Libraries and schools in the US (and that includes Wisconsin) are enduring a tremendous uptick in challenges to materials. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, recently said that during her 20 years with the organization, “there’s always been a steady hum of censorship, and the reasons have shifted over time. But I’ve never seen the number of challenges we’ve seen this year.”
It is not fun, but being prepared for that conversation and that eventuality will make a big difference for you, your library, and your community. I posted about this fairly recently, but there are a few new resources to share, and this seems to be a very timely topic:
Megan Schliesman (CCBC) and Monica Treptow (DPI) collaborated on an excellent resource list Intellectual Freedom Education and Advocacy.
The recording of the NEWI webinar from last week with Shannon Schultz (Department of Public Instruction), Challenged Books at Your Library: Managing and Addressing Censorship Attempts.