How to Protect the Freedom to Read in Your Library

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#FreetoRead15
#bannedbooksweek @oif

How to Protect the
Freedom to Read
in Your Library
#FreetoRead15

Kate Lechtenberg,
Teacher librarian,
Ankeny, Iowa
Kristin Pekoll,
Assistant director,
ALA’s Office for Intellectual
Freedom
Scott DiMarco,
Director,
North Hall Library at Mansfield
University
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Vicky Baker,
Deputy editor,
Index on Censorship magazine
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While we do our best to answer as many questions as we can, time constraints
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Part I: How to use open communication
to prevent book challenges
Kate Lechtenberg
Iowa teacher librarian
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the mental journey...
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#FreetoRead15

I read banned books! I read banned books! I read
banned books! I read banned books! I read banned
books! I read banned books! I read banned
books! I read banned books! I read banned books! I
read banned books! I read banned books! I read
books! I read banned books! I read banned books!
#FreetoRead15

Veterans
Day
Banned
Books
Week
Black
History
Month
#FreetoRead15

People who ban
books are stupid!
If these books are
banned, why are
they in the library?
Are you mocking
my beliefs?
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Policies
Outreach
Leadership
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San José Library on Flickr, FlickrKate’s boring displays
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Questions at home Challenges nearby
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Banned Books Week cannot be
the first conversation.
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Talk to your stakeholders week
Monday
Librarians
Tuesday
Admins
Wednesday
Teachers
Thursday
Students
Friday
Parents
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Find the video on YouTube:
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Watch the video on YouTube
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Our diverse collection
Your 6th and 7th
grade library
includes mostly:
Your 8th and 9th
grade library also
includes:
Librarians read widely and consult professional reviews
(not Amazon or Goodreads) to help us buy books.
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Click here to check out the Mental Gym stations
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Click here for your copy of the ALA's Declaration for the
Right to School Libraries
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To parents: about our collection
“It’s so important that our collection be diverse
because every one of your children is unique.
A book what’s not right for one student might
be just right for another--and it’s my job to
serve all our teens.”
#FreetoRead15

To parents: about our collection
“Yes, each parent has the right to guide his or
her child’s reading, but my job is to make
sure that our library includes books to serve
every parent’s child.”
Read my draft (in progress!) here.
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Not yet, dear!
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Click here to read the full resource.
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the journey continues...
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Part II: How to handle a book challenge
after it happens
By Kristin Pekoll
Assistant director
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
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American Library Association
Office for Intellectual Freedom

West Bend, Wisconsin
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Petitions and Protests
Events
Discussion
Dialogue
Facebook Group and Website
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Support
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Authors
Updates
Continuing the Discussion
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National Support
Letters
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Community
Shows Up
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http://tinyurl.com/wbcml-censorship

Victory!
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Censorship can
happen to ANYONE
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#FreetoRead15
How do we address the needs
of upset parents and community members
and still hold true to the Freedom to Read?
• Policies & Mission Statement
• Reader’s Advisory
• Neutrality
• Collection Development

Promote Library
Reader’s Advisory

ALA Freedom to Read
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/freedomreadstatement
The library strives to maintain materials representing all sides of an issue in a
neutral, unbiased manner. Selection of materials by the library does not mean
endorsement of the contents of views expressed in those materials. The existence of
a particular viewpoint in the collection is an expression of the library’s policy of
intellectual freedom, not an endorsement of that particular point of view. The library
provides service to all within the framework of its rules and regulations and does not
knowingly discriminate in its material selection regarding race, creed, sex,
occupation or financial position.
An Example Neutrality
Statement within a
Library’s Collection
Development Policy
Demonstrate Your Neutrality
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More is Better than Less
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Ex-Gay Books
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ALL POINTS OF VIEW
ALA Library Bill of Rights www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
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oif@ala.org
www.ala.org/bbooks
Facebook.com/bannedbooksweek
Twitter.com/OIF
www.ala.org/challengereporting
800-545-2433 x4226
We Can’t
Be Silent
#FreetoRead15

