The Literary Ecosystem Needs You by Kathy Halsey

 Fragile Ecosystems

Good day, readers. We have a rather heavy, but important topic today, but we'll be taking our annual summer break. We'll be back Wednesday, August 28. Enjoy summer!

With the heat indices climbing and the heat librarians are taking over book selection this year, I‘ve been thinking a lot about change and fragile ecosystems. 

Whether we like it or not, we who share this planet are all connected by our actions, lack of action, or lack of knowledge in the fight for a healthy planet. 

The literary ecosystem is no different. Authors and illustrators, publishers, agents, libraries, educators, and ultimately, readers, are affected by actions taken against literacy and the right to read.

The Literary Ecosystem Today

Citizen groups propelled by a small, vocal minority are causing irreparable harm when they insist school boards, library boards, local and state governments ban or sequester books they deem “pornogprahic” or “obscene,” while not defining these terms. Here in Ohio, two such bills have been introduced in the legislature that propose criminal penalties for librarians who “pander or display obscene or harmful material.”

What is the rest of the literary ecosystem to do? A good first step is to arm ourselves with information about misconceptions regarding how librarians select books. 

When a book challenge comes into a school system, the procedure from the 1980s until recently was guided by a collection development policy written by certified librarians in a district and then approved by the Board of Education. Certified, credentialled librarians take Master’s degree level courses in order to develop good selection policies that meet the needs of diverse, ever-changing communities.  

Fast-forward to the last few years, and we have challenges by groups like Moms for Liberty that advocate against school curricula that mention LGBT rights, race and ethnicity, and critical race theory. School Boards and state legislatures are taking book selection and acquisition out of the hands of library professionals by forming their own committees to decide the fate of materials.They are by-passing the agreed-upon policies set in place by and created by library professionals along with administrators and school boards. 

We can begin to defend our literary ecosystem and arm ourselves with the knowledge of how books are selected for public school libraries. Remember that my words can’t encapsulate the plethora of books written on the theory and practice of selection development or the graduate training taken by certified librarians or the time it takes to stay current on books published in a year.   

What You Should Know about Material Selection  

 

1. Yearly material selection is only possible with well-funded library budgets. Budgets may fluctuate from year to year or be slashed within a year due to school levies not passing. Book costs keep rising, budget may be stagnant.

2. Collection development is based on the library and district’s mission statement, the demographic population the library serves, the information needs of the patrons and educators, and the physical space to house the collection.

3. From the ALA Toolkit for Selection Criteria: “Every library — academic, public, and school (public, private, charter, independent, and international) — should have a comprehensive written policy that guides the selection, deselection or weeding, and reconsideration of library resources. This is the three-part Collection Development process.

4. The most valuable selection policy is current; it is reviewed and revised on a regular basis; and it is familiar to all members of a library’s staff. The policy should be approved by the library’s governing board or other policy-making body and disseminated widely for understanding by all stakeholders.” https://tinyurl.com/45ujc2jr

5. The reconsideration policy of library resources is the main focus in the media and those seeking to challenge resources. The other 2 key components of how books land on library shelves are rarely regarded by the public. They are the heart of selection and where librarians spend their time. Unfortunately book challenges (reconsideration) are taking more and more time. The most predominant criteria used in school libraries is to “support and enrich the curriculum and/or students’ personal interests and learning”. 

5. Here is an example of the Mission Statement from the school district from which I retired: to empower our diverse learning community with access to a rich and evolving collection of resources, both physical and digital. We strive to inspire a love of reading, research, and lifelong learning by providing a welcoming and flexible space that encourages exploration, creativity, and collaboration.

Actionable Takeaways for Allies 

1. Find out who is in charge of book/material selection at your local school or the entire school district. Go to the school librarian, principal, or school board office to get this information.

2 Know that many school districts do not employ certified, credentialled librarians at all buildings. A library may employ a school aide with no degree in education or with no library training. There may be one district-level certified librarian who oversees all the schools.

3. Find out when your local school board meets, attend meetings and stay informed. In states like Texas, authors Chris Barton and Bethany Hegedus attend meetings. (Thank you!) Chris adds this information in his newsletter. If you can’t attend meetings in person, check to see if they are on the school district website. 

4. Get to know your local school librarians and public librarians and ask how you can help them out.

5. Keep abreast of what's at issue. Join Authors Against Banned Books: https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com/. Discover PEN America https://pen.org/issue/book-bans/

Let’s keep our literary ecosystem strong so we all have FREADom to Read! Please add other supportive organizations or allies in the comments.

Fourth Graders Actively Engaged in A Picture Book Look