In Missouri, years of efforts to ban books take a toll on school librarians: 'It's too painful'; St. Louis Public Radio , NPR, December 26, 2023

St. Louis Public Radio , NPR; In Missouri, years of efforts to ban books take a toll on school librarians: 'It's too painful'

"Maestas decided to speak out at a recent school board meeting for the first time against the proposed revisions. She is especially worried about the removal of diversity requirements.

“We have to have diversity in our libraries,” Maestas said. “We have to. All people have the right to be recognized or appreciated, to see themselves in the collection. And students have the right and the privilege of being able to step into the shoes of someone unlike themselves, to experience their life through 300 pages.”

The school board has indefinitely tabled the policy change.

Looking back at the past two years, Maestas doesn’t know what is behind the focus on libraries, but she thinks it is part of a broader attack on truth, public education and even democracy.

“Libraries are at the heart of our democracy,” Maestas said. “People have those First Amendment rights to learn what they want to learn, to hear what they want to hear, to say what they want to say. When you can attack those First Amendment rights and you can remove the sources of valid information and valid education from everyone, then you have the power.”"

Moms for Liberty is winning its fight to remove books from one Maryland school district; The Baltimore Banner, September 13, 2023

Kristen Griffith , The Baltimore Banner; Moms for Liberty is winning its fight to remove books from one Maryland school district

"Carroll County is among a growing number of Maryland school systems seeing pushes to remove books from their libraries as a national movement takes root here. The American Library Association reported in March that 2022 saw the highest number of book challenges since the organization was founded 20 years ago. The 1,269 attempts nearly double the challenges in 2021.

The Maryland Association of School Librarians has supported librarians facing book challenges in Wicomico, Worcester, Calvert, Somerset and Baltimore counties. But Carroll is the only one to change its book selection procedure in response."

Book Battle in Tennessee; American Libraries, May 11, 2022

Lindsey Kimery , American Libraries; Book Battle in Tennessee

Librarians fight back against state’s “obscenity” bill

"So how would HB 1944/SB 1944 work? First, it would create a process for a parent or guardian to submit to a district’s superintendent a concern about a book they deem “obscene.” Upon receipt of the complaint, a district must remove the book from all library shelves for no less than 30 days. The school board then reviews the book, applying the Miller test, the primary legal test for determining whether expression constitutes obscenity. They examine if the work:

(a) would be found by the average person applying contemporary community standards to appeal predominantly to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interests of minors

(b) whether the work displays sexual conduct is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors

(c) taken as whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors

If the book is deemed obscene or harmful to minors, it must be permanently removed. A librarian who disregards the directive can be charged with a misdemeanor and subject to a $50,000 fine. A subsequent offense is a Class E felony, which could mean prison time of one to six years in Tennessee, in addition to a fine of up to $3,000...

We can’t help but see school libraries and school librarians as collateral damage in the wake of midterm elections and extremism against public education. Being a school librarian is an honorable profession, but some have attempted to align it with criminality. We know we are trained professionals, and we work tirelessly to tailor our collections to our students’ needs and the needs of our school communities."

Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S.; The New York Times, January 30, 2022

Elizabeth A. Harris andAlexandra Alter, The New York Times; Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S.

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

"“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...

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."

Librarians help students navigate an age of misinformation – but schools are cutting their numbers; The Conversation, November 5, 2021

Karen W. Gavigan, The Conversation;  Librarians help students navigate an age of misinformation – but schools are cutting their numbers

"“Access to school librarians has become a major educational equity issue,” says Keith Curry Lance, who with Debra Kachel led the IMLS study. In a recent email he told me, “School districts losing librarians tend to be ones that can least afford the loss in a society characterized by increasing economic inequality.”...

School librarians also work to ensure that students are taught issues of intellectual freedom. They collaborate with teachers to help students understand the ethical use of ideas and information."

Schools See Steep Drop in Librarians, New Analysis Finds; Education Week, May 16, 2018

Sarah D. Sparks and Alex Harwin, Education Week; Schools See Steep Drop in Librarians, New Analysis Finds

"“When we’ve talked to districts that have chosen to put resources elsewhere, we really do see more than one who have then come back and wanted to reinstate [the librarian],” said Steven Yates, the president of the American Association of School Librarians. “Not only do you lose the person curating the resources for informational and pleasure reading, but you lose the person who can work with the students on the ethical side—how do you cite? How do you determine a credible source of information?”"

In the war on fake news, school librarians have a huge role to play; The Verge, 11/16/16

Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Verge; In the war on fake news, school librarians have a huge role to play:

"On top of Facebook’s issues, the first Google search result for election results for several hours on Monday was a tiny conspiracy blog that wrongly showed Trump winning the popular vote. Google and Facebook both announced on Monday that they would block fake news sources from using their ad networks (one of the key ways that small to moderately sized websites make money), but the issue of fake news creeping up in search results and news feeds is still an urgent one.

All of this is compounded by the reality that a lot of people don’t know fake news when they see it, sensationalized reports are more likely to go viral on social media than sane ones, and distrust of traditional (and genuinely more reliable) media sources is rising.

To get a better idea of how we can fight misinformation, The Verge talked to Professor Nicole A. Cooke of the University of Illinois. Professor Cooke works in the University’s top-ranked School of Information Sciences, focusing on human information behavior, information literacy, and diversity in librarianship. We discussed why it seems to be getting harder and harder for people to keep track of the truth, what libraries are doing to help them, and what we all need to do going forward."