Part III: How to bring attention to the
issue of banned books
By Scott R. DiMarco
Director of Library and Information Resources
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
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• Mansfield University of
Pennsylvania
• North Central PA - Rural, small,
and generally conservative
• Yearly program on Banned
Book Week
• Very little activity and interest in
the program beyond the
theoretical
Background
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Banned Book Week
• -Annual event
• -2012 – 6 attendees
(5 from our library)
• -2013 – Let’s try
something different
– way different
The North Hall Library
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Why I Banned A Book
• Dennis Miller
• A familiar and well-liked
local author and campus
personality
• Volunteer author – Asked
for it to happen
• Ban My Book. Please!
Huffington Post (December
3, 2012) By Dennis Miller
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The Book in Question
• One Woman’s Vengeance
• “Butch Wheeler's gang shattered Nora
Hawk's dream of a New Mexico horse ranch.
The men savagely beat and murdered her
husband, raped Nora and left her dying. But
she survived, and with the help of retired
bounty hunter Peter Clawson, Nora learned
the art of killing. She forces her way into
man's world of violence, finding the physical
and spiritual strength to see that the killers
feel the fury of One Woman's Vengeance. “
• A pro-feminist and pro-equality Western
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The Plan
• Only 5 people knew
• Other library staff did not
• No big launch
• Prior presidential
approval
• *In hindsight, a wise
decision
• Knew we were going to
do something, but didn’t
have the details – still
approved
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Launched with a Whisper
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Then the Roar
• The angry reaction from students, faculty, alumni, and other
“interested parties,” was immediate.
• A local newspaper reporter contacted Miller within 20 minutes of
the posting.
• A Facebook protest page was created within a day and people
from around the country were voicing their angry thoughts.
• One person even posted that he didn’t know books were still
being banned.
• The less positive outcome, in my mind, was that on a campus of
3,000, only eight people actually asked for a meeting with me to
discuss the reasons I banned the book and to discuss what could
be done to reverse the ban.
• The overwhelming number of comments were complaints about
how they felt betrayed by this action or their frustration with the
administration.
• Some used Facebook as a forum to make rude comments from
the relatively safe distance social media provides.
• Negative Reaction - My Family, Friends, and Colleagues - even
my own children
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What We Learned
• The reaction was much
quicker and intense than
anticipated
• Our goal was one week – we
waited 3 days before we went
public
• The concept of it worked
• A concrete effort was much
more meaningful than
theory
• Very few actually wanted to
address the issue and talk
about it, and they were
mostly students
• Lots of name calling and
bringing in related issues
#FreetoRead15

The Lesson
• The usual programs on
the topic of censorship
were met by our campus
community with general
apathy and pleasant
indifference.
• Our unorthodox
experiment was very
successful in highlighting
how a simple
bureaucratic decision
can curb our freedom to
read.
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Other Partners in this Project
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Aftermath
• The Huffington Post - article I wrote was published
(after numerous rejections)
• A regular blog – with some on censorship (Boston Bombers
and Magazines)
• Reddit +others
• This experiment struck a cord nationally and went viral
• A year later – a local school district banned a book
and our challenge created much discussion
• From library users – generally positive and very
supportive
• From librarians and peers - too controversial
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For more information on fighting censorship:
• http://crln.acrl.org/content/74/7/368.full
July 2013 College & Research Libraries News
vol 74 no. 7 368-369
• ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
• Thanks to SAGE Publications
Support the Freedom to Read!
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Webinar recording, slides, and follow-up Q&A will be emailed to you and available on
connection.sagepub.com
Thank you!
Be sure to check our website for updates on our webinar series!
Kate Lechtenberg Kristin Pekoll Scott DiMarco Vicky Baker
#FreetoRead15

How to Protect the Freedom to Read in Your Library

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