have been filed so far this school year at Keller ISD alone.

"I've been doing this work for 20 years, and I've never seen the volume of challenges that we're seeing right now," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association, which tracks attempts to ban library books nationwide.

Caldwell-Stone said the number of Texas book challenges documented in the records obtained by NBC News likely represents a vast undercount, because it doesn't account for books that are being removed from shelves based on verbal complaints at board meetings or parent emails, often in violation of school district policies.

In response to past censorship movements, the American Library Association developed guidelines for schools to prevent the sudden and arbitrary removal of books. Under the guidelines, which have been adopted by most large districts in Texas and nationally, parents are asked to fill out forms explaining why they believe a book should be banned. Then a committee of school employees and community volunteers reviews the book in its entirety and determines whether it meets district standards, keeping in mind that a parent's ability to control what students can read "extends only to his or her own child," according to language included in most district policies.

A challenged book is supposed to remain on shelves and available to students while the committee deliberates, and the final decision should be made public, Caldwell-Stone said.

"What we're seeing these days is a short-circuiting of that process, despite the fact that school boards often do have these reconsideration policies on their own books," she said. "They're ignoring them to respond to the controversy and the moral panics that they're getting targeted with at school board meetings, and books are being abruptly removed."

That scenario has been repeated at several Texas school districts in recent months, NBC News found. In December, the Denton Independent School District near Dallas made headlines when administrators pulled down a copy of "All Boys Aren't Blue," a memoir by queer Black author George M. Johnson, after learning that parents in neighboring towns had concerns about it. A district spokesperson, Julie Zwahr, said school officials are now reviewing a total of 11 library books to determine whether they are "pervasively vulgar," even though the district has received only one formal book challenge this school year.

The North East Independent School District in San Antonio hadn't received any library book challenges from parents as of December, according to records provided to NBC News. But that month, administrators directed librarians to box up more than 400 titles dealing with race, sexuality and gender.

At a subsequent school board meeting, North East leaders said that they had pulled the books for review after Krause, the Republican lawmaker, distributed his list of 850 titles that he said violate new state laws governing how sex and race are addressed in Texas classrooms. North East spokesperson Aubrey Chancellor did not respond to a reporter's request for comment, but told the Texas Tribune in December that the district asked staff to review books on Krause's list "to ensure they did not have any obscene or vulgar material in them."

"For us, this is not about politics or censorship, but rather about ensuring that parents choose what is appropriate for their minor children," she said then.

In another instance, the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, responding to an NBC News public records request, reported that it had received zero library book challenges in 2021. But emails reviewed by a reporter show that a parent had complained informally in August to a Carroll administrator and two school board members about the book, "Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out," by Susan Kuklin.

"There is extreme sexual content in that book that isn't even appropriate for me to put in an email," the parent wrote.

Rather than requiring the mom to fill out a form to initiate the district's formal library review process, Chase, the recently retired Carroll librarian, said an administrator shared the email with her and another librarian, and in order to avoid conflict, they agreed to remove the book from high school shelves.

"I hate that we did this, because we didn't go through the formal review ourselves," Chase said. "I think a lot of librarians are making decisions out of fear, and that puts us in a position of self-censorship."

Book fight spreads from Virginia to Texas

Mary Ellen Cuzela, a mother of three in Katy, a sprawling and booming suburb outside Houston, had never thought much about what library books her kids might have access to at school. But in September, she heard then-candidate Youngkin mention a Virginia school district's fight over " sexually explicit material in the library " during his campaign for governor against Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

Curious, Cuzela searched the Katy Independent School District's catalog and was surprised to find that one of the books at the center of the Virginia fight, "Lawn Boy," by Jonathan Evison, was available at her children's high school.

Cuzela picked up a copy from the public library and "was absolutely amazed" by what she read, she said. The book, which traces the story of a Mexican American character's journey to understanding his own sexuality and ethnic identity, was "filled with vulgarity," Cuzela said, including dozens of four-letter words, explicit sexual references and a description of oral sex between fourth-grade boys during a church youth group meeting.

"I don't care whether you're straight, gay, transgender, gender fluid, any race," she said. "That book had it all and was degrading for all kinds of people."

She soon discovered that several other young adult books that had been targeted in Virginia and other Texas districts were available at Katy ISD. Cuzela shared her findings with some "like-minded parents," and together they set out to get administrators to do something.

The school system, a diverse district of nearly 85,000 students, had already made national headlines that fall when administrators temporarily removed copies of "New Kid" and "Class Act" by Jerry Craft from school libraries after parents complained that the graphic novels, about Black seventh graders at a mostly white school, would indoctrinate students of color with a "victim mentality" and make some kids feel guilty for being white.

But Cuzela said she and her friends were having a hard time getting Katy administrators to take their concerns about sexually explicit books seriously. So they hatched a plan, and on Nov. 15, she and five other moms showed up at a Katy school board meeting with a stack of books.

One by one, they took turns at the lectern during public comments. Cuzela implored the board to audit all of the district's library books and get rid of those that are too obscene to be read aloud in public.

"If you are filtering a student's internet access," she said, "why are we not filtering the library?"

Minutes later, Jennifer Adler, a mother of five, held up a copy of "Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)," by L.C. Rosen, for the board to see. Adler explained that the book is about a character named Jack, who writes a teen sex advice column for an online site. Then she began reading.

"' I wonder how he does it ... how he gets all that D?' " Adler said, reading the first in a series of explicit excerpts referring to anal and oral sex.

After ending with a passage that included a detailed description of male genitalia and advice on how to give oral sex, she looked up at the board members, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"I cannot even imagine how I would feel if my child came home with this type of book," said Adler, whose oldest child is in middle school. "We cannot unread this type of content, and I would like to protect my kids' hearts and minds from this."

The audience, packed with parents and community members who shared her concerns, erupted in applause.

'Taking the matter seriously'

Rosen, the author of "Jack of Hearts," wasn't surprised when he heard about the demands to ban his book in Katy. Like other authors whose books have been targeted in recent months, Rosen said parents have been reading passages out of context.

At the time of the book's release in 2015, the School Library Journal, a magazine that districts rely on to select library books, wrote that the dearth of "sex positive queer literature" made "Jack of Hearts" an " essential addition to library collections that serve teens."

The sex advice columns written by the book's protagonist are part of a bigger narrative that's meant to empower queer teens and help them feel safe talking about their sexuality, Rosen said.

All of the questions answered in Jack's advice column were submitted by real students, Rosen said. And the author consulted with sex education experts to write Jack's responses, with the goal of providing LGBTQ teens with practical information that's often omitted from sex ed classes.

"I think it's troubling when they can't distinguish between porn - which is not meant for education - and a book like mine that's trying to educate teenagers and tell them, 'It's OK to have these desires; here's how to act on them consensually and safely,'" Rosen said.

Cuzela and her allies, who denied that they were specifically targeting LGBTQ content, saw things differently. And so did Katy ISD leaders, according to internal messages obtained by NBC News.

Rather than asking the parents to file formal challenges or forming a committee to review the books they'd read aloud, Darlene Rankin, the district's director of instructional technology, sent an email the day after the school board meeting directing school staff to immediately remove two titles from all libraries: "Jack of Hearts" and "Forever for a Year," by B.T. Gottfred.

"If these books are currently checked out to students, you must contact the student in order to have the book returned," wrote Rankin, who declined an interview request.

In the weeks that followed, Katy parents continued applying pressure, calling on the district not only to audit libraries for vulgar content, but to overhaul the selection process to de-emphasize recommendations from prominent book review journals, arguing that those groups are pushing a liberal agenda.

In early December, Superintendent Ken Gregorski responded to those demands, announcing in a letter to all parents that the district was launching a broad review of its library books to remove any that might be considered "pervasively vulgar." Gregorski, who declined to be interviewed, invited parents to report other books they want removed and assured them that he would "ensure the district is taking the matter seriously and putting into action the plans that resolve the issues for which we are all concerned."

In total this school year, according to internal messages, the district has launched reviews into at least 30 library books and so far has deemed nine to be inappropriate for students at any grade level, including five that prominently feature LGBTQ characters. Several other books, including "This Is Your Time," by the civil rights era icon Ruby Bridges, were deemed inappropriate or too mature for young children and removed from either elementary or middle school libraries.

Most of these reviews were opened without a formal book challenge, records show, even though one is required under Katy ISD's local policy.

In at least two instances, according to three district employees with knowledge of the review process, senior district administrators have ordered books to be removed from libraries even after review committees examined them and voted to keep them in schools. The district employees spoke to a reporter on the condition of anonymity, worried that they might be disciplined for sharing their concerns publicly.

In response to detailed written questions, Katy ISD spokesperson Maria DiPetta wrote that "the district will have to kindly pass on your request." (After this story's publication, DiPetta followed up to say that the district declined a parent's request to remove the children's book about Michelle Obama.)

Cuzela said she's pleased that the district is now taking her concerns seriously and hopes administrators go further. Although she doesn't believe most librarians are knowingly stocking shelves with "pornographic material," she agrees with Abbott's call for criminal charges against any who do, including in Katy.

"We have laws in Texas against providing sexually explicit material to children," she said. "It's a law on the books, and if they knowingly are providing this, they need to be advised and investigated."

Foote, the retired school librarian who's leading a statewide campaign against book bans, said Katy's approach is flawed, not only because it lacks transparency and opens the door for additional censorship attempts, but because of the signal it sends.

"You can't overstate the impact these decisions can have on LGBTQ students and even teachers," Foote said. "Intentional or not, these bans are sending a message to them about their place in the community."

On the phone at her high school library, the queer Katy student who worries her parents won't accept her for who she is said she was outraged when she found out librarians had started removing books - especially "Jack of Hearts."

"For me, a lot of these books offer hope," the student said. "I'm going to be going to college soon, and I'm really looking forward to that and the freedom that it offers. Until then, my greatest adventure is going to be through reading."

Like other library books she'd read that centered on LGBTQ characters, the student said "Jack of Hearts" gave her a sense of validation. The main character, a 17-year-old who isn't shy about his love for partying, makeup and boys, was a sharp contrast to her own high school experience, constantly on guard against saying or doing anything that might lead to her being outed.

The book, she said, made her feel less alone.

Rosen, the author, has heard similar things from other teenagers. When he gets those messages, he said he usually replies to say that he hopes things will get better.

But then he adds: "I can't promise that it will."

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Book banning in Texas schools: Titles are pulled off library shelves in record numbers

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Facing pressure from parents and threats of criminal charges, some districts have ignored policies meant to prevent censorship. Librarians and students are pushing back.

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The EveryLibrary Institute and EveryLibrary are partnering with Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson, an independent researcher focused on the networks, organizations, and individual actors who are leading book banning and book challenge efforts in our nation's school libraries and public libraries.

Dr. Magnusson's spreadsheet of book bans and challenges has been available online since October 2021 to aid library organizations, library staff, education stakeholders, and concerned parents. Her findings have helped numerous school libraries and public libraries. Through this partnership, EveryLibrary and ELI are supporting her ongoing research and monitoring as well as aiding in the discoverability of these valuable resources online. All of these resources continue to be available free of charge to aid local and statewide efforts to defend the freedom to read, the role of libraries in communities and schools, and, most especially, support the people and ideas the books represent.

Dr. Magnusson's Database of Book Bans and Challenges in the United States 2021 - 2022

Dr. Magnusson's research begins near the start of the 2021-22 school year. The tabs are organized by School District, Books Challenged/Banned in School Districts, by public libraries, and books banned/challenged in school libraries. Additional tabs include lists of groups formed to push book bans and challenges and organizations and groups formed to push back against these political actions. The final tab is a list of other relevant articles found during research which includes student and teacher responses to bans as well as investigative pieces on funding of the political groups supporting bans.
The data is available as view only - with sorting capabilities at: "Censorship Attacks".
Please note that no personal information is collected or solicited by Dr. Magnusson or EveryLibrary/ELI when you visit these free resources. Information about groups and individuals who are involved in book bans or materials challenges are cross-referenced from publicly available sources like news reports, online forums, and social media posts. Dr. Magnusson invites people to report new information or help correct errors and omissions by contacting her at [email protected] .

Our hope is to help stakeholders understand and differentiate between legitimate questions of local concern and the politicized or performative book and materials challenges that are attacking our libraries. If you are concerned with book banning efforts in schools and libraries, please visit EveryLibrary's Action site to learn more and to sign up to be a part of this national network.

The EveryLibrary Institute is a donor-supported 501c3 non-profit research and public policy organization dedicated to the future of libraries. We are only able to support this kind of important work because of our donors. Please consider making a donation today .

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Book Censorship Database by Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson

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EveryLibrary Institute is a 501c3 organization that supports library funding in the United States.

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How To Fight Book Bans and Challenges: An Anti-Censorship Tool Kit

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A guide to how to fight back against censorship and book challenges, including tools and techniques for citizens and gatekeepers.

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Thurs, Feb 24th 5pm EST (Freedom to Read Roundtable)

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Thurs, Feb 24th 5pm EST (Freedom to Read Roundtable)

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Join the Texas Library Association on Thursday, February 24th at 5:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. CT for a crucial roundtable discussion of censorship and tangible steps to protect the freedom to read. Voices from every aspect of this ongoing and constantly evolving issue will weigh in, including a teacher,…

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The Pitt County Board of Education on Monday will continue its deliberation on a parent's complaint that middle school literature includes sexually explicit content and profanity.

Sharon M. Draper's "Forged by Fire" and "Darkness Before Dawn," along with "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, will be discussed Monday afternoon at the Kathy Taft Center. Pitt County Schools announced Friday the meeting will begin at 2 p.m. or later, depending on the time that the Board of Education's noon workshop concludes.

