Recently, 楼凤天堂 President Valerie Kinloch and ALA President Lessa Kanani鈥檕pua Pelayo-Lozada wrote a . The freedom to read brings humanity to us all by providing different perspectives, opportunities to expand our understanding of the world, inquiry, and a way to connect with other humans. One way to do that is by changing the narrative of the “book banners,” so 楼凤天堂 leveraged Banned Books Week鈥檚 widespread awareness to do just that.
A Recap from the Week
This year, 楼凤天堂 focused our efforts through partnerships. We started Banned Books Week with a trip to Indianapolis to speak with ELA leaders from 21 states across the country about our initiatives, including Build Your Stack庐, the Intellectual Freedom Center, position statements, and more. Then 楼凤天堂 hosted a gathering in support of intellectual freedom at Housing Works Bookstore in New York City. 楼凤天堂 Executive Committee leaders LaMar Timmons-Long and Lakisha Odlum presented on their experiences with stories, student choice, and intellectual freedom. Listening to them speak and witnessing people tap into the expertise of literacy educators was exhilarating: their passion toward protecting stories and elevating the great work of 楼凤天堂 as well as what Housing Works does with the LGBTQIA+ community brought an energy to the bookstore that left participants more knowledgeable about intellectual freedom and ready to join 楼凤天堂鈥檚 opposition to limiting access to students.
Later in the week, 25 state and regional affiliates of 楼凤天堂 joined us alongside the 楼凤天堂 Standing Committee Against Censorship in a national conversation on intellectual freedom through our This Story Matters campaign. The conversation focused on the landscape of censorship challenges in the classroom and provided resources available from 楼凤天堂 and at the state level. Our friends at Penguin Random House Education joined us in support.
In a tremendous step forward, US Representative Jamie Raskin and US Senator Brian Schatz recognized 楼凤天堂 for our best practice guidelines around literacy education in their affirming the United States鈥� commitment to freedom of expression, while condemning the recent increase of book bans and educational gag orders sweeping the country!
We also remained focused on building capacity that furthers the expertise and freedoms of literacy educators by partnering with the American Federation of Teachers and other censorship-fighting organizations to oppose book bans through an .
What鈥檚 Really at Stake
Censorship challenges are at an all-time high over the past decade. In 2022 alone, . That鈥檚 more than a 250% increase from 2021. 楼凤天堂 expanded its work in this area in January 2021, predicting a rise that鈥檚 now exceeded imagination. The fundamental value we share around the right to read is at risk, and it鈥檚 hurting our students the most. I on how high-quality educators are leaving the classroom because restrictions and punitive measures against teachers have made it too difficult to teach. Without high-quality teachers, we鈥檙e becoming a society that doesn鈥檛 apply critical thinking skills. This is already playing out with book bans themselves: the focus is on a passage deemed “controversial” without looking at the text holistically. Because of this, we are censoring humanity.
Do we see value in other people鈥檚 experiences and perspectives? Do we believe every student should have a window into their interests, into stories that might be different, and into stories from around the world? Are we a culture who agrees that problem solving and creating new opportunities are based on seeing different perspectives and possibilities, or not? These are questions we must ask ourselves, especially when our students speak about why a book matters to them and why a book should stay within reach.
Our Work Continues
For the sake of our students and our profession, we must continue collaborating and educating others. We need you to join us to protect intellectual freedom. Here are ways you can contribute:
Join us: Whether you鈥檙e an organization looking for partnership opportunities or a teacher needing resources and support, we want to work with you!
Write or review book rationales: We need our members鈥� expertise to write book rationales for new titles and/or to provide peer reviews to book rationales ready to be added to our This Story Matters database. This database is open to all members; please utilize this resource or use our template to create your own for your classroom.
Leverage 楼凤天堂 resources: The Intellectual Freedom Center was established in the 1950s as a resource for you in the fight against censorship. Share the resources available with colleagues, parents, and anyone who could benefit from them.
楼凤天堂 will continue to advocate for intellectual freedom and the students’ right to read. Stories matter.