National Organ: No proposed action by librarians to help ban books from books

This is National Library Week, and as a tradition, the American Library Association (ALA) highlighted the top ten books that were challenged in the United States last year. The list, which includes the reasons for the book’s challenges, shows what has become clear over the decades: Books with strange characters, color letters, or books written by authors of variegated or colored are the most challenging.

In addition to the official list, ALA has launched a new landing page called Unite Against Book Bans. The “National Initiative for Empowering Readers Everywhere to Stand Together in the Fight Against Censorship” provides statistics compiled by the Office of Intellectual Freedom.

But what is missing from this new website is any call to action. There are no measures or tools that anyone can take to fight censorship in their own community Instead, visitors are invited to sign up for a mailing list for updates from United Against Book Banks. What these updates might be remains a mystery. It’s hard to “raise your voice” by signing up for a news update without any indication of what the news updates might be, and it’s certainly not a tool to talk about – no letter goes to legislators defending freedom of reading.

More problematic, though, is that the only other action available on the website is donation. The grants look like they will go to campaign against the book’s challenges, but will actually go to ALA’s 21st Century Fund: a fund without restrictions that can be used for anything within the organization’s perimeter. Can it create educational resources to fight against book bans? Maybe. It could also lead to the creation of graphics used to sell banned books from their store or to market them to scholarships that are not related to the book challenge. None of this BadSo, but it is deceptive to the average “reader” who is begging for some kind of direction.

In the 1990’s, there was a great wave of book challenges and bans across the country. Focus on the organization’s family and related weapons, including extensive censorship, and in response, ALA provides readers with powerful, freely available information about where they come from and what library staff can do to stand up for themselves. And their organization.

The above is not being shared by ALA in today’s censorship environment, but it is Is Being done by various other organizations who do not have work Focus on books or challenges. It is unfortunate that the main body dedicated to intellectual freedom and the principal of freedom of speech and reading is no longer the case. Today’s ALA, which to many has become a trusted source of information – they are, in fact, based on the principle of providing it like any other library – puts more of this information behind walls. Instead of giving libraries access to important information on how they can work and give their sponsors the ability to work, they put up a newsletter signup and a button to donate to a common fund.

For National Library Week, instead of empowering library staff with the support they need, ALA offers a splash webpage with links to their own brand. What could be more useful, though, is that librarians and library advocates can take steps now to ensure that their right to read and access information remains free, including freely accessible information. Speech points, sample responses to challenges, a list of organizations for the challenges in this book and how they are doing it, are some of the things that would be much better than signing up for an unknown newsletter.

Doesn’t it pay for members?

(It’s not lost on authors and their lawyers who have “gained” on this year’s most banned list, with the reasons why their books were challenged, the splash graphic should be used as “evidence” why those books should be challenged).

Use this toolkit for ways to combat censorship, book bans and fight challenges, as well as use this guide to detect fake news. Then learn how and why you want to use FOIA to unravel the book’s challenges.

Book Censorship News: April 8, 2022

• Schools in Palm Beach County, Florida have pulled out two books about transgender children, citing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
• Polk County will hold Florida schools 19 minutes And Dear In the high school library.
• In Fredericksburg, Texas, Me and Earl and the dead girl And The advantage of being a wallflower Being challenged.
• In Wake County, North Carolina, people continue to protest at school board meetings like books. Gender queer. This time they have come up with a mark with QR code which indicates িতে in the books they don’t like Bonus shots of professional “we are the majority” sign in the demonstration.
• This section does not name the book in question, but a parent complained about a Warren County High School book, so the book was pulled from the library for that parent to review. It’s … still censorship, even if the intent is to put it back on the shelves after “reviewing” it.
• In Keller, Texas, parents continue to complain about books in the school library and the board is not removing them enough.
• Gender queer Back in the library shelves in the school district of Antioch, Illinois.
• “We do not allow it Playboy Or Husler Or Maxim Or Penthouse At our school, or at our public library, ”one mother complained Gender queer And Lawn boy At Adams School in Colorado.
• This is not the first time I’ve seen such a story lately: Someone is circulating books in the Pennsylvania Public Library in Sharpsburg in an attempt to censor.
• Wilson County, Tennessee, School, Eleanor and Park And The Blues Eye Will be available in the high school library. The first is available but limited to middle school, while Morrison’s book is not in the middle school library.
• Mouse And Mouse 2 Katie will be in Texas, Middle and High School Libraries.
• Parents continue to complain about books in the library to the school board in Cherokee County, Georgia. Several are already being reviewed according to the policy.
• Monte Vista, Colorado, will keep the school The Hate You Give On the library shelf.
• Parents at Montgomery High School in New Jersey have complained Tomboy By Liz Prince and Dashka Slater’s 57 buses.
• A decision on Gender queerIts availability at Hudson High School in Ohio is expected at the next regular board meeting (and it looks positive).
• “I want these writers, if they really want to make a point to these young people, to make it clear,” Craven said. This is a quote from the school board chair of Burke County Public School, North Carolina.
• This story of ROWVA (Illinois) schools is absolutely art. The article gives the full background but tl; dr it The Hate You Give Challenged in November, upheld by the board, the teachers who used the book and the board members who defended it all resigned. Now there are 11 candidates for the two open board posts.
• The Placenta-Yorba Linda schools in California have banned “critical race theory.”
• “I’m saying our city council is with God, or you won’t,” said Catherine Bogards, a Pella resident. Speaking of collar stories, good people in Pella, Iowa continue to harass their public libraries.
• The censor deserves to share this letter with the editor because of how extreme his behavior is when he doesn’t get his way. It’s off Rhode Island.