2023-09-17 23:05:46
In October 2022, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft released a proposed state regulatory rule that would eliminate state funding for libraries that do not comply with a list of requirements intended to restrict access to “age-inappropriate” materials that might fall within the scope. children’s hands. Among its restrictions, the proposal would require libraries to develop parental review processes for books borrowed by their children, prohibit libraries from using state funds to purchase materials of “prurient” interest, and require classifications by age for library programming and exhibitions. The rule, which constitutes an aggressive menu of anti-library policies, has sparked intense opposition across the state. During the 30-day comment period, Missourians logged more than 18,000 comments, comprising a stack of more than 20,000 pages, which forced Ashcroft to withdraw and revise the rule. It was a victory for Missouri librarians and for intellectual freedom.
This organized response did not come out of nowhere. Missouri librarians have been systematically preparing librarians for such challenges since at least 2015. That’s the year librarian Colleen Norman — who also serves as chair of the Missouri Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee — worked with her colleagues at the Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri, to develop a workshop designed to train front-line librarians in the fundamentals of intellectual freedom and book challenge defense. Intellectual freedom is defined by the American Library Association as “the right of each individual to seek and receive information from all points of view, without restriction” and is one of the profession’s 12 core values. These organizers understood that it is not the library director or the chairman of the board who preserves the right to read, but the library employee at the reception. “We were asking front-line librarians to have these conversations, and we hadn’t told them what to say,” said Norman, who is also the former chair of the Missouri Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. “We created this training that explains what intellectual freedom is and what it means,” she said, “and then we explain how to have a conversation when someone brings a concern to us.” »
Norman and his colleagues tested the training at their Mid-Continent branch in 2015. They then expanded the workshop to the entire library system, training 900 Mid-Continent library workers in one-on-one conversations in just six weeks. Norman and his colleagues then presented the training at the Missouri Library Association’s annual conference, and it was a success. Now, intellectual freedom and training to defend once morest challenges have become a standard offering at the event. Library directors across the state have seen the impact of the program, and some have begun requesting training in their own libraries. With financial support from the Missouri Library Association (MLA) to cover travel and training team fees, “it just exploded,” Norman said. They also worked with Amigos Library Services to provide training across the country and expanded locally, working with student activists organizing in the small town of Nixa, Missouri.
This preparation was crucial in the face of an avalanche of opposition to library resources and services for LGBTQ+ Missourians. When the workshops began, they were intended to train librarians to respond to the occasional book-related challenges that libraries have always faced. After all, public institutions are accountable to the public, and there may be real reasons to question libraries’ decisions. Therefore, public libraries have policies and processes to manage these concerns: they are an integral part of library operations. But the current set of challenges is different. “The new element is national organizing around the challenges,” said Joe Kohlburn, former chairman of the MLA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. “The right has chosen the library as an easy target, a place where people can stand up and protest. The plan for these training sessions now is to make us a tougher target.
During the 30-day comment period, Missourians logged more than 18,000 comments, amounting to a stack of more than 20,000 pages.
This will be critical in the ongoing fight for access to information in the state. The victory in the case of the Ashcroft regime was, like many progressive victories, hard-fought, partial and temporary. The Missouri Legislature passed Senate Bill 775 in late 2022, requiring school libraries to remove “explicit sexual material” from their collections. The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit, arguing that this sweeping legislation deprives the public of their First Amendment rights. House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Cody Smith responded by pushing to eliminate $4.5 million in state funding for libraries, a cut that was abandoned by the committee and will be now subject to debate. Library organization continues throughout the state.
For his part, Kohlburn believes that librarians and other comrades in the fight for intellectual freedom will win. “I’ve been doing activist work in this state for a long time,” he said. “And this is the first time I have felt uniform solidarity. I haven’t spoken to anyone who isn’t on our side.
Note: This article has been edited to clarify that Colleen Norman is the current chair of the Missouri Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and Joe Kohlburn is the past chair.
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