As we reported on at the end of February, a coalition of library workers and advocates have organized a March of Action for libraries. The coalition is hosting a series of Congressional briefings in response to the growing concern about fair access to digital rights, including ebooks, audio books and other digital resources. The coalition invited concerned stakeholders, such as librarians, writers, and allied partners, with to meet with elected officials and policy makers.
Along a similar vein, a Texas panel recently held a meeting which primarily focused on the surging trend of book censorship in libraries and schools. This specific panel included three industry experts; Tracie D. Hall, American Library Association executive director, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District executive director Kelvin Watson, and Carolyn Foote. Foote, who lives and works as a library consultant in Austin Texas is part of the “FReadom Fighters” team, which is a grassroots movement focused on the Texas legislature.
According the Texas Tribune, Texas banned more books from school libraries in 2022 than any other state in the U.S. Many of the titles targeted are books with themes around LGBTQ, race, and abortion. A 2022 PEN American report found that “school administrators in Texas have banned 801 books across 22 school districts, and 174 titles were banned at least twice between July 2021 through June 2022.” PEN America describes a ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content after challenges from parents or lawmakers”.
“This censorious movement is turning our public schools into political battlegrounds, driving wedges within communities, forcing teachers and librarians from their jobs, and casting a chill over the spirit of open inquiry and intellectual freedom that underpin a flourishing democracy.” Suzanne Nossel, PEN America’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
As reported by kxan.com, Foote said, “The only reason we aren’t like Florida right now is because, last year, our legislature was not meeting. But as of this moment, right now, there are 32 bills about access to school libraries that have been filed in our legislature. The number of bills that are filed about libraries is (usually) about five in an annual session.”
Following a December 2022 decision by Houston area city council to ban books containing “obscenity or other harmful content”, Texas state lawmaker Rep. Jared Patterson, has introduced a bill that would open a path to criminal charges, including jail time, for public school officials who fail to remove books from their selves which contain “obscene” themes.
The tone of the Texas session was intense and dire, with the panelists describing schools and libraries as an emerging political battleground. The group was very direct when they called out the Texas book banning legislation as “an attack on democracy in America”.
Reminding the audience of other past struggles for freedom Hall said, “I want you to think about the books that are being banned today. Books written about Black and indigenous people of color, their lives and agency; books written by LGBTQI authors who can imagine a life about freedom and liberation, and not oppression; and books about women, our books, that imagine that women have the audacity to have bodily agency over their own bodies.”
Watson, a U.S. Army veteran, continued in a similar fashion when he referred to libraries as “the last bastion of American democracy.” Watson talked about how libraries are supposed to be safe spaces where people can come together to access information, hold open conversations, and at times, disagree with one another, but do so with dignity and respect. “I don’t want anybody’s freedoms to be trampled upon on either side.”
An avid book reader and proud library card holder, Angela is new to the world of e-Readers. She has a background in education, emergency response, fitness, loves to be in nature, traveling and exploring. With an honours science degree in anthropology, Angela also studied writing after graduation. She has contributed work to The London Free Press, The Gazette, The Londoner, Best Version Media, Lifeliner, and Citymedia.ca.