Parent Taylor Keith, who filed an objection in November to Ayden Middle School's use of the books, appealed to the school board after a selection committee upheld a decision by the school that the books were in keeping with a district policy requiring instructional materials be appropriate for students' maturity levels.

The school board tabled the matter following an hourlong discussion during a special-called meeting on the matter earlier this month.

The books in question are among seven titles challenged in Pitt County Schools in the last decade, the district reported this week in response to questions from The Daily Reflector. School officials declined a request for an interview but answered questions submitted via email.

In its response, the district confirmed that the two books by Draper, published in 1997 and 2002, had been assigned as classroom reading at Ayden Middle in the past. But it said that the books had not been the subject of previous challenges.

"In alignment with board policy, teachers are very responsive to families who may request alternative assignments and undertake extra work to accommodate these requests," the district said in a statement.

The American Library Association in November 2021 reported that it has seen a "dramatic uptick" in book challenges. According to the association's 2021 "State of American Libraries" report, it tracked 156 challenges to library, school and university materials and services in 2020.

"All American Boys," published in 2015, was third on the ALA list of the "Top 10 Most Challenged Books in 2020." The list also included Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," both widely considered to be classic works of American literature.

District Media Specialist Meredith Hill told the school board earlier this month that she cannot recall a local case in which a school decision on a book has been appealed to the Board of Education.

The district listed Earl Sewell's "Myself and I" and Carl Dueker's "Gym Candy," both the subject of complaints during the 2015-16 school year, as the last books challenged. It also reported that John Hamilton's "Behind the Terror" was challenged in the 2013-14 academic year, and Lauren Myracle's "Kissing Kate" in the 2011-12 school year.

"Forged by Fire" includes a story line in which a girl is sexually abused by her stepfather. In "Darkness Before Dawn," the antagonist is a high school track coach who rapes student athletes. "All American Boys" deals with police brutality toward an innocent black teenager.

"Myself and I" features a story line that includes teen sex and alcohol abuse. "Gym Candy" is about a high schooler who has a problem with steroids. "Kissing Kate" deals with a teenager's struggle with her sexuality. "Behind the Terror," the only nonfiction work on the list of books challenged, presents an overview of terrorism, its history, and how it relates to religion and world politics.

Following Keith's objection, school officials said, Ayden Middle's English-language arts teachers reconsidered assigned reading and canceled plans to read the remainder of "Forged by Fire," along with "Darkness Before Dawn," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "All American Boys" and "Night," Elie Wiesel's account of surviving Nazi death camps as a teenager. Teachers opted to assign short reading passages instead.

According to a school system spokesperson, a parent, whom the district did not name, challenged the inclusion of "All American Boys" in the school's media center (library). "Because 'All American Boys' was not available for individual checkout in the school's media center, the school's MTAC (Media and Technology Advisory Committee) declined to consider the matter," the spokesperson said.

At a Jan. 3 meeting, District 9 representative Benjie Forrest said he was surprised at the prevalence of profanity in "All American Boys." District 6 representative Worth Forbes agreed, saying, "There's no way this book needs to be on any Pitt County Schools shelf."

Regarding Draper's books, Keith said he was not asking that they be removed from the school library, although he said parental consent should be required for students to read them.

In response to a question from The Reflector, school officials said there are no materials in Pitt County Schools' media centers that require parental permission for checkout.

Officials said the school district has a separate procedure for video recordings. Prior approval of parents or guardians is required for showing videos with a PG rating for elementary schools, a PG-13 rating for middle schools and an R rating for high schools.

"Unlike movies, there is no MPAA classification for books and other written materials," the district said in a statement. "We do advise families of the content of class reading assignments by providing a course syllabus at the beginning of the school year or semester, and in certain instances, parents are given additional notice prior to the start of an assignment with a letter home advising parents of their ability to seek an alternative assignment."

The district also has separate procedures for internet use. The schools system's Technology Responsible Use policy says, in part, that "no user of technological resources, including a person sending or receiving electronic communications, may engage in creating, intentionally viewing, accessing, downloading, storing, printing, or transmitting images, graphics (including still or moving pictures), sound files, text files, documents, messages, or other material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, pornographic, harassing, abusive, or considered to be harmful to minors."

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School board to continue discussion on book challenges Monday; book disputes have been rare, officials said

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The Pitt County Board of Education on Monday will continue its deliberation on a parent's complaint that middle school literature includes sexually explicit content and profanity. Sharon M. Draper's "Forged by Fire" and "Darkness Before Dawn," along with "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, will be discussed Monday afternoon at the Kathy Taft Center.

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AUBURN - The Auburn school board has been hearing from parents upset about the presence of a nonfiction young adult book in the high school library, bringing a debate that's been taking place in multiple states to the city school district.

The book is "All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto," by George M. Johnson. Published in April 2020, it recounts the experiences of Johnson, a journalist and activist, growing up as a queer Black person.

Those calling for the book's removal from high school libraries say it has passages that are too sexually explicit for students, with some claiming it's akin to child pornography. Others, including many libraries and intellectual freedom advocates, have said removing the book would be censorship and countered that Johnson's work, including the passages in question and its overall context, speaks to issues young people may be dealing with.

Johnson has been outspoken in defense of the book. In November, they sent a video to a Florida school board that was played during a meeting in which its removal was being discussed, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

"There is no reason for us to pretend that the world is not going to expose our youth and our teens to these very heavy subjects and heavy topics in my book," Johnson said, adding that the material some have labeled as obscene appears in two chapters and provides teenagers guidance on agency and consent. "Realistically, they are already experiencing these things and my book is teaching them how to deal with these things."

Board meeting comments

At an Auburn Enlarged School City School District Board of Education meeting Dec. 14 at the Auburn High School Library, resident Barb Stotler said during the public comment portion of the meeting that she had arrived to the board's Nov. 16 meeting early to see if the library had "All Boys Aren't Blue," adding that she heard about the book on social media and about "other schools having a fit about this book." She said it did not take her long to find it at the library.

"This is a book on homosexuality. You could open the book into various places within and it was just pornography, nothing more," she said.

Stotler said the book contains themes of death, homophobia, transphobia, incest and sexual assault, and mentioned that other LGBTQ-themed books at the library feature sexual assault, rape, depression, internalized homophobia and more.

"My question is why are these books here? What possible educational value can be derived from these books, OK? Are we supporting our LGBTQ children or are we promoting it?" she said.

At the public comments portion of the board's Jan. 11 meeting, more people took to the microphone to question the book's presence at the school. Isabelle Wellauer, who ran for a school board seat in May, said the book contains "graphic homosexual sex" while noting she would be just as alarmed if the book depicted "such graphic sex between a man and a woman."

"The fact is, I am against child pornography, and I am totally opposed to any adult providing pornography to any minor. This author gives great detail in describing sexual acts between minors and adolescents, which in the state of New York is a crime," she said.

Wellauer read off some passages from the book describing an anal sex experience.

"Who's ultimately responsible and held accountable for these books? Where is the line and who decides where it's crossed, because that book crosses my line and I'd like to know how many of you it crosses the line (for) as well," she said, with some crowd members clapping as she finished.

Stotler came up to speak at the Jan. 11 meeting, as well. She said LGBTQ-themed books are "not the only category of book that has material that's not age-appropriate. It simply happens to be the category of this book." She noted "All Boys Aren't Blue" has been removed from some school libraries in several states as of mid-November, and said she feels the book isn't "age-appropriate."

"I purchased the book and I'm in the process of reading it. There is value in it, with the exception of a section that Isabelle read that's very sexually explicit and would likely be considered pornography," Stotler said, questioning whether this portion of the book "should be considered sexual grooming."

"Are we encouraging minors to engage in sexual activity when their emotional brains are not yet developed? Is encouraging pornography encouraging sexual activity? Is allowing this book to remain in the library encouraging pornography? Those are the issues here," Stotler said. "It isn't the message that it's OK to be gay, that's wrong, it's the message that it's OK to engage in sexual activity at too young of an age."

She also compared it to letting a child watch pornography or read "Playboy" or "Hustler."

Elizabeth A. Cuddy also spoke, saying that people against the sexual context of the book are unfairly being called homophobic.

"It just seems that if you or somebody expresses an opinion or a concern that aligns with conservative, traditional or, dare I even say the "R" word, Republican values, you're personally attacked," she said.

Book challenge policy

Auburn has a formal policy, required by state law, regarding requests to have books removed from schools. Auburn Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo said in an interview with The Citizen that a person verbally voiced concern about "All Boys Aren't Blue" in December, which prompted the district's policy committee to review board policies regarding book challenges. School administrators have also reviewed the book, which is not a part of any curriculum at the school but students can access it at the high school library.

According to the district's "Objection to Instructional Materials" policy, last updated in January 2004, any criticism of instructional materials in the schools need to be submitted in writing to the superintendent. A committee that includes the building principal and librarian must then be designated by the superintendent to investigate and judge the material in question by the principles and qualitative standards in the district's "Selection of Library and Audiovisual Materials" policy.

Despite the comments made at school board meetings, Pirozzolo said he has not received a written challenge regarding "All Boys Aren't Blue." He also said he hadn't heard of the book until the concerns came up and that to his knowledge, no student at the high school had actually checked out the book as of last Wednesday. The verbal complaint from December did not mention the book's LGBTQ aspects, Pirozzolo added, but concerned the material deemed sexually explicit.

Pirozzolo said the district cannot simply ban books; it must follow its policies that are based off of state law. "Whenever you look at board policies, they are not arbitrarily made up by a school district," he said.

Pirozzolo said he wishes library systems across the country would have a ratings scale similar to movies, with a system indicating the age a book is recommended for. That said, he acknowledged it would be difficult to classify all of the books that already exist.

"If there was more guidance from a state level (on) what is age appropriate in high school libraries, junior high libraries, elementary libraries, it would make it a little bit easier for us but then again, it may be a system that could never be put into place because of all the books that are already out there already," he said.

Ian Phillips, Auburn's school board president, said he believes there is a movement "by certain elements in society" to ban books in libraries, saying that "All Boys Aren't Blue" is one of those works.

"It's very common, you can find other people in other parts of the country that are reading passages from a 300-page book to try to incite discomfort in people to try to get a book banned," Phillips said.

He also noted that the district has a policy reviewing these book challenges and that what one parent may find objectionable may not be seen that way by another, pointing out that "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare centers on a relationship involving a teenager and "then glamorizes suicide" and that the popular teen "Twilight" series depicts sexuality.

Philips said he feels it is important to consider the wider context of "All Boys Aren't Blue." He mentioned that the book has received recognition from librarians, such as the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association naming it one of the 2021 Teen's Top Ten winners.

"This is something that's been read by professionals and they think it's appropriate," Phillips said.

Another parental perspective

Christopher Patch, a parent to an LGBTQ youth, said he has read the book and supports it. Patch, who runs Pride House, a program at Westminster Presbyterian Church welcoming 13-18 year old LGBTQ+ youth and allies, said the book is meant for ages 14-18, the age of most high school students.

"What's the point of removing a book from the library that speaks to real-world circumstances, experiences, emotions, especially from a Black and LGBTQ+ perspective?" he said. "I think it's extremely dangerous once we start going down that road, and damaging."

Patch said it's important to note that the author, George M. Johnson, not only explores their coming out experience in the book but that the book acknowledges sexual abuse. He said the passages of the book that are being called sexually explicit evoke emotions and experiences that happen to young people.

"What this book does, in my opinion, is it speaks a language. I'm not talking about grammar, I'm talking about the language of who you are while you're going through this journey. And that book, in a sense, says, 'Listen, this is very real and these are the real emotions, these are real thoughts, and it's OK to have these,'" Patch said. "I just think that it does get very tricky once we start looking at these (and saying), 'We're not going to support these emotions, we're going to invalidate these emotions, we're going to try and hinder these emotions and these words.'"

Library and intellectual freedom groups say efforts to remove books from library shelves have grown considerably in recent years.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, told The Citizen that the office has seen "an unprecedented number" of challenges, referring to reports that either individuals or groups have asked for the removal of a book or other library resource to be remove from a school or public library and is then reported to the office.

"I have worked here for two decades, (I) started in the year 2000. I cannot recall a time when we saw this volume of challenges being reported to our office," she said.

While the office encourages library professionals, school librarians, public libraries and library workers to report to them, Caldwell-Stone said the office doesn't hear of every challenge that happens within the country.

Caldwell-Stone said a lot of the book censorship that takes place, particularly in schools, is silent censorship, with "an administrator making a decision on their own to remove a book from a library or classroom or the kind of activity that doesn't get reported either in local press or to our office."

The office did a rough tally of the number of challenges reported to their office over the three-month span of September to December 2021, amounting to 330 unique reports, often including multiple book titles. In contrast, in 2019 - which Caldwell-Stone said was the last year the office had statistics for a year where schools and libraries weren't closed for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic - there were 356 challenges for that 12-month period.

Challenges ramped up as school board meetings began to be held in-person again, Caldwell-Stone said, with an effort by different groups to remove books and materials, mainly those with LGBTQIA themes and characters or dealing with racism and race, from libraries and schools.

She said she believes parents, individuals and advocacy organizations spurred by different groups have been coming to school board and library meetings nationwide demanding the censorship of books, "some of which they've never even read."

Caldwell-Stone said these situations have been particular stressful for librarians.

"It has created this false narrative around librarians, who are professionals who have spent years gaining the education and experience so that they can serve the students in their schools. They don't collect books arbitrarily and when they do, it's because they understand that there's an information need among the students," she said. "And we've heard from young people in high school that books like "All Boys Aren't Blue" serve a special role, particularly for young adults who are queer or transgender, as a way of understanding the experiences they're going through as a way of understanding themselves and understanding the experiences they're going through and a way of affirming them as individuals, as human beings."

