Censorship Basics: Check out this Accessible Handbook!!

 McCord, Maria

National Coalition Against Censorship. (2020). Responding to Book Challenges: A Handbook for Educators. 1-18. https://ncac.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NCAC-Educator-Handbook-Final-Web-PDF-11.17.2020.pdf

Compiled by NCTE and NCAC, this user-friendly handbook provides the basics to understanding censorship within schools and school libraries. Definitions, a brief history, and rationales preventing censorship are explained simply. The reader is not only reminded that the first amendment protects all free speech and expression, a core value of public schools and school libraries, but that decisions regarding materials must follow clear selection review criteria.

Strategies for implementing book selection include: 1. check policy ahead of time 2. communicate and document intention 3. create opportunities for discussion 4. document student learning. 

Tools to handle book challenges are clearly outlined: 1.  understand school policies 2.  listen 3. document 4. contextualize the challenger’s concerns 5. offer options

Suggestions for active advocacy are outlined. A valuable appendix provides policy guidelines as well as two sample review policies. 

In our country currently with the incredible increase in banning books, this Free Expression Educators Handbook is a “must have” for every public school teacher and school librarian.

This short handbook is accessible  providing the facts in a non-threatening way while reminding us of our professional responsibility to prevent censorship of school materials. 

We, administrators,  staff, and school librarians, need to prioritize understanding school policies, so we can be aware of potential book and instructional material challenges. After reading this handbook, I am motivated to find my district’s selection policy as well as its book challenge policy. This handbook is a great reminder of the ongoing work to overcome our own biases and values in order to protect the freedom of thought, expression, and inquiry of our students. As NCAC recommends, “ The better you explain why you chose a text and how it supports curricular goals, the more supportive parents will likely be. No parent should decide what someone else's child may read.” What a worthwhile resource, especially for TL/MLIS students like myself who will not take any classes on Intellectual Freedom.