Review: Librarians to the Defense: Groups form to fight a conservative-led attack on libraries' efforts to promote social justice

Bader, E.J. (2021, October 19). Librarians to the defense: Groups form to fight a conservative-led attack on libraries' efforts to promote social justice. The Progressive Magazine. https://progressive.org/magazine/librarians-to-the-defense-bader/ 

This mentions many great programs that libraries around the country are conducting that promote inclusivity and awareness. One such program was a Holocaust book discussion group run by librarian Jeannie Ferriss for the Whitehall Community Library. Ferriss stated she mentioned the Holocaust to a group of young adults, and they had not heard of it before. Like me, upon hearing this news, Ferriss was very surprised, and that's when the idea of a Holocaust book discussion group began. The program is for 14–17-year-old teens and invites adults to join. It not only involves book discussion, but also offers visits to a Holocaust Memorial Museum, lectures by rabbis, and "discussion with both a Holocaust survivor and a former soldier who helped liberate the concentration camps".

There are numerous other initiatives across public libraries that seek to “protect against the distortion of history” by archiving pamphlets, leaflets, posters, prints, and other historical artifacts. 

However, the article also points out the pushback against these initiatives. Specifically, they point out what happened at the Niles-Maine District Library in Niles, Illinois. Right wing groups were able to win most seats on the library’s board and proceeded to influence library policy. They ended programs that “distributed books to the homebound and people who live in nursing homes; [cut] the overnight cleaning crew; [reduced] the adult services budget by $150,000; and [slashed] the number of [open] hours”. 

They did this because they believed that libraries should be run like businesses, aimed at saving taxpayer funds, and not as community enrichment organizations. They also won the conservative majority because only 8.4 percent of eligible voters participated in the election. 

It is important for organizations that support library programming aimed at inclusiveness and diversity, to be active at library board meetings, and in the community when there are important elections for board seats or library funding initiatives. The article mentions a referendum to fund renovations for a library in Plainfield, Illinois. Right wing organizations rebranded the referendum as a “property tax and paid for robo-calls to urge people to vote ‘no’.” The message was to vote no on taxes, not to vote yes on libraries. It is all about what message the community hears. There is support for libraries, but community members must be active to counter the message of right-wing organizations.

On Children's Media Literacy

 Watkins, Rachel

Buckingham, D., Banaji, S., Burn, A., Carr, D., Cranmer, S., & Willett, R. (2004). The media literacy of children and young people: A review of the research literature on behalf of Ofcom. Office of Communications. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10000145/1/Buckinghammedialiteracy.pdf

 

This is a review of the literature about media literacy of children. It discusses the aspect of media literacy: access, understand, and create. It also discusses barriers to children learning media literacy as well as things that enable them to learn media literacy.

 

 I thought this article was very intriguing. I think the subject matter is important and I feel like the authors did a good job evaluating the literature and presenting information in a format that made sense.

Book Challenges: Classrooms, Parents, Court

 Pearsey, Eliza

Read the Room | On the Media | WNYC Studios. (2022). WNYC Studios. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-read-the-room

This podcast from WNYC (an NPR affiliate) focuses on how books get challenged and removed from classrooms and libraries, what rights parents have, and the 1982 Supreme Court case that ruled that school boards can’t remove books based on their disagreement of the ideas in them. 

This is a timely and helpful article in 2022. One important point is that when some items are challenged, we as librarians need to make sure we read in context. Generally, people who challenge a book haven’t read it. And because of that the context suffers. For example, in Go Ask Alice, many people point to a passage where she talks about sex, but basically she’s stating that she regrets what she’s done and hopes that one day, some one will genuinely love her. Overall, this could be a beneficial text for students. It's important that context and connotation are taken into account when challenging a book. 

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. 

Public libraries more popular & more digital than ever

Kristin Proctor

This article includes a ton of data about how public libraries' collections have changed. My summary focuses on the overall shift from print to digital use, but the article also includes information about the changes in costs and costs per use of digital versus print collections as well as information about the wages of public library staff toward the end. Definitely worth a read.

Rizzo, N. (2022). State of US public libraries - More popular and digital than ever. WordsRated. https://wordsrated.com/state-of-us-public-libraries/

Using data from 1992 through 2019 (i.e. right before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down many libraries for in-person visits) and a series of informative graphs and charts, Rizzo describes why some people mistakenly believe "libraries are dead" because overall visits to public libraries and checkouts of physical books have declined.