She said that the book is not "reading that people are being assigned or required to read, but it's a resource available to a diverse community of students."

Some of the framing around these books that deal with LGBTQ experiences is that "they're somehow pornographic or illegal, but they are not," she said.

"These are all books that are being published by mainstream publishers, being sold publicly in bookstores" Caldwell-Stone said. "They don't begin to meet the standards for illegal pornography or obscenity in any way."

That said, she noted the office believes it is important for policies to be put in place that allow people to raise concerns, saying "People have a right to petition the government." Caldwell-Stone said the office also recommends that schools have "opt-out" policies that allow parents to opt their children out of assignments or to request that the school library work with them on their child's access to certain materials.

"We respect the fact that a parent wants to guide their child's reading, and in fact, they have that right. But we also believe that parent's decisions about what books their student can access shouldn't dictate what every other student can access at (a) school library or what the community can access at the public library," she said.

Caldwell-Stone said young people have told the office that "All Boys Aren't Blue" has had "enormous value for them."

"The audience for the book is for not 5-year-olds, it's adolescents. To argue that adolescents are innocent about sex, about the fact that sex exists or that gender or sexual identity issues exist, I think is a little disingenuous, or that young adults might not want or need access to these kinds of stories for a multiplicity of reasons," she said. "Whether to understand another's experience to understand issues related to the debate over civil liberties for gay people or the experiences of gay people or to simply find themselves reflected and their life experience reflected in the books at the library."

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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School book ban debate arrives in Auburn

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AUBURN - The Auburn school board has been hearing from parents upset about the presence of a nonfiction young adult book in the high school library, bringing a debate that's been taking place in multiple states to the city school district. The book is "All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto," by George M.

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What It’s Like to Have Your Book Banned by the School Board

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An author whose YA novel is getting banned across the country responds to the outrage.

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Many schools will continue to operate with some distance learning options by offering hybrid or virtual learning as well as in-person learning. At the same time, in 2021, more anti-LGBTQ bills-specifically anti-trans bills-have been introduced and laws passed than in any other year on record. Hate speech and anti-LGBTQ conversations may end up in our classrooms, schools, homes and communities in this climate. That means educators must continue to openly prioritize creating and sustaining inclusive, affirming learning environments of all types for LGBTQ identities among students, staff and communities.

Before the switch to remote and hybrid learning last year, some schools worked to create affirming and inclusive environments for LGBTQ students with genders and sexualities alliances (GSAs), by displaying anti-bullying posters and pride flags, through advocating for gender-inclusive bathrooms and by including LGBTQ identities in the curriculum. In the switch to remote learning, many avenues for support changed or were lost altogether. As the fall approaches and various methods of learning take place, we must continue to be aware, supportive and inclusive of the unique needs of our LGBTQ students, and we must be aware of the messages we are sending to all students through our support or lack thereof.

Implement More Ways to Affirm

In the 2019 GLSEN School Climate Survey, only 19.4% of surveyed LGBTQ students reported learning affirming content about LGBTQ people in school. GLSEN also reports lower grade point averages when compared to their non-LGBTQ peers. Many reports, including this 2020 report by the Trevor Project, show that LGBTQ students have higher levels of stress, depression and substance use, all of which have been exacerbated by increased social isolation and conditions of the pandemic. The recent rise of anti-LGBTQ legislation will only add to this stress. All of this is concerning; however, these reports also show affirming environments and strong social support networks can make a significant difference in the lives of LGBTQ youth.

As we create school policies and discuss classroom values for in-person, remote or hybrid learning, we must keep current legislative activity in mind. And we must be consistently clear that the classroom is a space that is welcoming of all people, a space in which hate speech is not tolerated. We must demonstrate those values by practicing it ourselves, by including the wide range of diversity of LGBTQ people in our curriculum, and by objecting to hate speech in our classrooms and from school staff.

If and when a student or caregiver pushes back or argues in line with current regressive thinking against the inclusion of LGBTQ identities, it's critical that educators reiterate our values: All people, including LGBTQ people, are welcome here, and we teach content that is reflective of the world we want to see and the world our students deserve to live in-a world where LGBTQ people are valued and included.

If a student is learning in any space that is not affirming of LGBTQ people, the classroom values and expectations will still teach respect and support the student if they are able to participate in the conversation. This is more important than ever as the battle over what can be taught in schools wages on. As K-12 educators face more scrutiny about what they share with their students and how, we need to ensure diversity in the curriculum with LGBTQ inclusive content that shows such diversity in gender, sexuality, race, culture, disabilities, class, religion, language and any and all combinations of these identities.

The inclusion of LGBTQ identities in our curriculum and classroom content can be done at all grade levels and at all times. This does not mean that every lesson needs to be an elaborate exploration of queer history or theory. Instead, it means using gender-inclusive language. It means reading books with LGBTQ characters that display the diversity of experiences in the LGBTQ community. It means that when we talk about our hopes and dreams, we are also dreaming of a reality that is in inclusive and affirming of all LGBTQ identities.

Lessons of Acceptance and Inclusion

A classroom inclusive of LGBTQ people is a classroom that teaches implicit and explicit, micro and macro, historical and present-day lessons of respect and inclusion. It is a classroom that consistently models inclusion and affirmation through language, expectations and actions.

Educators must keep the conversation going at this critical juncture. Above all, we cannot rely on or expect our students to bring in conversations about LGBTQ people. It is our job as educators, no matter what, to share content that positively represents the diversity of people that we share this world with and the diversity of people that are in our classrooms. It is our job to create learning opportunities that affirm students and prepare them to interact with all people in society. It is our job to share content that teaches students to think critically and openly and gives them the language they need to stand up for each other and have these conversations on their own.

Regardless of how learning takes place in the fall and as the controversy over curriculum content continues, we must create varied and consistent opportunities to support and affirm the identities of our LGBTQ students. And it's vital that we share accurate representations of LGBTQ people in our schools.

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We Need LGBTQ-Affirming Learning Environments in Person or Otherwise

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All learning next school year-whether in-person, remote or hybrid-requires inclusive, safe spaces for students.

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Tools & Resources - Texas Library Association

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The Texas Library Association (TLA) holds that the freedom to read is a corollary of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press. Freedom of choice in selecting materials is a necessary safeguard to the freedom to read and shall be protected against irresponsible attempts by self-appointed…

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Christopher Paul Curtis reflects on his post-Newbery life, censorship attempts, and why his books, centering of African American history, are necessary, especially today.

Christopher Paul Curtis has been recognized by the Newbery committee three times. He was the recipient of a Newbery Honor in 1996 for The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (Delecorte), and in 2008 for Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic). He received the Newbery Medal in 2000 for Bud, Not Buddy (Delacorte).

Curtis's award-winning fiction featuring African American families and children provides insight into the importance of history and its relationship to the present. In this interview, Curtis reflects on his post-Newbery life and offers insight into why his books, and their centering of African American history, are necessary, especially today.

What were some ways your life changed (if it did) after you won the Newbery Medal and the Newbery Honor? Did winning enable you to do things that you wouldn't have been able to do otherwise?
I don't know if other authors do this, but I approach life in much the same way I approach writing a novel. I'll come up with a scene or a scenario and start to imagine possible outcomes. When writing, I ask myself, "What would happen if this character did X?" Then I play through the consequences of that action.
I do the same thing with life events. In 1996, when The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 won a Newbery Honor, I played this game and went through all of the possibilities this momentous event could trigger.
I went from the lows (I'd be tooling around Flint, MI, stopping strangers on the street to say, "Psst, I wrote a book. I've got some copies in the trunk. Wanna buy one?") to the highs ("I'm gonna have to brush up on my Swedish and rent a tux for the Nobel Prize for Literature ceremony"). The hope, of course, being that reality would end up closer to the Scandinavian end of the scale.
And it was!
I was 42 years old and suddenly began traveling. I'd never been west of Chicago or south of Columbus or north of Saginaw, and I was now going all over the country. And when I looked up my name in the card catalog, there it was next to another Christopher Curtis, who wrote a book called How to Be Your Own Chimney Sweep!
When my next book, Bud Not Buddy, won the Newbery Medal, the changes were even greater. For the first time in my life, I wasn't living paycheck to paycheck and would shamelessly answer the phone not fearing bill collectors.
I was able to quit my "real" job and become a full-time writer!

What advice do you have for educators and families who might be facing challenges for teaching The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 or any of your books?
I feel as though I'm preaching to the choir, because I bet anyone who is reading this interview in School Library Journal is already well aware of the dire situation we're in. All I can say is keep fighting, be just as vigilant and assertive as the people who seem bound and determined to drag the whole country back into the 1950s. Oppose them at every opportunity. These are particularly scary times, and these are particularly scary people, but we can't allow ourselves to be bullied or intimidated. I believe it's a good sign when a book makes certain people uncomfortable.

Why do children need to read your books, especially now?
My loftiest ambition as a writer is to be a catalyst to get young people to feel even a tenth of what I feel when I'm reading a book that touches me. The fact that a reader is contributing to the story from their perspective makes a book personal and can light a flame in that person. I want to light that fire in someone.
When I'm speaking to a group of students and see the occasional examples of yawns and restlessness, I tell myself, that's okay, you might not be reaching that person, but if there's one student in the whole auditorium who my words reach, then my job is done. I feel the same way about my writing. All I need is that one [person].

You have pushed forward African American historical fiction for children quite powerfully. What opportunities do you still see for the genre? What still needs to be addressed? What hopes do you have for the genre?
Thank you! Historical fiction is indeed a powerful way to entice readers into worlds they probably otherwise wouldn't examine or know about. By placing a relatable character in an historical context, my goal is to have readers, young or not, come along for the ride. If done properly, this leads them to empathize with the characters, and a connection is formed. And these connections can open minds and expand points of view. Historical fiction serves as a perfect framework for telling countless stories.

Are there any books you think all children and young adults should be required to read?
At the top of my list would be Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Not only is this masterpiece a great read, but it is also a tool for those trying to understand how to write a great book. In an unconventional format, Myers builds suspense, asks relevant questions, and proves how deceptively simple language can grab hold of a reader.

Is there anyone currently writing for children and young adults, especially Black children and young adults, who excites you? If so, who are they, and why?
There are, of course, far too many writers doing beautiful work to name even a fraction of them. My advice would be to talk to a librarian-they are experts on this subject, and compared to theirs, my suggestions would not be so well-informed.
So as not to completely dodge the question, though, a few authors I have been enjoying lately are Sundee T. Frazier, Nic Stone, two Jerrys (Mr. Craft and Mr. Spinelli), Varian Johnson, and Laurie Halse Anderson. And, yes, I realize not all of them are African American, but cross-cultural reading is important for all children. After all is said and done, good writing is good writing.
Dr. Kimberly N. Parker is the Director of Crimson Summer Academy at Harvard University (MA)
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not buddy
the watsons go to birmingham—1963
 elijah of buxton
 the newbery at 100

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Christopher Paul Curtis: "Keep Fighting" | The Newbery at 100

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Christopher Paul Curtis reflects on his post-Newbery life, censorship attempts, and why his books, centering of African American history, are necessary, especially today. Christopher Paul Curtis has been recognized by the Newbery committee three times. He was the recipient of a Newbery Honor in 1996 for The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (Delecorte), and in 2008 for Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic).

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As censorship efforts continue, here’s a look at some of the latest developments in schools and public libraries around the country.

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What It’s Like to Have Your Book Banned by the School Board

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An author whose YA novel is getting banned across the country responds to the outrage.

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From the Idaho Commission for Libraries
By Jeannie Standal, ICFL School Library Consultant

September 2021 saw a 60% increase in reported book challenges in the United States over September 2020. Even taking the circumstances of the pandemic in September 2020 vs. September 2021 into account, that is a huge increase. If your school library has not yet dealt with a book challenge, there is a good chance one is coming your way. It can feel like a disaster, but much like any other crisis, preparation eases the way.

Foundational pieces

The first and most important priority is to make sure your school and school district have critical foundational pieces in place. If your school district does not have robust versions of the following policies in place, move those to the top of the priority list and ask your administration to do the same.

1. A collection development policy lays out the purpose, goals, and priorities for the library's collection in support of the school library's mission which, in turn, supports the school's mission. Library collections might include print books, recordings, digital materials, periodicals and newspapers, and even equipment. The collection development policy should cover all of those and any other items in the library. The ICfL uses this simple Collection Development Policy for the IDEA Collection.

2. A challenge policy or reconsideration policy and procedure is part of a collection development policy. It clearly establishes a policy and a procedure with which a book or other item is examined to determine if it should remain in the collection. The American Library Association (ALA) provides a Reconsideration Policy Toolkit to help librarians and administrators develop policies that will suit their libraries.

3. A challenge procedure always includes review by a reconsideration or review committee. This committee commonly includes the librarian, members of the faculty, at least one member of school administration, and at least one parent. Some committees include members of the community like the local public librarian, a member of the PTA/PTO, and possibly a school board member. It should not include the party submitting the challenge. Learn more about the role of the reconsideration committee.

More things to consider

Recruit and establish the review committee before a challenge happens. They should be very familiar with the role and purpose of the library, and the review committee members should establish internal relationships and trust within the committee before the work of a challenge begins. That anchoring knowledge and respect for fellow committee members will help them come to a sound decision regarding any challenged material.

