Materials Challenges

Facing book and materials challenges can be overwhelming and frightening. Turn your concern into constructive action! Join Nancy Jo Lambert and Becky Calzada in this webinar, where they discuss how to equip yourself with knowledge and best practices to navigate censorship in the school library and advocate for students' intellectual freedom.

This column is focused on digital resources that might be useful in the face of book challenges and censorship.

The attack on intellectual freedom at schools and libraries in the United States has never been so great. The reasons offered for these objections are expanding as well. While many libraries have become used to challenges to materials with LGBTQ+ content or content that challengers determine to be sexually explicit, this new wave of challenges might also include materials on race, racial identity, or even historical accounts that might challenge dominant perspectives. Now is the time to brush up on our library advocacy.

Learn and understand the ethical and legal underpinnings of students' intellectual freedom and privacy and how these shape your library's policies and procedures. Watch the video lessons and complete the reflection activities to deepen your understanding of where school libraries fit in with protecting students' access to information.

So a book has been challenged in your library, now what? The first step is to breathe.

My dissertation research revealed that many librarians were choosing to remove materials from their own school library collections. I wasn't prepared for this, and I didn't have the vocabulary to describe it.

A new theme that is emerging in book challenges goes further than just politics and sexuality. Now, books are being challenged on the very basis that they are diverse.

Sue Kimmel and Danielle Hartsfield recently won an AASL Research Award for their research paper on the discourse surrounding challenged books among pre-service educators and librarians.

Since no one can predict which books or other resources will be challenged or who will express a concern, a more effective approach than self-censorship during the selection process is to take proactive steps toward creating a climate where the principles of intellectual freedom are understood and the legal right of minors to receive information in the school library is acknowledged.

This article explains the response of a school district to a parental attempt to ban a book or label it as unsuitable for middle school students.

How do you stand up for every student's right to read and keep your job? How do you avoid becoming defensive in the face of someone's questioning your morality and professionalism? There really is only one way to prepare—with policies and procedures that support you in times of crisis, so you don't have to panic.

Christine Eldred discusses how to teach your colleagues and administrators about intellectual freedom. Choosing to be informed about intellectual freedom polices and practices is essential to best library practices and Eldred includes three levels of engagement in this article.