However, libraries have increased numbers of borrowers, programs, program attendance, and use of digital collections. Total checkouts (digital plus physical) have increased as libraries have shifted their collections to more ebooks, audiobooks, and digital audiobooks. In addition, more people visit the library specifically to attend the increasing number of library programs, which in turn correlates with increased circulation numbers.

Overall, the data illustrate a story that library staff and visitors are already keenly aware of: libraries are very much alive and thriving. Public libraries are clearly shifting their collections in response to the needs of their patrons. They are providing more information and collections in digital format which serves the needs of those who don't visit the library in person as often while they are also providing community connection through library programming attracting visitors to the library.

Zine Authors' Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections

Devon Cahill

ET

Hays, A. (2018). Zine Authors’ Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections: A Survey-Based Study. Library Quarterly, 88(1), 60–78. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1086/694869

Summary

This article addresses the growing presence of zine collections in public and academic libraries but considers how the zine authors themselves feel about the phenomenon. As the author notes, “at least 113 public and academic libraries across the United States currently have zine collections…” but there is not any current research on how zine authors feel about this trend.

 

The author defines a zine as, “...handmade paper publications with small print runs, are sold at or slightly above cost, and are intentionally nonprofessional.” Because the publication is decentralized and they are not usually published for profit, there is no standard format for a zine and authors are sometimes hard to track down. The author then quickly traces the origins of the zine to the science fiction authors of 1930s to the punk zines of the 1970s to the riot grrrl zines of the 1990s to make the case that zines are inherently counter-cultural and serve as a valuable archive for these underground movements and philosophies. This is where the connection between zines and libraries takes shape.

 

So what did the authors feel about their, by design, ephemeral and underground works finding their place in libraries? Not surprisingly, a seemingly large percentage (29%) were strongly against having their real names be included in the archive. Though the author does concede that around 30% of respondents wrote their zines using a pseudonym. Of the remaining 70%, almost all were happy to have their real name in the catalog. A large percentage (66%) felt that they would be uncomfortable discovering there work had been digitized and made available to download without their permission, but 71% said they would be excited if they were asked.

 

In conclusion, the author notes that “zine authors favor access over privacy” and would generally be happy to be included in a collection. However, being asked for permission was a key factor in this acceptance.

 

Evaluation

Having been involved in the punk scene and a zine creator myself, I can corroborate the concerns of the authors here. When writing these, I certainly would never have considered that they could have an impact beyond the community they were intended for. So, it might be a little unnerving to discover one of these works available for download in a collection somewhere. At the same time, the ideal of equity in access has always been central to punk politics so the notion that you could produce something that anyone could access digitally is quite appealing.

 

In terms of collections, I can imagine the headache that the pseudonyms would cause catalogers and archivists, especially armed with the knowledge that most zine authors would be disappointed to find their zine digitized and available to download without their consent. Personally, since zines are non-profit by nature, open access through an archive would just be the logical extension of this aesthetic.

Dawkins, & Gaivgan, K. W. (2019). E-book Collections in High School Libraries: Factors Influencing Circulation and Usage. School Library Research, 22.

Summary: Purchasing e-books has recently received a huge push due to Covid-19 and school closures. This article was written just before this global event and gives an excellent overview for the reasons that e-books may or may not be effective in schools. Seven high schools were chosen from rural, urban, and suburban areas. The data was collected from a combination of circulation statistics and interviews with the librarians. Accessibility issues were noted, especially in the rural areas as not all students have data plans on their cell phones or high speed internet access at home. Common across the schools was the preference for students to read a physical book over an e-book. A few schools reported that students associate e-books with research which is non-fiction. If they were reading for pleasure and not for school, a physical book was their preferred choice. Overall, e-books represented a significantly low total circulation for most of the high school libraries. It was also noted that purchasing habits as well as how the level of marketing can have considerable impact on how these e-books are used.

Evaluation/Opinion:  I chose this article as I am dealing with low circulation amongst our e-books. This is my first year as the librarian. We only just got the e-book app last school year. Circulation is non-existent. I am examining the potential reasons for this and found this article helpful in narrowing in what could be the issue. First is marketing of the app. None has been done since I have started this school year apart from my English 9 library orientation classes in which I briefly mention the app. Second is the selection of books available to the students. I am still learning about my community and what types of books they like to read. I have a small budget from last year remaining to be spent with this digital app but I am currently at a loss for what to purchase. It is a difficult decision to promote an app where you believe there are not enough options for students yet are still unsure what those options should be. This article was helpful and gave me insight on my next steps to increasing the circulation stats of our e-books.