Got those in place? Awesome! But that's not all. It's important to be familiar with the books that are most likely to be the target of a challenge. Keep an eye on the trends in book challenges and read this helpful article from school librarian Martha Hickson published in the Office for Intellectual Freedom's Blog. It has some great tips on being ready should a challenge come your way.

If someone is concerned, but has not yet submitted a formal challenge, it's a good opportunity to talk about their concerns (this is where knowledge of the book comes in handy). Be open to their comments and concerns and acknowledge that while the principles of students' freedom to read, listen, and view are important considerations, parents have the right to monitor and guide what their own children read. However, this is not the time to make any promises about the fate of the title in question. Often a conversation where the concerned party is heard and understood will resolve the problem, but if not, point them to the reconsideration procedure with a recommendation that they read the entire work before submitting the complaint so they may consider their concerns with the benefit of context.

It is natural to want to avoid trouble, but top of mind should be the purpose and mission of the school library. School librarians maintain a collection to serve and represent a diverse student body with a wide variety of needs and interests. They provide "windows and mirrors" and help students find stories about people that are both like themselves and nothing at all like themselves, in settings and situations that are both familiar and different. They ensure students have access to a large variety of points of view, rather than stories and histories written by and about a single point of view. They employ sound principles of selection rather than preemptive self-censorship.

A few additional resources:

Blog Post: A Proactive Approach to Book Challenges by Jennifer LaGarde from the Adventures of Library Girl blog, which includes a concise and helpful infographic.

Document: Instructional Materials Conversation Guide for Principals (and for librarians) from the Beaverton School District.

Foundational Document: Library Bill of Rights

NCTE's Position Statement: The Students' Right to Read

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Challenges, Policies, and Reconsideration in School Libraries

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From the Idaho Commission for Libraries By Jeannie Standal, ICFL School Library Consultant September 2021 saw a 60% increase in reported book challenges in the United States over September 2020. Even taking the circumstances of the pandemic in September 2020 vs. September 2021 into account, that is a huge increase.

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Democrats say it's a GOP tack to gain election year support

An Iowa Senate proposal to bring criminal charges against school librarians and teachers who disseminate books the bill's authors consider to be obscene is among the social issues in schools that legislators are expected to address this session.

Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel, and Sen. Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, have said they support bringing the charges where they feel a violation has occurred. Chapman has said he intends to propose legislation that would create a new felony offense for dissemination of obscene material to a minor.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Ankeny, said he expects a very broad conversation about K-12 education, including the issues Chapman and Zaun will bring to the front, when the Iowa Legislature begins is 2022 session this week.

Whitver said he did not know what the end result would be.

"I haven't seen any legislation that they may be working on or what that would look like, but over the last two years there has been an increased emphasis on education and parental choice and parental rights within education in the state of Iowa," Whitver said.

Some of the passages and images in school library books are disturbing, Whitver asserted, and parents have raised issues.

In Urbandale, for instance, a parent complained about five books that have been the topics of debate in districts nationwide, the Des Moines Register reported - "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George Johnson, "Gender Queer" by Maia Kabobe, "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie and "Hey, Kiddo" by Jarrett Krosoczka. All of the books are available at the high-school level, the Register reported, and two of them are available at the middle-school level.

Whitver said it's his understanding schools have mechanisms in place to address such parental concerns, but the Legislature would likely start with seeing if that process is in place statewide and how it is working - then go from there.

"I think we feel very strongly obviously, that, you know, pornography shouldn't be distributed amongst a school," said Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford. "However, how do we do that in a way in which, you know, the local school boards are the ones that are making sure that it's being addressed? I don't necessarily think it's through putting felonies or any of these kinds of things on there."

Rep. Dustin D. Hite, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee, said he also anticipates conversations among lawmakers about the topic, including the performance of the existing review process. Any work will have to take First Amendment protections into account, said Hite, of New Sharon.

"When you discuss libraries and that sort of stuff, there's a big interplay with the First Amendment," Hite said.

Democratic leaders in both chambers were critical of lawmakers taking a hand in the issue and argued there is a process in place to address concerns about books or other materials.

"The last thing that we need is to pour the gasoline of partisan politics on public education," Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, of Coralville, said. "And that's what Republicans are doing."

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, of Windsor Heights, said the legislature's job is to create an environment in which Iowa can grow and thrive.

"And by taking away - by opening the door to taking away books and jailing teachers for content in the classroom - I don't think that's the direction we need to be going," Konfrst said.

The process that is in place to review materials is adequate, said Rep. Sharon Steckman, the senior Democrat on the House Education Committee.

Many of the books recently questioned are Amazon bestsellers, or come highly recommended or have received accolades, said Steckman, of Mason City.

"I'm not promoting porn for our kids, of course, I would never do that, but I do think we need to leave it the way it has been," Steckman said.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, the senior Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, said he is anticipating action on this topic.

"It's an election year, it's a culture war issue, and it's the kind of thing that they want to have to gin up their base," said Quirmbach, of Ames.

The School Administrators of Iowa is anticipating some kind of legislation introduced on the issue, said Roark Horn, the organization's executive director.

"It might be more broad regarding parental access to school curriculum and increased ability to challenge it rather than targeted to certain books," Horn said.

Emily Piper, who lobbies for the Iowa Association of School Boards, said she was not aware of any legislation that would ban specific books, but there has been discussion about what process is used and said the association educating lawmakers about it.

There's already a process in place and it's been utilized in Central Iowa, where decisions have been made to either remove books or to keep them as instructional materials, Piper said.

Diversity and mask mandates

Those interviewed also were asked about potential action this sessions to follow up on House File 802, which was adopted last year to govern racism, diversity and inclusion efforts, as well as the law also enacted last year that prohibited local school boards from enacting mandates for students and school employees to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

HF802 deals with mandatory staff training at K-12 and post secondary schools that prohibits, among other things, any teaching that includes "stereotyping, scapegoating, or prejudice toward others on the basis of demographic group membership or identity." The law also states that the training cannot indicate that "that the United States of America and the state of Iowa are fundamentally or systemically racist or sexist."

Whitver said lawmakers are still watching to see if the law is performing as it was intended.

"So that like a lot of issues in the Legislature, we're just going to wait and see what's happening throughout the state," Whitver said.

Piper said the association of school boards was still helping school boards and districts navigate the legislation so they understand how it applies to them and what they can do.

She would like legislators to require the state Department of Education to provide a list of resources, curriculum and materials that meet the intent of the law.

In October, a federal judge placed a stay on an Iowa law that prohibited locally elected school boards from enacting a mask mandate in their schools. The judge is considering a suit by parents who assert the ban violates federal law by discriminating against students with disabilities who are at a higher risk of COVID-19 complications.

The state is appealing the stay to the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in Omaha, but the court has not made a ruling. With the stay still in place, many school districts have enacted their own mask mandates.
Erin Murphy of The Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.
Legislative leaders said they do not expect more action on school mask mandates while the case is pending.

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Senators push felonies for school employees who allow 'obscene' books

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Democrats say it's a GOP tack to gain election year support An Iowa Senate proposal to bring criminal charges against school librarians and teachers who disseminate books the bill's authors consider to be obscene is among the social issues in schools that legislators are expected to address this session.

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Georgia librarian: Banning books helps politicians but hurts students

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A librarian at Meadowcreek High School in Norcross, Cicely Lewis is the 2020 National School Librarian of the Year, founder of Read Woke Inc. and a national voice for greater diversity in school libraries. In this guest column, Lewis decries a national movement targeting what students can read in sc…

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In the end, it was all blather and no blaze.

SLJ montage. Flame by wwing/Getty Images

A Facebook event inviting community members to a book burning at the Dec. 13 Spotsylvania County (VA) Public Schools board of education meeting garnered national attention and condemnation (of Facebook, and the anonymous event organizer). The post and page disappeared within a few days. Still, the county sheriff warned publicly that such a bonfire would be
illegal. And when the time came, police officers watched over the parking lot, and the call to destroy titles checked out from the district's school libraries went unheeded.

While the destruction was averted, the lasting message is dangerous and clear: Those seeking to remove books from school shelves are intensifying their efforts. It is not only the threat of book burnings. In some places, parents are attempting prosecution of library and other school staff. And throughout the country, the formal process outlined for book reconsideration is being ignored.

As complaints rise, formal challenges aren't filed in many cases. Instead, there is outrage after selective read-alouds at public meetings-in some cases the books are not even in the district's collection-and board members are taking unilateral action.

Librarians already juggling full schedules and, sometimes, multiple schools, must now respond to a flood of complaints, while also trying to find the best solution. In the past, the answer to challenged books has been to have a solid reconsideration policy and adhere to it. That remains the first and best line of defense. But what happens when that policy is ignored, as was the case in Spotsylvania?

For Kimberly Allen, this was a much bigger concern than the call to feed a fire with her collection. "I knew that this was just a way for people in our community to incite others and to try to get reactions," says Allen, the school librarian at the district's Post Oak Middle School and the county liaison for secondary librarians.

The larger issue was the complete disregard for the appropriate and established process.

In this case, a parent started it all by objecting to LGBTQ+ books in the district collection and specifically Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman. At a school board meeting, she read a summary of 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp. The parent was not stopped and instructed to follow proper book challenge procedure. When she finished, two board members openly spoke about not just removing titles from the libraries, but burning the "offensive" books.

District librarians were tasked with putting specific terms into Destiny to find books with graphic sexual content. Those words included: sexually explicit, rape, pedophilia, prostitution, and graphic sex. Librarians had to cancel classes to complete this task.

"It was a nightmare," says Allen.

The result: 140 books were identified as needing to be further reviewed per the criteria. None of those books were removed from circulation at the conclusion of the process.

Call Me by Your Name was removed from the collections of all district high schools without going through the reconsideration process, according to Allen. And as of that Dec. 13 board meeting, she says, there had been no official challenges filed at a school in the district.

Not just Spotsylvania

Similar situations are occurring across the country. Within hours of SLJ setting up a new system for school librarians to share censorship attempts in their district, a half dozen librarians submitted their stories.

Only one reported having a policy that was being followed after a formal complaint. The others documented much different experiences: "Challenge policy was circumvented," wrote one. Another reported being told to remove the books being questioned despite a reconsideration policy that clearly states books are not restricted while under review. Hundreds of books have been pulled from shelves for audits in one district. In another, parents asked for similar reviews of entire school collections.

Where librarians have the support of the school board and administration, objectors have been asked to fill out the paperwork for an official challenge.

In Allen's case, a middle school parent wanted to speak with the principal, who told them they would need to have a conference with him and then submit the official reconsideration paperwork. Days later, the parent said they had changed their mind.

A librarian recounted a similar experience to SLJ: "Once the parent realized the book wouldn't just be pulled on complaint, and that they would have to submit a formal, written challenge with their name attached, we have not heard anything since."

At the Dec. 13 Spotsylvania board meeting, Allen reminded the board and community members of the official process.

"The next time someone wants to bring reading materials before the board, I would ask that you do what's right and guide them to follow the policy and begin with the school principal," Allen said. "You are the final level if needed in the process, not the first."

After saying the board had become a "national embarrassment," she continued, "This community needs you to step up and do what's right for our students and staff in regards to respect, order, and conduct. This position isn't about you, your five minutes of fame, catering to special groups, your opinions about state and federal politics or mask mandates. This office is about making sure our entire school system has everything needed to provide exemplary services to our students. At the end of the day, that is what is most important."

Public libraries are now facing calls for books to be removed, too, after avoiding the fray for a while, even in Spotsylvania County.

Martha Hutzel, director of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which covers the city of Fredericksburg and Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Westmoreland counties, says branches have received complaints in the past, particularly about LGBTQ+ books on display during Pride Month.

"We listen to the complaints, and we say, 'We're a diverse society. We need diverse libraries. We have a diverse collection and that reflects our community. The books will be in the collection. They will be on display. You can choose not to check them out.'"

Hutzel has told staff at the library system's 10 branches unequivocally where she stands on the issue.

"When the notion of book banning first came up in Spotsylvania County, where we have three branches, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local newspaper and I sent a very long, detailed email to all of my staff saying it's wrong, it's inappropriate, it's censorship, it's intolerable," says Hutzel. "This is a First Amendment issue. This is contrary to ALA's Freedom to Read [statement] and the Library Bill of Rights."

Students speak out

She is heartened by what she has seen from young people in the community.

"Students have been phenomenal," she says. "They have held rallies in front of at least one of their high schools against censorship and in support of keeping the books in the library.

"The idea that teens care that much about their school, and their books, and their library is astounding to me. It's wonderful."

In Central York, PA, and Kansas City, MO, these student protests and public support for the libraries and books have made a difference. In Spotsylvania County, it remains to be seen if it will matter. The controversy already created a ripple effect. The superintendent resigned at that Dec. 13 meeting, and the district's librarians are now reconsidering how they handle collection development.

"We are in the process of revamping our policies and procedures for book selection and for weeding," says Allen. "All of this has actually been beneficial in a lot of ways, because it really made us step back and take a hard look at where we are."

They need more consistency, she says. Each librarian has their own set of beliefs, ranging from conservative to liberal, and the district needs a policy that creates consistent decisions among those with different perspectives. As part of this process toward a new collection development policy, they will examine age recommendations in reviews and how they are decided and ask district librarians to communicate more about the content of books they have read.

Will the librarians change how they make purchases to avoid a challenge
or controversy?

"Not necessarily," Allen says.

She hopes librarians and teachers can build better relationships with parents to help alleviate their concerns. A lack of understanding and fear causes these issues, she says.

"Until we start figuring out ways to chisel [away at] that, and get back to some basic compassion and empathy and understanding of each other and why we have literature in the first place and why it's important to make sure our kids are well-rounded and exposed to a variety of things to read," she says, "this is just going to continue."

