Resources for School Librarians - Index

Dealing With Challenges to Library Materials

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"Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance." ― Lyndon B Johnson

How to Handle Challenges to Books in the Collection

• Congress Introduces a New Bill to Fight Book Bans in Schools - Dec. 6, 2023. This bill is HR6592. I am trying to find out what happened to it. The best I have done so for is at Congress.gov. It seems nothing has happened as of March 27, 2024
• Resources for Book Challenges - Extensive list of helpful links from the American Association of School Librarians.
• How to Respond to Challenges and Concerns About Library Materials - From the American Library Association.
• Stand Up to Book Challenges - Prepare yourself for what may be coming. This is from the ALSC, August 25, 2022
• Book Challenges: Coming Soon to a School Near You? - Helpful suggestions in this article by Steve Tetreault in Knowledge Quest, Nov. 3, 2021
• Up to the Challenge - You must be prepared to meet a challenge to library materials before it happens. This is an article by Mona Kirby in American Libraries, Sept. 3, 2019.
• Reporting Challenges: A Quick How To Video - From the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.
• Formal Reconsideration - Policies to deal with requests to remove books from the library. From the American Library Association.
• Sample Reconsideration forms for library Materials - For public and school libraries. From the American Library Association.
• Challenging Book Bans: What You Can Do - From the Education Law Center, August, 2023. Addressed to members of the community.
• School Book Challenge Resource Center - There is an article here which you may wish to share with concerned community members. This is from the National Coalition Against Censorship.
• School Librarians Face a New Penalty in the Banner-Book War: Prison - From the Washington Post, May 18, 2023. Check the map in this article to see if your state is considering such legislation

What Materials are Being Challenged

• Florida Officials Report Hundreds of books removed from schools - From the Guardian, November 13, 2024.
• Ten Thousand Book Bans in the 2024 - 2024 School Year - This is a report from PEN America.
• Banned and Challenged Books New data shows that the number of challenged books surged 65% in 2023. This will be the highest number of challenges ever reported. This is from the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
• The State of America's Libraries 2024 - From the American Library Association.
• The State of America's Libraries 2023 - From the American Library Association. The emphasis is book challenges. April, 2023
• Book Bans are Rising Sharply in Public Libraries - From The New York Times, Sept. 21, 2023
• The Top 10 Most Challenged Books - For the year 2024 from the American Library Association.
• Mapping the Challenges to the Freedom to Read - You can see here the challenges in your state. Texas has the most challenges which I do not think is something for Texans to be proud of. This is from the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.
• Book Bans: What to Know - What is the difference between a book challenge and a book ban. This article from U. S. News, May 7, 2022, includes a list of the most challenged or banned books of 2021.
• Culture Wars - Why book banning is increasing in the United States. This video is from Deutsche Welle, and it is a must watch to understand what is going with book banning. May 29, 2022.
• Banned in the USA, State Laws Suppercharge Book Suppression in Schools - An update on Book Banning in the US from PenAmerica
• 37 States and Millions of Students Impacted by Book Bans - This is comment on the PenAmerica Report by Kelly Jensen in Book Riot.April 20, 2023.
• Over 300 Picture Books Were Banned Last School Year - From Education Week, Feb 21, 2023
• A Streak of Extremism: Book Bans May Increase in 2023 - From the Guardian, Dec. 24, 2022

Who is doing the Challenging

• A Fast-Growing Group of Conservative Groups is Fueling a Surge in Book Bans - This is an article from the New York Times, Dec 12, 2022.
• Book Looks -An organization which helps people find books to ban.
• Moms for Liberty
• Library Funding Becomes the "Nuclear Option" As the Battle Over Books Escalates. - This is a report from NPR, May 4, 2023. Schools may lose funds if they do not remove books which some people consider inappropriate.
• Central Bucks School District Passes a Library Book Policy:Community Says It is a New Form of Book Ban - This is a school district in Pennsylvania. This report is from TV station WHYY.
• Huston Schools Turn Libraries into Rooms for Punishment - 28 librarians have been eliminated. This article is from News Nation on July 28, 2023.

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This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, school librarian (retired), Philadelphia, PA. Please address any comments, additions, or corrections to info@sldirectory.com.