Martha Hixson, a high school librarian in Annandale, NJ, heard last fall that some parents called on her library to ban certain books. So at 7 pm she and her husband usually watched “Jeopardy!”. She became comfortable in the reclining chair and turned on the live stream of the local school board.
Parents stood up and blamed the two books, “Lawn Boy” and “Gender Queer,” for calling them pornography. Both the award-winning books, with LGBTQ characters and candid depictions of gender, have been challenged nationwide and were available at the North Hunterdon High School Library. The woman then called her librarian, Mr. Hixson, by her name, as she had her 16-year-old son check her book.
According to a video recording of the conference, parent Gina Del Santo said, “This is an effort to allow children to be more active in the vicious acts described in these books.” It states. “It grooms them to accept the improper progress of adults.”
Hixson said the accusation was tense on her chest and left her stomach sick. “I was surprised,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
As the ban on highly prominent and politicalized books has exploded across the country, librarians have become accustomed to being considered devoted civil servants in the community, and their careers and personal reputations. At risk, I realized I was at the forefront of a tough cultural war.
They were labeled pedophiles on social media, summoned by local politicians and reported to law enforcement officers. Some librarians resigned after being harassed online. Others were fired for refusing to remove the book from distribution.
In many communities, putting books on the shelves has become an act of polarization, “turning librarians into this political pawn,” said the director of libraries and media services at the Round Rock Independent School District in Texas. One Ami Euselman said.
“Imagine our librarians being scared, as their personality was a problem,” she said.
According to the American Library Association, librarians are taught to curate a balanced collection of different perspectives, especially on controversial topics. They use a list of awards, reviews, and other publications to inform them of their choices.
Addressing the challenges of the book has always been part of the job, but the book reflects conflicts about whether and how to teach children about issues such as LGBTQ rights and racial inequality. Efforts to ban bans have skyrocketed in recent months. The Library Association has tracked 1,597 books that were challenged in 2021. This is the highest number since the organization started tracking bans 20 years ago.
Traditionally, interested community members may encourage library staff to discuss the title. Parents often prevent their children from checking out certain books. Alternatively, if you think you need to remove the title from the distribution, you can fill out a form to start the review process and have the committee check the suitability of the book.
These challenges arise from both the left and right. You may oppose LGBTQ characters, or the racist slur of “The Adventures of Hackleberry Finn.”
According to librarians, these quiet conflicts continue today, but the conflict over books has grown dramatically. Now, the radical group Proud Boys may attend the school board because the book is on the agenda, as it did last fall in Downers Grove, Illinois.Last month, a member of Proud Boys Confused With a story hour hosted by a family-friendly drag queen in San Lorenzo, California LGBTQ-themed story time Wilmington, NC
In Cabot, Ark, police reported that a local police station investigated a woman who said local school library staff would be “cultivated” with guns if there were “mental problems.” Police have determined that the incident at the meeting of Moms For Liberty, a group promoting book bans nationwide, was not in the context of intimidation and does not need to be prosecuted.
Often these battles are portrayed as liberal librarians defending left-wing books, but Carolyn Foote, a retired librarian and founder of the group Freadom Fighters organized to defend librarians, The idea that everyone in the profession is liberal said it wasn’t, especially in places like Texas where she lives. For most librarians, she said the problem was not a political issue, but a professional ethics issue.
“It’s catastrophic,” she said of her efforts to limit access to certain books. “You know what your job is, you know what are the best practices and standards for your profession, and you know that you violate all of them. I am forced to do what I am. “
Increasingly, the personal and professional integrity of librarians is also being questioned.
In May, Virginia Beach Republican state legislator Tim Anderson filed a request for a disclosure law and had a copy of the book complaining that some parents contained sexually explicit material. I checked the identity of the librarian at the school.
“The question is how vulgar books permeate schools,” he said in an interview. “Is the librarian doing this?”
Some of the conflicts became so hot that community members sought criminal charges against librarians. In the district of Mr. Hixson, New Jersey, a complaint was filed with the Clinton Township Police Department about obscene materials in library books. The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office said none of the information received showed criminal activity. In Granbury, Texas, after a county police officer received a complaint, he began investigating books available in a high school library.
Many librarians quit or lost their jobs after clashing over books.
According to the proceedings, Suzette Baker was fired from her job at the Kingsland Library branch in Llano County, Texas, after repeatedly refusing to remove the book as requested by the county authorities. The proceedings were filed this spring by residents against county authorities for violating the First Amendment by censoring the book.
Among the titles officials wanted to remove were Ibram X. Kendy’s “How to Become an Anti-Racist” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me.” Llano County authorities and county lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
Debbie Chavez, who worked as a librarian for 18 years, decided to quit her job after a parent who met her to discuss her opposition to “Lone Boy” recorded their conversation without her knowledge. Her excerpt was posted on Facebook, and commenters called for Chavez to be fired, saying she was “care for her child.” She received a malicious message in her school email and she said she eventually quit her job as her high school librarian at Round Rock in March.
“It was very scary to see my words used as a cry for a book censorship rally, and to see my conversation misrepresented,” she said. rice field. “And I was still dressed to go to school and work.”
Tonya Ryals introduced a new policy slate in February in Craighead County, Ark, after the library’s board introduced a slate of new policies, including requesting board approval for all new books acquired for children’s collections. I quit my job as an assistant director at the Jonesboro Public Library. Her policy was voted against, but she said she encountered too many vitriols online.
“About the library staff, we call us groomers and pedophiles, and there are comments that they need to be fired, imprisoned, trapped, and burn all books. I did, “she said. “At some point I wanted to live here. Is this something I can impose on myself?”
Library policy generally states that books should be available until the challenge process is complete, but the book in question may disappear from the shelf. Deborah Coldwell Stone, director of the Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Department, said her office was reported to be checking books that some groups deem unfavorable.
Libraries are also facing increasing pressure from legislators who are developing new laws and procedures aimed at making it easier to remove disputed books. At least five states, including Arizona, Georgia, and Kentucky, have changed the way libraries handle material complaints or appoint library board members, according to the Library’s Political Action Committee, Every Library. Passed the law to do.
Many states have laws that protect teachers, researchers, and librarians from prosecution, and some states have access to materials that may not be desirable. Those laws are also being challenged.
Oklahoma recently passed a law removing teachers and librarians’ exemptions “from charges of willful violations of state law prohibiting obscene material and child pornography.”
The moment was particularly unpleasant for some librarians, as they were welcomed as heroes to deliver books and laptops to students at home when pandemic restrictions were set. Now, Texas Library Services Coordinator Audrey Wilson-Young Blood said librarians are seen as villains.
“It felt like a knife in my heart,” she said of the allegations that library staff were harming students. “That sadness has led me to make really difficult decisions to make a difference for myself and my family.”
Wilson-Youngblood resigned from her position in the Kyle Independent School District last month. This was because her family was under stress. She worked there for 19 years.
Sheelagh McNeill and Alain Delaqueriere contributed to the research.