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In the end, it was all blather and no blaze. SLJ montage. Flame by wwing/Getty Images A Facebook event inviting community members to a book burning at the Dec. 13 Spotsylvania County (VA) Public Schools board of education meeting garnered national attention and condemnation (of Facebook, and the anonymous event organizer).

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‘Perhaps many people’s biggest fear is that their children may come home and say, ‘I think you may be wrong’’ — These authors are speaking out against attempts to ban their books

(with @DrIbram and @JasonReynolds83)

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‘Perhaps many people’s biggest fear is that their children may come home and say, ‘I think you may be wrong’’ — These authors are speaking out against attempts to ban their books

(with @DrIbram and @JasonReynolds83) https://t.co/3BtkYbimSw

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‘Perhaps many people’s biggest fear is that their children may come home and say, ‘I think you may be wrong’’ — These authors are speaking out against attempts to ban their books

(with @DrIbram and @JasonReynolds83) pic.twitter.com/3BtkYbimSw
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 21, 2021

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‘Perhaps many people’s biggest fear is that their children may come home and say, ‘I think you may be wrong’’ — These authors are speaking out against attempts to ban their books

(with @DrIbram and @JasonReynolds83) https://t.co/3BtkYbimSw

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‘Perhaps many people’s biggest fear is that their children may come home and say, ‘I think you may be wrong’’ — These authors are speaking out against attempts to ban their books

(with @DrIbram and @JasonReynolds83) https://t.co/3BtkYbimSw

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‘Perhaps many people’s biggest fear is that their children may come home and say, ‘I think you may be wrong’’ — These authors are speaking out against attempts to ban their books

(with @DrIbram and @JasonReynolds83)

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librarians fight back against push to ban books from schools - cnn video

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Librarians fight back against push to ban books from schools - CNN Video

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Librarians focused on making their collections more reflective of the increasingly diverse community in their schools are now under threat by parents who deem their book selections offensive. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro has the story.

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During this AASL Town Hall, AASL President Jennisen Lucas and OIF Assistant Director Kristin Pekoll facilitate a discussion on the current rise of book challenges. In less than a month, OIF has spoken out against censorship via 139 news articles and TV outlets and is currently supporting...

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Books are Being Banned Across the Country. What’s Really at Stake?

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Books are Being Banned Across the Country. What’s Really at Stake?

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Blog post by Dr. Laura Jimenez, Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development's associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion and  senior lecturer.

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Books are Being Banned Across the Country. What’s Really at Stake? | Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

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I do not enjoy pumpkin spice lattes. I know this seems off topic, but go with me here for a minute.

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SLJ rounds up censorship news around the country, with reports of books threatened with removal in Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Scottsdale, AZ: The Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board voted December 2 to not renew an employment contract for Horizon High School principal Linda Ihnat after parents from the school raised concerns about an AP English summer reading assignment. Parents notified the school district in November that they opposed the decision by the school last summer to give students the option of reading So You've Been Publicly Shamed for an AP English class. The 2015 book by British journalist Jon Ronson contains interviews with internet personalities who have been publicly shamed online and compares it to how public shaming was popular in Colonial America as a state-sanctioned punishment. Parents complained that some of the quotes and references in the book were inappropriate for high school students, 12 News reported. The book, which was one of the options for the AP English summer reading assignment, contains references to orgies and bestiality.

Des Moines, IA: Two Iowa Republican leaders want to pursue legislation that would make it a felony offense for school officials, including teachers, to provide "obscene materials" to students. Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman (R) posted on Facebook in November that he plans to introduce legislation that penalizes teachers and librarians for providing what he views as "obscene material" in schools, according to an Axios report. The Facebook post followed a Johnston Community School District meeting he attended where a committee reviewed two award-winning books that deal with race: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the Des Moines Register reported. Chapman, who was joined by Republican state Sen. Brad Zaun, told school district committee members, "I don't know why the school thinks that they're above the law, but I intend to do something about it."

North Kansas City, MO: Two books about LGBTQ+ experience - George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home- were removed from four high schools in North Kansas City in October. The North Kansas City School District removed the books from its four high schools after Jay Richmond, president of the Northland Parent Association, objected to the books at North Kansas City Schools' board of education meeting in October, according to the Kansas City Star. The Northland Parent Association, a nonprofit representing parents in Clay and Platte counties, MO, has been on the frontline of the local book ban push. The group, which has also sued over enforcing district mask and quarantine mandates, has encouraged parents to protest the books at local school board meetings, deeming some to be "pornographic." At a November 22 school board meeting, high school students in the school district condemned the group's efforts. At the same meeting, the North Kansas City School District agreed to return the two books to high school library shelves in the district, the New York Daily News reported.

Wake County, NC: Parents and community activists filed criminal complaints on November 30 with the Wake County Sheriff's Office, accusing the Wake County Public School System of keeping books they claimed were obscene and pornographic in high school libraries. The books targeted include Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, George (now titled Melissa) by Alex Gino, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison. The parents and activists opposed the sexual language and image in the books. Any decision on whether to file criminal charges against the school system will be up to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, the Charlotte Observer reported. Julie Page, one of the Wake County parents who filed a complaint, told the Charlotte Observer that the books have "no educational value." Page also filed a grievance with the Wake County school system.

Fairfax County, VA: Fairfax County Public Schools removed two books- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison-from its high school libraries after public comments during a Fairfax County School Board meeting in September, WUSA9 reported. Both of the targeted books were then submitted to a book challenge under the county school system's process for challenging school materials. Stacy Langton, a Fairfax City resident, was one of the speakers at the county school board meeting in September, arguing that the books contained pedophilia and pornographic material. On November 23, Fairfax County Public Schools announced it would reinstate the two books that were pulled from high school libraries. The school district determined the challenges were "found to be without merit" and the two books could return to the shelves of its high school libraries. Two committees formed by Fairfax County Public Schools to review Gender Queer and Lawn Boy found that neither book includes pedophilia nor material that qualifies as obscene, under the definition in Virginia law.

Spotsylvania County, VA: At a November 8 meeting, the Spotsylvania County School Board directed staff to begin removing books that contain "sexually explicit" material from library shelves after a parent raised concerns at a board meeting about books available through the Riverbend High School's digital library app. The parent expressed particular concern about the book, 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp, which tells the story of three homeless teenagers attempting to escape from pasts that include sexual abuse, prostitution, and drug addiction. The board voted 6-0 to order the removal. Two board members, Courtland representative Rabih Abuismail and Livingston representative Kirk Twigg, said they would like to see the removed books burned, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported. A week later, the Spotsylvania County School Board voted to reverse its decision to remove "sexually explicit" books from school libraries after hours of public comment. Abuismail and Twigg continued to oppose keeping the books in school libraries, WUSA9 reported.

Harrisonburg, VA: In November, two Harrisonburg City Public Schools parents expressed concern about the graphic novel Gender Queer: A Memoir. One parent expressed concern at a school board meeting and one via email to superintendent Michael Richards. Neither parent followed the proper protocol for objecting to books or course material. Despite the school system's policy for the review of challenged materials, Richards ordered the book pulled from the shelves of Harrisonburg High School, the Daily News-Record reported. Richard then formed a committee to review not only Gender Queer: A Memoir but to establish criteria for dealing with similar books in the future. Richard expects the committee will make its recommendations on pulling the book by winter break in December, according to the Daily News-Record.

Waupaca County, WI: The book review committee of the Manawa School District has decided to retain Looking for Alaska by John Green in the district's middle school and high school libraries. Resident Stacey Trinrud told the district's book review committee in November that the book contains detailed sexually explicit encounters and bad language and normalizes dishonesty, hazing, underage drinking, and smoking, the Waupaca County News reported. District library media specialist Jen Krueger spoke at the review committee meeting, saying that "a pluralistic society is a diverse one where the people in it believe all different kinds of things and tolerate each other's beliefs, even when they do not match their own." After reading the novel, committee members voted 9-0 to retain the book as an option to students, according to a post on ParentSecurityOnline.

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'Looking for Alaska' Gets a Reprieve in WI; Scottsdale Principal Loses Job After Assigned Reading Controversy | Censorship Roundup

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SLJ rounds up censorship news around the country, with reports of books threatened with removal in Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Scottsdale, AZ: The Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board voted December 2 to not renew an employment contract for Horizon High School principal Linda Ihnat after parents from the school raised concerns about an AP English summer reading assignment.

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Jeremy Burnham Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

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Newly formed committee to review four books causing stir in Walla Walla schools

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Book censorship was a hot topic during the public comment session of Tuesday’s Walla Walla School Board meeting.

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Utah Libraries: Keystone of Healthy Democracy, Student Success, and Prosperous Communities

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Utah Libraries: Keystone of Healthy Democracy, Student Success, and Prosperous Communities

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School librarians speak out against recent upsurge in attempts to ban books

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Around the country, school librarians are reporting an increasing number of requests from parents and politicians to ban or censor books available to children. Nadra Nittle, a reporter for The 19th, a non-profit newsroom covering politics, gender and policy, documented these complaints – and how lib…

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What is school book censorship? The books taught in schools, and available in school libraries, should be chosen by professionals based on criteria that are as objective as possible, including the books' educational, pedagogical, literary and artistic values.

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Maryland Association of School Librarians Position Statement on the Right to Read

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Maryland Association of School Librarians Position Statement on the Right to Read

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The Maryland Association of School Librarians (MASL) supports the right to read of every student in the state of Maryland and across the globe.
The American Association of School Librarians Standards state that, "reading is the core of personal and academic competency" (AASL 2018, 11). School librarians include book titles that meet the needs of a diverse and dynamic school community. School librarians develop collections according to principles of intellectual freedom. They provide learners with access to information that represents diverse points of view and protect learners' privacy and confidentiality.
Additionally, school librarians curate current, diverse and inclusive collections of reading and information materials. These materials include multiple genres and formats that support the needs of all members of the school community.

MASL recognizes that school librarians are trained educators who specialize in their field.

MASL recognizes that school librarians are the experts in the development of their collection.

MASL recognizes that school librarians follow the selection policies of their district in order to create diverse and inclusive collections for every member of the school community.

MASL recognizes that reconsideration policies within school systems must be followed as written in the policy each and every time a book is challenged.

MASL recognizes that books should not be removed from the school library shelf without a thorough review and adherence to reconsideration policies.

MASL recognizes that school libraries serve all children and are a valuable asset to the school community.

As such, MASL condemns any efforts to censor and remove books from school library shelves. Censorship and removal of books threaten the rights of students to read, to explore, and to engage with literature.
For more information, please visit the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) https://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/oif
To report a need for advocacy to MASL, please use this Advocacy Now form.
References:
American Association of School Librarians. 2018. National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. Chicago: ALA.
American Library Association. 2019. "Library Bill of Rights." (Accessed November 20, 2021)

The Benefits of Membership

Members of MASL enjoy member benefits such as free webinars and professional development opportunities. Professional development opportunities are advertised in our monthly newsletter. A subscription to our monthly MASL newsletter is included with your membership. With your membership you will also enjoy a reduced rate to our annual conference. Joining MASL will also allow you access to our Black-Eyed Susan book award teaching materials and much more. Currently, we are at 400 school librarians strong and growing. Won't you consider joining us? Annual membership is $25.00.

Maryland's Monthly Amazing Librarian

Each Month, MASL recognizes an outstanding school librarian for her or his contributions to the profession. Nominate yourself or a fellow librarian for this honor. To nominate, you need to provide a short statement of what amazing things you are doing in your school library, a quick bio, and share a picture. The nomination process takes less than 10 minutes. You or a colleague could be Maryland's next Monthly Amazing Librarian. Find out about past recipients and more on how to participate in this monthly event by clicking on the continue reading button below this article

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The Maryland Association of School Librarians (MASL) supports the right to read of every student in the state of Maryland and across the globe. The American Association of School Librarians Standards state that, "reading is the core of personal and academic competency" (AASL 2018, 11).

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What It’s Like to Have Your Book Banned by the School Board

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An author whose YA novel is getting banned across the country responds to the outrage.

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In Texas, a Battle Over What Can Be Taught, and What Books Can Be Read (Published 2021)

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A new state law constricts teachers when it comes to race and history. And a politician is questioning why 850 titles are on library shelves. The result: “A lot of our teachers are petrified.”

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American Association of School Libraries Intellectual Freedom Brochure American Library Association (ALA)‘s Library Bill of Rights NCTE’s Students’ Right to Read SLJ’s 2016 Controversial Books...

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NCAC Leads Coalition Statement on the Attack on Books in Schools

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Published December 2021 In communities across the country, an organized political attack on books in schools threatens the education of America's children. These ongoing attempts to purge schools of books represent a partisan political battle fought in school board meetings and state legislatures. The undersigned organizations and individuals

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NYLA (Section of School Librarians) Statement on Intellectual Freedom

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NYLA (Section of School Librarians) Statement on Intellectual Freedom

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SSL Statement Intellectual Freedom 2021.pdf

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They Keep Going, and Going, and Going...

Last month, I wrote about the rising number of book challenges facing libraries across the country. I offered a few tools to help school librarians prepare. Since then, the number of challenges has continued to escalate. As of November 19, 2021, the Office of Intellectual Freedom reported 150 active book challenges.

With the increasing number of challenges comes increasing concern on the part of school librarians. In recognition of this, the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) decided to add a last-minute session to their annual conference, taking place December 5-7.

NJASL's Response Resource "Handbook"

NJASL assembled a panel of speakers to share information and insights. They created a "handbook" of resources to help their members be prepared, in the form of a hyperlinked slide deck.

