April 25, 2024 by John Chrastka
The First Amendment is a crucial defense against book bans, particularly those targeting LGBTQ+ stories, critical race theory, and BIPOC authors. However, schools often navigate around these protections through "educational discretion." Beyond the First Amendment, the Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act's Title VI and IX provide avenues to challenge bans based on race and sex discrimination. A notable case in Georgia's Forsyth County School District demonstrates how these civil rights statutes can combat bans, offering a more direct path to restoring banned books. This approach highlights the importance of considering discriminatory impacts over intent in the fight against book bans, providing a potentially more effective strategy for upholding students' rights to information.
December 30, 2023 by John Chrastka
Senate File 496 (SF 496) is an Iowa law that restricts schools from teaching about LGBTQ-related topics and requires districts to ban books depicting sex acts. Since its enactment in July 2023, school districts in Iowa have broadly interpreted this law, leading to the removal of a wide range of books from school libraries. The […]
December 20, 2023 by John Chrastka
EveryLibrary Institute and Book Riot fielded the “Parents’ Perception of School Libraries and Librarians” survey in December 2023 to get a new understanding of how parents and guardians think and feel about our role in education. We asked 616 parents and guardians and aimed to understand their perceptions on various topics related to school libraries: […]
September 12, 2023 by John Chrastka
In light of the 2023 legislative session, state school library associations should consider reframing their legislative strategies and shift focus to the pre-session or intersession period as a way to engage electeds outside of the intensity of the regular session. Education policy and funding are largely set at the state level. State school library associations […]
June 6, 2023 by John Chrastka
Now is the time for action. GLAAD created this guide for communities to defeat book ban attempts, and send a powerful signal of welcome and acceptance. We’re proud to partner with GLAAD on this playbook to help communities fight against book bans that are uniquely targeting LGBTQ Americans. This guide offers community members step-by-step recommendations to: […]
A Fuse #8 Production
by Betsy Bird
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