Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here. Tech / Entertainment / Books Brooklyn Public Library is offering free digital library cards to young adults in the US / The move is intended to counteract a growing book censorship. BPL’s offering will likely prove invaluable to young people in states that may not allow school libraries to carry such books - or states that would allow parents to monitor what their children check out at the library. The BPL press release also cites an initiative called “Moms for Libraries” which is being spearheaded by right-wing group Moms for Liberty the group’s aim, per Media Matters, is to remove books with “inappropriate” content from public schools, and to replace them with books such as the anti-trans children’s book Elephants Are Not Birds.Ĭountless other attacks on free speech, and especially books that contain LGBTQ+ and anti-racist content, are proliferating throughout state legislatures as well. That coordinated censorship effort includes more than 700 complaints made to public libraries in 2021 - the most complaints in a single year on record, according to the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. The press release cites the “increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books tackling a wide range of topics from library shelves” as inspiration for this initiative. The list includes LGBTQ+ books like The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, Tomboy by Liz Prince, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison. In addition to expanding access for those around the country, BPL is also making unlimited copies of certain challenged books available for all cardholders. for a limited time and has had more than 5,000 applicants from all 50 states. “We invite young people ages 13 to 21, from every state in the nation, to apply for a digital library available through our Books Unbanned program.From histories of Indigenous identities to ace critiques of our current society of "compulsory sexuality," these 13 queer and trans texts will expand your vision of what it means to be LGBTQ+. Books Unbanned provides free e-card library access to any teen in the U.S. “Limiting access or providing one-sided information is a threat to democracy itself and we can not sit idly by while books rejected by a few are removed from library shelves for all,” the spokesperson added. The Brooklyn Public Library spokesperson said they were working to make contact with the Boismier to offer their support. All it takes is one person, one complaint, to put an entire district at risk,” she said. “The legislation has done exactly what it intended, which is to stifle any discussions around systemic inequality, specifically related to race and gender. The ACLU is currently suing the state over the law.īoismier said it was clear the district was afraid her library promotion would prompt a similar penalty. Last month, Oklahoma took its first enforcement action under the law, downgrading the accreditation of two school districts, one of which allegedly used training materials that “shame white people.” He said the new state law pushed the district to put “renewed emphasis on ensuring our teachers and staff have reviewed their classroom resources to ensure all materials are age and content appropriate.”Īsked if sharing a public library’s digital catalog could constitute a violation of the state law, Moody said it would “depend on time, manner, and place” of the recommendation. Wes Moody, a spokesperson for the school district, confirmed the investigation into Boismier, which he said was sparked by a parent complaint. The suspension was first reported by KOKH-TV reporter Wendy Suares.īoismier now plans to resign, she said, after a meeting with school leaders on Tuesday left her feeling she would not be able to teach without censoring herself and her students. She soon learned that she was being placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into a potential violation of the state law, known as House Bill 1775. Within hours, the school's officials had made multiple trips to her classroom to photograph the posters. “Nowhere in my directives did it say we can’t put a QR code on a wall.” “I saw this as an opportunity for my kids who were seeing their stories hidden to skirt that directive,” she said. When her 10th graders arrived for their first day on Friday, they were greeted by red paper signs announcing the “books the state doesn’t want you to read,” accompanied by a QR code for the Brooklyn Public Library sign-up page. As a result, Boismier, a public school teacher in the state for nine years, said she was given little choice but to turn to the resources of a library system more than 1,000 miles away. Last year, Oklahoma passed its own law placing restrictions on classroom materials, including literature, that references “discriminatory principles,” widely understood to mean topics like systemic racism or issues facing the LGBTQ community.
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