With the plethora of articles and resources that have sprung up, NJASL hopes a curated list of resources will be useful to its members. But there are some central elements that any school librarian could use to help prepare for a possible challenge. At the time of this writing, the NJASL was still in the process of drafting their resource deck, but following are the main topics they plan to cover.

Safe Spaces Statement

The slide deck starts with the NJASL "Safe Spaces Statement". Read at the start of all NJASL meetings, the statement reminds participants that we can disagree but still be civil. It also reminds participants to listen as well as speak, and to make space for everyone to speak.

This is an important element to bear in mind - the people in a school community may not all agree, but they can still have civil discussions about their differences.

ALA's Library Bill of Rights

The ALA's Library Bill of Rights should serve as the foundation of any library's mission statement. It serves as a reminder to all that the purpose of any public library (and by extension any school library) should "[provide] for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves." For school libraries, the community served is the study body and faculty. The materials and resources within the school library should therefore offer educational value to students and faculty.

That includes providing engaging, challenging, enjoyable fiction with a wide array of representation and topics. These are the types of materials most frequently challenged. But as Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop pointed out, it's important for students to have not only mirrors, but also windows and sliding glass doors, if they are to develop fully.

NJASL Position Statement on Censorship in our School Libraries

Many library, literacy, and education groups have spoken out regarding the recent spate of book challenges. They all acknowledge the importance of free access to information and intellectual freedom.

These are important values. NJASL's statement also offers support to "school librarians who stand up to censorship within their schools, supports the use of equitable reconsideration policies, and supports collections with diverse representation." This is an important reminder that we have supporters out there. It's also a reminder that we must offer our support to those who might need it.

ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF)

This is the resource that is repeatedly mentioned - and with good reason. OIF has assembled an amazing array of resources to help school librarians be proactive. They provide consulting services to help you create and edit policies. They also offer to help formulate plans for working with communities and families. Also on offer: regularly updated Intellectual Freedom News as well as information on Issues and Resources.

For those already facing challenges, OIF offers confidential support. And you can help OIF support others by reminding colleagues to report challenges.

Refocus Challenges from Books to Missions

In addition to offering resources, NJASL plans to offer suggestions. One key suggestion is to refocus attacks.

When people suggestion school library materials are not to their liking, it's important to remind them of the mission of a school. Schools have mission statements. School libraries should, too. Both mission statements should focus on helping students understand and engage with the wider world. The mission of educational institutions (including school libraries) is to help students build critical thinking skills. These missions require exposing students to a broad range of materials and ideas.

Despite some assertions, school libraries are not purveyors of pornography. Though some might view some materials through a particular lens, it's important to remind everyone that there are others lenses as well. And looking through a different lens is part of learning.

Laws and NJ Student Learning Standards as Supports

In New Jersey, there are laws and state learning standards that require certain topics be covered in schools. Since 1994, New Jersey has required the inclusion of instruction about the Holocaust and genocides in K-12 curriculum. In 2002, the state established the Amistad Commission. Its purpose is to "[ensure] that the Department of Education and public schools of New Jersey implement materials and texts which integrate the history and contributions of African-Americans and the descendants of the African Diaspora."

An LGBTQ requirement added in 2019 includes the provision that "a board of education shall adopt inclusive instructional materials that portray the cultural and economic diversity of society including the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, where appropriate." The "Diversity and Inclusion in Curriculum" requirement states, in part, that as of the 2021-2022 school year, all districts must "highlight and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, tolerance, and belonging in connection with gender and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disabilities, and religious tolerance."

In addition to these requirements, the NJ Department of Education requires districts be aligned with the "Quality Single Accountability Continuum" (QSAC). Since 2005, QSAC compliance has been in place to "ensure that school districts are providing a thorough and efficient education for all students." And QSAC requires districts to address the provisions listed above.

The First Amendment

School librarians can point to these reminders that many of the topics being challenged are required by the state as part of K-12 curricula. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court has specifically denied a school board's ability to remove books they dislike. Specifically, they stated: "Although school boards have a vested interest in promoting respect for social, moral, and political community values, their discretionary power is secondary to the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment," and that "as centers for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas, school libraries enjoy a special affinity with the rights of free speech and press. Therefore, the Board could not restrict the availability of books in its libraries simply because its members disagreed with their idea content."

Consider a Library Advisory Committee

Having teachers, parents, students, and community members engaged with the work and materials of the school library can create a positive experience and a team of advocates.

Soliciting their input for book selection and reconsideration policies ensures that the voice of the community supersedes individual voices of dissent.

Model Book Selection & Book Reconsideration Policies

It's better to be proactive than reactive. With that in mind, NJASL is providing links to model policies for both book selection and book reconsideration.

NJASL member Martha Hickson has, unfortunately, dealt extensively with book challenges. She shared her district's policies, as well as her suggestions for how they could be revised to better protect intellectual freedom and school librarians.

Join a Regional Response Team

NJASL hopes to recruit members from a variety of locations across the state to act as "regional response teams". The idea is to have school librarians (and other educators) who are familiar with a specific area who are willing to get involved in local book challenge situations. This might be via letter writing campaigns to local school boards. It might be by attending school board meetings to offer their professional knowledge.

Whatever level of comfort a member has, NJSAL hopes they will offer it in support of their local peers and colleagues.

Resource & Related Articles

Finally, NJASL provides links to other resources that school librarians might find interesting and useful. Some items that might be of particular interest:

We're STILL #BetterTogether

Hopefully, some of these ideas can help you prepare. Ideally, they spark some discussions between you and your colleagues, both in-district and in your state organizations. If you have further suggestions that might help others, please leave them in the comments below!

Categories: Advocacy/Leadership, Blog Topics

Tags: banning, Book Challenges, censorship, diversity, First Amendment, inclusion, intellectual freedom, LGBTQ, mission statements, safe spaces

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Book Challenges, Part 2: A Resource Handbook - Knowledge Quest

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Last month, I wrote about the rising number of book challenges facing libraries across the country. I offered a few tools to help school librarians prepare. Since then, the number of challenges has continued to escalate. As of November 19, 2021, the Office of Intellectual Freedom reported 150 active book challenges.

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Challenging Times

If you or someone you know hasn't yet had a book challenge, give it time. As you are undoubtedly aware, there is a rising tide of book challenges across the country. Targets include specific titles and particular topics; multiple challenges used identical phrasing and approaches.

I had, of course, seen the national news about Jerry Craft's Newbery Award-winning graphic novel New Kid being removed from a Texas school library and his visit cancelled , before counter-protests led to the book being reinstated in the school's library . But I hadn't realized how far-spread such challenges were until I learned of a nearby school librarian who was embroiled in a similar situation (which was her second in the past several years ).

Frankly, it was surprising and scary. I hadn't figured my generally liberal East Coast area would be a home to such attacks on knowledge and information. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

An Ounce of Prevention...

Americans are seeing unprecedented challenges to information, knowledge, freedom, and democracy. It is unsurprising that school libraries are in the cross-hairs. A school library's commitment to intellectual freedom provides students with access to reliable information, challenging ideas, and diverse perspectives. Sadly, some people see that as a threat.

So what steps can a school librarian take to ward off challenges, or at least to prepare to face them? Quite a few, actually.

...A Pound of Cure

In the past several months, articles and suggestions have flooded school library information channels. It's been an eye-opening crash-course in intellectual freedom, school policies, and political maneuvering. And make no mistake: there are candidates for public office on all levels across the country using attacks on schools , their programs and curricula , and their libraries as planks in their platforms .

The following information is by no means a complete collection of everything a school librarian can do to prevent or deal with challenges. But it should give you a running start on how to think about what you might do if faced with an attack on your materials or program.

ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom

You may know about the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) due to their Banned Books Week event. But they offer so much more! Sign up for their weekly Intellectual Freedom News e-mail to see the top stories and issues affecting school and public libraries. Check out their Intellectual Freedom Issues & Resources page. It provides neatly organized sections on topics such as " Schools and Minors' Rights, " " Academic Freedom, " and " First Amendment and Censorship ," among others. These provide some basic knowledge and familiarity with key concepts involved in book or program challenges.

State & County Organizations

Check in with your state school and public library organizations. See what information and suggestions they can offer, particularly if there are book challenges happening in your area. . Also consider the wisdom that can be found in They might have or develop local resources that you can utilize your PLN. Often, they can provide a fresh perspective and a new idea.

I once read that learning from our own experience is intelligence, but learning from the experience of others is wisdom. With book challenges, it is better to be wise than intelligent!

Gaining Wisdom

New Jersey high school librarian Martha Hickson has successfully dealt with challenges in the past, and is currently facing objections to her books, programs, and self via comments at public school board meetings. She penned an excellent guide to preparing for and dealing with challenges and posted it to the OIF's Intellectual Freedom Blog . It includes excellent and specific ideas like knowing particular titles drawing challenges and preparing "book resumes" for each; reviewing your district's reconsideration policies; and sharing preparation tips with members of your school.

Most importantly, advocate for your school library! As school librarian and advocate Mary Moyer pointed out , it's important to know the people in key positions in your district and build relationships with them and other stakeholders before there is an issue.

More from Martha

In a series of short tweets, Hickson gave three suggestions for addition to schools' materials reconsideration policies that can help defuse some of the strong emotions that often come with challenges.

The materials shall remain in use until the reconsideration committee makes its recommendation.

If the challenged library resource is retained, the district will not convene a reconsideration committee relative to the same complaint for a period of five years.

A decision to sustain a challenge shall not be interpreted as a judgment of irresponsibility on the part of the professionals involved in the original selection or use of the material.

All of the above can help you prepare for a process that we'd all rather avoid, but which may come calling at our doors anyway.

If you find yourself with a challenge, the most important step to take, according to Hickson: Don't panic.

#BetterTogether

After facing a challenge, consider what you and your school can learn from what happened. What could have gone differently? Were district policies clear, or are there ways they could be improved? Consider those who provided support -thank them, and work with them on ways to ensure fair policies and procedures are in place in the event of future challenges.

Unfortunately, when there are people who oppose knowledge, equity, diversity, inclusion, and freedom of thought, schools and their libraries cannot be politically neutral.

Because Representation Matters

Jonathan Evison is one of several authors whose work has made "the list." His post on how the attack on his novel Lawn Boy has affected his life is moving. It made me think of the confusion of figuring out who we are and who we might become. Many kids would benefit from knowing they're not alone in their feelings and self-explorations.

The furor over Evison's book, intended for mature readers, reminds us that representation matters, especially in school materials. School libraries allow students to explore, discover who they are, and learn they are not alone. This is one of their most important functions.

Book challengers often tout their efforts as a way to prevent students and parents from feeling uncomfortable. As award-winning author Kekla Magoon said during a presentation at AASL 2021, "We mustn't try to run away from discomfort or keep it from our children." And as Martha Hickson points out in her OIF post, "ultimately, no book is the perfect fit for every reader, especially works that tackle difficult topics reflecting real-world circumstances. But one reader's objection is not a license to restrict all other readers from the book."

Steve has been teaching for over 20 years, mostly middle school English Language Arts. He has earned an M.Ed. (2006) and an Ed.D. (2014) in Educational Administration and Supervision, and completed an M.I. degree in Library and Information Science (2019). He is certified as a teacher, school library media specialist, supervisor, and administrator. He is an old dog constantly learning new tricks!

Categories: Advocacy/Leadership, Blog Topics, Community/Teacher Collaboration, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Intellectual Freedom

Tags: banned books, Book Challenges, chapters, intellectual freedom, PLN

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Book Challenges: Coming Soon to a School Near You? - Knowledge Quest

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If you or someone you know hasn't yet had a book challenge, give it time. As you are undoubtedly aware, there is a rising tide of book challenges across the country. Targets include specific titles and particular topics; multiple challenges used identical phrasing and approaches.

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"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.
"To look ahead,' said he.
"And what brought you back in the nick of time?"
"Looking behind," said he.
-from The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2021 is drawing to a close. Once more, I find myself (as I did last year and many do every year) reflecting on what's past and wondering about what may be coming in the future. It's been a long, strange trip of a year, full of both bad and good, both hurdles and highlights. As for hopes, well...more on those later!

Hurdles

"If you're not ready to fall, you're not ready to hurdle."
-Tonie Campbell

There have been hurdles aplenty this year. They have been professional and personal. They have been varied in height; some have been difficult but at least possible to jump over, while others have seemed nigh insurmountable, making it easier to fall.

Of course, we are all still dealing with the side effects of COVID, even if we haven't contracted it. Its ever-changing yet ongoing presence has impacted and continues to impact a range of areas, including everything from budgets and funding to instruction to collaboration to the emotional, mental, and physical health of teachers and students and their families, and more. It seems that, as much as we surely wish it wasn't the case, COVID is here to stay, and we're going to have to adapt again and again, as it has.

I'm certain that many of us were and continue to be greatly alarmed by the tremendous increase in book challenges and implied (or, in some cases, genuine) threats to librarians' livelihoods and well-being. While I have not had to directly deal with such a situation (well, not yet, anyway, though such have occurred in our state), I have more than once found myself asking: "Am I prepared enough?"

To ensure that I am, I have engaged in some proactive steps. First, I reviewed my own library policies to ensure that they were very clear and that they addressed what would (and what would NOT) occur if a particular book was challenged; second, I had a gander at our district policy to be certain that the library and district policies were aligned; third, I read and reread the resources offered by the ALA, and also some excellent pieces by fellow librarians, like this one and this one by Steve Tetreault; and, just so nobody would doubt what our position was, I hung up a number of informative signs on the wall just outside our library.

Speaking of being prepared (or not), all would likely agree one is never quite ready to hear cancer spoken in relation to ourselves or our loved ones. This became the personal hurdle, and it remains the highest. In March, my husband was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer, which had metastasized to his liver. He'd had COVID in February and felt a pain in his side. We honestly thought his appendix may have been aggravated by his recent illness; but that was not the case. During the ensuing months there were chemo treatments, a halt to treatments, and a hospital stay due to an acquired infection, resumed chemo treatments, and, as I write, a week's worth of radiation treatments. Colon surgery is on the horizon, and, most daunting, he needs a liver transplant. We're taking one day at a time, and every day, we try (again) to vault over one obstacle-one hurdle-at a time. We haven't made it through the course or won the race yet; but thanks to many kind people, we may. Among those helpful folks: my colleagues and my fellow school librarians, who have provided meals, given hugs, spread the word about living liver donations, and even stepped up, no questions asked, to be donors. Their support has restored my faith in humanity during these trying times.

Highlights

"I want to have an epic life. I want to tell my life with big adjectives. I want to forget all the grays in between, and remember the highlights and the dark moments."
-Isabel Allende

Thankfully, there has been a lot to balance the seesaw! Despite some of the stressors associated with home and work, my professional life has been quite rewarding and filled with good fortune and bright highlights over the past several months. There have been no grays in between.

Our library applied for and was awarded a Libraries Transforming Communities grant from ALA. This grant helped to fund our yearlong resilience program, so that our students can learn about how to bounce back from their own challenges. We were able to purchase a number of wonderful books that centered on our "big idea" and related monthly themes (so far, we've explored support in September, optimism in October, and nurture in November, with determination being this month's theme and many more to come in the new year). In addition, I've been engaging in resilience-related training through Australia's Resilience Centre, and will be passing along everything I learn to our students. They need it. In fact, I think we all do!

I was also honored to receive the Lancer Graduate Award from Longwood University and the Dickinson Scholarship Award from VAASL. As a new librarian-and one who's still at school for librarianship, mind you-it is extraordinarily affirming to have my efforts validated and to get the sense that maybe, just maybe, I'm doing something well and following the right path.

Speaking of VAASL, I had the opportunity to offer a session on my "librarianing" experiences, and I officially made it through my very first time presenting. Even though I myself still have so much to learn, I wanted to give other new librarians the sense that they should overcome their own insecurities or anxieties and just jump right into the breach. If I can do it, they can!

With Gina Seymour as muse and catalyst, I was inspired to infuse our library space with a bit of hygge. I am happy and proud to say that I followed through with that inspiration, and thus was born our very own Hygge Hub. It's an oasis of comfort and coziness and has proved popular with students and faculty alike. I'm so glad that I was able to bring the project to fruition, as I know it will prove truly beneficial to our school community.

Hope

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."
-Anne Lamott

I am curious as to what the dawn of a new year will bring, and hopeful that it will bring good. I am aware of a thing or two.

For instance, in May (as long as I complete my last bits of coursework) I will be graduating from Longwood University with my Master's degree in school librarianship. It has been demanding, yet delightful, and I am so grateful to have had the chance to be a part of such a vibrant program.

Other changes are afoot. Our school district and another local district will be consolidating, and we are none of us certain exactly what this will mean. That acknowledged, our district is under new leadership, and I am optimistic that the time is right for unique, outside-the-box thinking. I can do that, and how.

There are many other things I'd like to see occur. I'd like to continue to update our collection. I would like to reconfigure our space and acquire new furniture. I'd like to collaborate with my colleagues more frequently. Hopefully, I can make these things happen, and much more besides.

What can you learn from when you look behind? Perchance you'll have an epiphany in the nick of time. What do you see when you look ahead? What's on your path?

Who knows? Maybe we will share the journey at some point. I hope to see you out on that road.

Author: Lia Fisher Janosz

I am Regina Libris.

I'm...a Bibliothecaria Rebellatrix ("librarian...because Book Wizard isn't an official job title," at Sharon Elementary School in Alleghany County, VA) wending a way through the seven ages whilst geeking out over Shakespeare & sundry other stuff. I am rather like Hermione Granger and have "conjured" floating candles in our school library. I'm an admirer of Eowyn and would place myself somewhere in the middle of the shieldmaiden-healer spectrum. I am inimitable, I am an original, and yet I am totally #TeamHamilton (see what I did there?). I'm a student in the Longwood University School Librarianship program and an avid reader and lifelong learner (and, apparently, Mistress of the Obvious as well). Any rumors regarding me having a crush on either Stephen Colbert or Chris Martin are completely...irrefutable. That being acknowledged, I am the loyal consort of an unsung prince of Poland and very proud mother of a tornadic, talented, and talkative wunderkind girl and a happyhopper jollyjumper bouncyboy who has a memory like an elephant.

Categories: Blog Topics, Intellectual Freedom, Professional Development

Tags: Book Challenges, chapter PD, conferences, covid, pd, reflection, resilience

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Looking Behind and Looking Ahead: A School Librarian's Hurdles, Highlights, and Hopes - Knowledge Quest

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"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along. "To look ahead,' said he. "And what brought you back in the nick of time?" "Looking behind," said he. -from The Hobbit, by... Read More ›

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FReadom Fighters How we started: On November 4, 2021 a group of librarian #FReadom fighters organized a twitter takeover of the #Txlege. We highlighted positive books and invited families, authors, librarians, teens, and parents to join. We shared this Information https://bit.ly/FReadom Where

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Daily Hampshire Gazette - News, events and classifieds from Northampton, MA by the Daily Hampshire Gazette

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The Daily Hampshire Gazette is the essential daily news source for the Pioneer Valley from Northampton, MA, in Franklin County.

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Legislation

Penal (PEN) CHAPTER 40, PART 3, TITLE M, ARTICLE 235

§ 235.10 Obscenity; presumptions.

1. A person who promotes or wholesale promotes obscene material, or
possesses the same with intent to promote or wholesale promote it, in
the course of his business is presumed to do so with knowledge of its
content and character.

2. A person who possesses six or more identical or similar obscene
articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to public libraries or
association libraries as defined in subdivision two of section two
hundred fifty-three of the education law, or trustees or employees of
such public libraries or association libraries when acting in the course
and scope of their duties or employment.

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Penal (PEN) CHAPTER 40, PART 3, TITLE M, ARTICLE 235 § 235.10 Obscenity; presumptions. 1. A person who promotes or wholesale promotes obscene material, orpossesses the same with intent to promote or wholesale promote it, inthe course of his business is presumed to do so with knowledge of itscontent and character.

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Library records, which contain names or other personally identifying details regarding the users of public, free association, school, college and university libraries and library systems of this state, including but not limited to records related to the circulation of library materials, computer database searches, interlibrary loan transactions, reference queries, requests for photocopies of library materials, title reserve requests, or the use of audio-visual materials, films or records, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except that such records may be disclosed to the extent necessary for the proper operation of such library and shall be disclosed upon request or consent of the user or pursuant to subpoena, court order or where otherwise required by statute.

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New York Civil Practice Law Section 4509 - Library Records (2016)

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Library records, which contain names or other personally identifying details regarding the users of public, free association, school, college and university libraries and library systems of this state, including but not limited to records related to the circulation of library materials, computer database searches, interlibrary loan transactions, reference queries, requests

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Calm, Legal, Cool & Collected Webinar from Western NY Library Resources Council 

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Calm, Legal, Cool & Collected Webinar from Western NY Library Resources Council 

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School Library System Association (NY) Intellectual Freedom Statement

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School Library System Association (NY) Intellectual Freedom Statement

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"There's Nothing Wrong With Us" - Jason Reynolds Says Normalizing Anxiety Is A Way To Beat It

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Defending intellectual freedom in school libraries

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Books for All Kids (Not Just Yours): An Open Letter for Educators & Librarians to Share with Families – Kate Messner

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Lately, school and classroom libraries have seen a marked increase in book challenges. These are attempts by parents – sometimes by other adults who have nothing to do with the schools – to remove books they don’t like from circulation so they’re no longer available to readers. ALL readers. Not just…

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Books for All Kids (Not Just Yours): An Open Letter for Educators & Librarians to Share with Families

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The New York Library Association (NYLA) reaffirms its commitment to protecting and upholding intellectual freedom and the freedom to read. We advocate for the rights of all patrons to access information on a variety of topics and viewpoints without restrictions, which is a fundamental act of participation in a democracy.

With the increasing number of challenges, especially for books regarding race and LGBTQ+ communities, New York's school libraries and librarians are being pressured to censor and restrict access to information. Parents have the right to set restrictions for their own children, but no person or group has the right to deny access to all readers. This principle applies equally to the free access of information in other types of libraries as well.

Libraries are unique institutions of education and knowledge that provide information with impartiality and balance. Library materials are carefully selected by professionally trained librarians to represent a broad range of ideas and opinions and appeal to the needs and interests of all members of their communities. In a democratic society, partisan disagreements cannot dictate the decision to remove such materials.
Therefore, the New York Library Association stands firmly opposed to the restriction, removal, and/or censorship of books and other library materials in an attempt to limit the freedom to read or obstruct intellectual freedom.
Adopted by NYLA Council
November 18, 2021

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NYLA Position Statement on the Defense of Intellectual Freedom - NYLA

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NYLA Position Statement on the Defense of Intellectual Freedom

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Book challenges are on the rise. ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom, which tracks requests to remove materials from library shelves, reported in September that there had been a 60% increase in book challenges over the preceding 12 months.

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The Spotsylvania school board voted to rescind its order that "sexually explicit" books be removed from district libraries. The two board members who had previously called for such books to be burned voted against rescinding the order. The broad nature of the ban, as well as the recommendation from publicly-elected officials to burn books, had attracted national attention to Spotsylvania's original decision.
Original post 11/15/2021:
Spotsylvania County Public Schools in Fredericksburg, Virginia, recently made news when its school board ordered that "sexually explicit" books be summarily removed from district libraries. NCAC has written to district leadership to encourage them to rescind the order.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

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Spotsylvania County Public Schools Issue Unconstitutional Order to Remove "Sexually Explicit" Books from Libraries | UPDATED: Order Revoked

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UPDATED 11/16/2021: The Spotsylvania school board voted to rescind its order that "sexually explicit" books be removed from district libraries. The two board members who had previously called for such books to be burned voted against rescinding the order.

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When Kristin Pekoll faced her first challenge as a public librarian, she felt alone and personally attacked.

"Challenges can often be incredibly isolating, whether your administration or colleagues support you or not," said Pekoll, who was the young adult librarian at West Bend (WI) Community Memorial Library in 2009 when more than 80 books were challenged by members of the community. "It's your collection. Library staff-and I can speak to this as a librarian-feel a very personal connection to their collection and to their students and people who are using their books and materials. It can often feel like a personal attack, and sometimes librarians are called out by name at board meetings; they are attacked in the press."

Pekoll is now assistant director at the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom and was speaking as part of the panel "When 'Anti-Critical Race Theory' Comes for Your Library Collection" during the SLJ Summit on Oct. 28. She was joined by Shaker Heights (OH) Middle School librarian and district liaison Debra Quarles and National Coalition Against Censorship Youth Free Expression program director Christine Emeran.

The increase in book challenges has been "astronomical," according to Pekoll, and Emeran noted that race-based challenges are becoming more common. (She also noted that challenges have historically come from the political left and right, and that continues.)

Right now, there appears to be a coordinated effort of challenges for books the objectors claim push critical race theory. Such objections are gaining momentum and making the news across the country as the current culture war is directly impacting school libraries. Protests against Toni Morrison's novel Beloved even became an issue in the Virginia gubernatorial election.

So far, Quarles's school has stayed above the fray.

"In my district, I'm fortunate that we live in a fairly diverse community," she said.

There are conservative residents, of course, but she noted, "If they put their kids in our schools, there is an assumption their kids may come across things that maybe they don't agree with."

[READ: School Libraries 2021: Librarians Face Coordinated Efforts to Remove Books]

She advises fellow librarians to always know your community, the school's unique population, and the curriculum. She also suggests making plans for the "majority" of the students but to always be aware of the outliers.

When there have been challenges in her school and district in the past, she said, they have typically involved required reading, not a book that was on the shelf that an individual child might choose. For example, when authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely were coming for a school visit, their novel All American Boys was assigned to all students to read, and there was a challenge.

Quarles was prepared for the situation with an updated challenge policy and the support of her administrators. She suggests that librarians review the challenged title again in advance of any conversation with a parent and when speaking to them aim to affirm their right to be heard and to protect intellectual freedom for all students. Emeran agreed. All voices must be heard, she said, and it's important not to view a parent with a challenge as malevolent.

Right now, though, many challenges are bypassing the personal parent/librarian relationship. Instead, groups of people are speaking out at board meetings and going to their legislators and local media. Organizations are putting together materials and disseminating them to parents and local groups to give them talking points at school board meetings and when challenging materials. Below is just one part of a PDF from Unify Carmel about the book Something Happened in Our Town, which tells the story of two families-one White, one Black-discussing a police shooting of a Black man in their community. It was No. 6 on the 2020 Top 10 list of Most Challenged Books. The objection links the book to critical race theory (CRT) and connects that to social-emotional learning and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The result is not only an attack on the book, but on any SEL or DEI efforts within the library and at the school.

The lists of books getting challenged are getting longer in states from Texas to Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. Some challenged titles are being removed even before a review process. Librarians and classroom educators are confused and nervous about what could happen to them if they have books related to racism, anti-racism, or social justice issues on their shelves. In some places, that leads to self-censorship. Quarles has not seen it in her district, but she understands what could happen in other places.

"When we have our library meetings, we discuss different books, topics, but generally speaking, we are not censoring for or making choices to prevent a potential challenge," she said. "We're not at that point yet, but that's because, for the lack of a better word, we're kind of in a sweet spot right now. The cultural aspect of our community is very, very different. ... In other communities, that would be a challenge. I can see a librarian sitting at their desk saying, 'This would be a good book to have in my collection, but if the wrong kid picks this up, I'm going to have a problem.'"

[READ: "New Kid," "Front Desk" Challenged; Alex Gino Talks Impact of Book Banning]

The key to any challenge response is a thorough, updated policy, the panelists said. OIF and NCAC can help librarians with their policies, according to Pekoll and Emeran. Remember, the policy should address more than books; be sure to include programming (such as author visits), displays, artwork, and databases, they emphasized. Any and all resources and materials should be noted in the policy. With virtual learning, there has been an increase in challenges of electronic resources and databases, Pekoll added.

A policy should have a process outlined that states a book or resource will not be removed from the shelves until the review process is complete, said Emeran. Librarians should go over the policy and review process with administrators, so everyone is on the same page when a challenge happens. When it comes, stay calm, seek the support of allies in the school and greater community, and stick to the policy. It is also very important to report it to both the OIF and NCAC.

"I encourage [librarians] to report it, because then they know they are not alone," said Pekoll. "We can connect them in grassroots efforts with other librarians in their area and their state. Often, there are neighboring districts that don't even know they're going through the same exact attack, and we can connect them if they want to know."

NCAC can help support a librarian, provide talking points, and help them find legal assistance if needed, according to Emeran. NCAC does not provide legal services, but the organization advocates for education professionals to make the policies and decisions.

NCAC can also help students who wish to get involved. Included in its resources is information on student advocacy and their rights in schools. In Central York, PA, an attempt to remove a long list of books was stopped when students and community members protested and received media coverage spotlighting the attempt by the school board. It was a model example of students and the community coming together to oppose censorship, said Emeran.

"We applaud community involvement and participation," she said. "We've seen the success in driving policy where things are contested. It's great to have the communities, children, and educators working together, engaging in activism. It's not very often we see the entire community supporting students' right to read."

[READ: Fight Against Censorship Intensifies]

Librarians will not always have that kind of support. They might not even have the support of their principal to follow a policy. They might be afraid of personal attacks or loss of a job. Pushing back might not always be an option, said Pekoll.

"While we have these principles and core values in mind, we understand this is not always an easy decision, not always a clear-cut decision," she said. "We don't know the full picture."

Call and report it anyway, she said. It is important for OIF to gather this information to help others, update resources, and possibly help others in the district or nearby areas. If nothing else, Pekoll said, she has been there and will provide an "open ear."

"Oftentimes, to see the mental and emotional stress that comes with a challenge like this-it just helps to have somebody to talk to about it," she said.

Kara Yorio

Kara Yorio (kyorio@mediasourceinc.com, @karayorio) is news editor at School Library Journal.

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When the Anti-CRT Movement Comes for Collections | SLJ Summit

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When Kristin Pekoll faced her first challenge as a public librarian, she felt alone and personally attacked. "Challenges can often be incredibly isolating, whether your administration or colleagues support you or not," said Pekoll, who was the young adult librarian at West Bend (WI) Community Memorial Library in 2009 when more than 80 books were challenged by members of the community.

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Librarians are responding to a rise in book challenges as parents target titles that deal with race, racism, or social justice in even the most tangential way, as well as books that have LGBTQ+ characters and themes.

ClusterX and St_Aurora72, both Getty Images (modified)

It is increasingly clear that a big part of many librarians' jobs for the foreseeable future will be responding to book challenges. While there are always individual book challenges at schools and public libraries, schools and public libraries are seeing a coordinated effort of opposition to a wide range of materials.

The 2020 Top 10 Most Challenged Books list by ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) released in April showed a "precipitous rise in challenges to books about race and racial equity, and racism," according to National Coalition Against Censorship's Nora Pelizzari.

[Read:George Tops Most Challenged List for Third Year in a Row:Stamped Takes No. 2 Spot]

Across the country, titles that simply have BIPOC characters or discuss racism or Black historical figures are being challenged, including The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, I am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer, Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, and Front Desk by Kelly Yang.

[Read: New Kid, Front Desk Challenged; Alex Gino Talks Impact of Book Banning]

In Central York (PA) School District, the board of education voted to rescind the removal of an extensive list of materials by creators of color after protests by students gained national attention. The list included documentaries, websites, and adult titles, such as How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond.

With a parental complaint, books are being removed for review and authors' visits canceled.

[Read:Fight Against Censorship Intensifies]

Newbery winner Jerry Craft's New Kid and Class Act were removed in Katy, TX, and his visit canceled. In Southlake, TX, a teacher was reprimanded for having a copy of Tiffany Jewell's This Book is Anti-Racist in her classroom. The district released a rubric for deciding which books can stay in classrooms, and, according to reports, teachers have resorted to covering their shelves so students can't get to the books.

It's not just Texas. New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Ohio are among states seeing coordinated efforts targeting books. Librarians need a written policy for challenges and must know where to seek resources and support.

"Policies outline a process that allows for a thoughtful reconsideration of materials and services, away from bias and influence," says OIF assistant director Kristin Pekoll. "Reporting censorship is a professional and ethical responsibility. We need to know about it. We track the books and programs and displays and databases that are being challenged so we can strategically focus our energy into providing resources."

Kara Yorio is SLJ 's news editor.

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Kara Yorio

Kara Yorio (kyorio@mediasourceinc.com, @karayorio) is news editor at School Library Journal.

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School Libraries 2021: Librarians Face a Coordinated Efforts to Remove Books

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Librarians are responding to a rise in book challenges as parents target titles that deal with race, racism, or social justice in even the most tangential way, as well as books that have LGBTQ+ characters and themes.

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Authors Jerry Craft, Grace Lin, and others discuss the personal and professional impact of having parents call to remove their books from schools and libraries.

Shock. Sadness. Anger. Resolve. When an author's book is challenged, they can go through many emotions.

Book challenges are not new, of course. But a nationwide, coordinated effort by organizations that assemble talking points for targeting books on diversity and inclusion lists in classrooms and libraries has meant a particularly difficult time for children's publishing. With an "astronomical" increase in challenges this year compared to last-according to Kristin Pekoll of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom-and more media attention on authors, they find themselves and their stories in the middle of a culture war.

In October, a school district in Texas pulled Jerry Craft's Newbery-winning New Kid, along with its sequel, Class Act, from the shelves and canceled his scheduled author visit.

"I was shocked," Craft says. "Ever since New Kid and Class Act have been published, I have received nothing but love, both from a critical standpoint and in terms of feedback from fans. My books are available in a dozen languages, and my characters are on T-shirts, jigsaw puzzles, and sketchbooksand I believe all that helps kids feel seen. I have always thought of my books as being fun, with strong family values and a lot of humor. This was all unexpected to me."

Grace Lin knows the feeling. When she learned that her book A Big Mooncake for Little Star was on a long list of "objectionable materials" being removed by the Central York (PA) School District board of education, her initial response was shock.

"Out of all my books, A Big Mooncake for Little Star was not one I feared this happening to. If you know the book, you know that there is very little controversial about it. A Big Mooncake for Little Star simply tells a sweet story about a mother, a daughter, and the phases of the moon. The only political statement it makes is that an Asian child can be a main character in a book."

It's personal

Some authors declare attempts to ban their books a "badge of honor" and note the rise in book sales thanks to the attention and attempts to ban their titles. But during a Banned Books Week Twitter chat, Alex Gino talked about the emotional toll of having people object.

"As a trans person writing about another trans person, when Melissa's Story [formerly published as George, soon to be reissued as Melissa] is challenged, someone is saying that my existence is too scary, too deviant, too monstrous, to show to children," they wrote. "It hurts."

There is a personal impact on authors in these efforts that have intensified in recent months, with a focus on titles by and about Black, brown, AAPI, and LGBTQ+ communities. The objections are not to wizardry or swear words, but to authors' own stories and stories of their families and cultures. It is personal.

As she pushed through the shock, Lin came to an upsetting realization.

"I slowly realized that it really was because a child of color was a main character that they were attempting to ban it," says Lin. "And that made me heartbroken as well as angry. To believe that the existence of a BIPOC hero in a book is grounds for banning is flabbergasting. I know the rhetoric has tried to disguise that truth with dog whistles of [Critical Race Theory] and reverse racism, but the fact remains that A Big Mooncake for Little Star was banned simply because Little Star was not white. It's a maddening response, considering how hard the Asian American population has tried to combat the Anti-Asian hate this past year. We keep working so hard to show that we are not perpetual foreigners; we are a part of the contemporary, mainstream society, and this was a splash of very cold water reminding us that there are many who do not want to believe that. I know that all of this is even worse for Black, brown and LQBTQ groups."

Author and actor Chris Colfer was the recipient of the 2021 National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) Free Speech Defender Award. In his speech during the virtual ceremony, he remembered those who told him years ago when he began writing The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell that the world wasn't ready for an openly gay man to write books, that parents weren't ready for their kids to read them.

But, he said, publication of his book showed readers were ready. His first book and each of the 17 since were not only accepted, but became fast favorites and bestsellers despite a push from those he was once warned about.

"Yes, there have been successful and unsuccessful attempts to keep my books out of certain areas because of who and what I am," Colfer said. "Yes, there have been slurs and political propaganda graffitied in my books because of the diversity and inclusion I write about."

The support of his readers, the NCAC, and others have kept Colfer's books in libraries, classrooms, and bookstores, "and [put] into the hands of the kids who may need them the most," says Colfer.

"[It's] because of people and organizations like [NCAC] that people like me get to be writers in the first place, and kids like me don't have to go through life feeling alone."

For the kids

Graphic novelist Jarrett J. Krosoczka wrote about those kids who can feel alone too. And after his book, Hey Kiddo, was challenged by parents in Iowa in November for "excessive vulgarity" he wrote a letter to the editor of the Des Moines (IA) Register. In the letter, he wrote about the unpredictability, loneliness, and impact on mental health of growing up with a parent with an addiction. In his letter, he cited recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics of drug overdoses in Iowa.

"I wrote Hey, Kiddo both for the young adults living through family addiction to feel less alone and for their classmates with more traditionally idyllic realities to grow empathy," Krosoczka wrote.

"There is an oft-used expression, 'Books save lives.' It might sound trite, but it is absolutely true. According to the CDC, among the means to prevent teen suicide is to provide access to social-emotional learning and to create a feeling of connectedness. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have put Hey, Kiddo out into the world, and that the book has had a positive impact on readers. They reach out to me directly to thank me for representing this experience and drawing attention to what it's like to be the child of a parent with addictions."

Craft, too, thought of the kids like him as he processed the situation surrounding his books in Texas.

"Over the past few years, I've received emails from teachers, parents, and kids all over the world telling me that they related to the characters in New Kid," says Craft. "It's a classic fish-out-of-water story, which most people can identify with. At some point, everyone is the "New Kid." Even as an adult on your first day at a new job or moving to a new neighborhood....You always go back to that first-day-of-school feeling."

He also thought about all of the kids he had been told about who previously hated to read, only to read his books again and again.

In Craft's case, the outpouring of support drowned out the small group of parents who opposed the book.

"It felt like a scene from It's a Wonderful Life," says Craft, who ended up having a rescheduled virtual visit with the schools in the district.

"It was fantastic. I got so much great feedback from parents whose kids either couldn't stop talking about the visit, rushed home to write their own stories, or spent the rest of the day drawing pictures. I did feel a bit sad that the kids whose parents chose to 'opt out' of the visit missed out."

Meanwhile, Lin admits to being discouraged by the current situation.

"I've been doing this for a long time, and I was starting to believe we are finally making progress for a more equitable publishing landscape," she says. "All of this was kind of a reminder that disinterest and dismissal are not the only things we combat; we have to fight active, obvious discrimination."

An opportunity

While she is disheartened, Lin finds reason for hope by seeing this moment as an opportunity to change the way teachers, librarians, and the publishing industry categorize and use books. A Big Mooncake for Little Star was targeted as part of a "diversity and inclusion" booklist, and Lin thinks this could be a good time to stop making those list and "truly integrate" diverse books into curriculum.

"If teachers, educators, publishers-and authors-are truly passionate about diverse literature, we're going to have to find a way to flood our kids with it everyday, not just when we want to expose students to a bit of diversity," she says. "Maybe this is the time where we look at our diverse books and figure out that A Big Mooncake for Little Star can be used in the folktale unit, the moon/science unit, the math/fractions unit."

In the meantime, she, Colfer, Craft, Krosoczka, and their peers vow to keep writing their stories for the readers who need mirrors, and those who need windows, as well.

"It won't change what I do," says Craft. "I am working on the third New Kid book, and will not alter a thing, because I have seen the positive impact that my books have had on kids as well as adults."

He recently received an email from a teacher in Brazil who said that reading and discussing New Kid had a huge impact on her students. One kid said the experience will make him a better person because he learned to look at the world from someone else's perspective.

"I have had the most sincere conversations with teachers and librarians taking a look at how they have treated kids of color in the past, and telling me that the books opened their eyes," says Craft.

Wrote Krosoczka, "I, along with my colleagues, write for the teenagers we once were. And we defend a students' right to read because we know these books would have made our lives that much easier growing up."

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Authors Share the Emotions, Impact When Their Books Are Banned

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Authors Jerry Craft, Grace Lin, and others discuss the personal and professional impact of having parents call to remove their books from schools and libraries. Shock. Sadness. Anger. Resolve. When an author's book is challenged, they can go through many emotions. Book challenges are not new, of course.