The Freedom to Read

Two things happened this week to inspire this blog post:

• ·    An email arrived from ALIA entitled “New Freedom to Read resources now available”.
• ·     I rediscovered a book on my shelves that I and the primary school librarian had removed from our school bookshelves.

I decided to explore the resources ALIA has made available as unfortunately, book challenges and confrontations appear to be coming more commonplace around Australia. 

These include:

• ·     ALIA Freedom to Read 2023 Wrap,
• ·     Be Prepared Postcard,
• ·     Collection Development Policy Template,
• ·     Collection Development Policies Webinar, presented by educators Julie Barkman, TAFE NSW and Catherine Barnes, UniSA/Endeavor College.
• ·     OCLC On-Demand Courses for responding to a crisis and de-escalating conflict, and
• ·     Book resumes from The Virginia Library Association and Unite Against Book Bans (ALIA, 2024).

Upon seeing the link to book resumes I googled “book challenges Virginia”.  The following screenshot is the first four entries of an alarmingly long list.

I chose the article from The Washington Post (Natanson, 2023) on the school book wars – very interesting and well-balanced, it looks at the issue from both the side of the challenger and that of the school librarians.

What I learnt from ALIA Freedom to Read 2023 Wrap shocked me.

In Australia in 2023 there were 75 individual book challenges about 48 different titles, and 21 reported incidents including threats, protests, and petitions. (ALIA, 2023)

“Books for younger readers were by far the most targeted type of book, with board books, picture books, children’s fiction and children’s non-fiction accounting for 63% of total complaints, and young adult fiction and non-fiction making up 13%” (ALIA, 2023, para7).

The topics targeted by complaints were dominated by “LGBTQIA+ issues, gender identity, and explicit or graphic sex education” (ALIA, 2023, p4).

The webinar Collection Development Policies addressed the importance of having a strong collection development policy, particularly in the area of selection of resources, when it comes to book challenges and censorship.  The following statement from ALIA from the webinar sums up this importance:

(Gary, 2023, 33:00-33:23)

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutes (IFLA) and UNESCO Public Library Manifesto 2022 states, “Collections and services should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, nor commercial pressures” (IFLA, 2022, p2)

I realised that one of my gaps in knowledge is what my legal rights and obligations as a potential library staff member when faced with threatening behaviour are.  I am addressing this by watching another webinar provided by ALIA under their Freedom to Read resources – Know Your Rights with criminal barrister Nicholas Stewart (Stewart, 2024).

And the book we removed from the primary school library?  It was this CBCA shortlisted gorgeous book from award winning – and one of my children’s favourite – author, Matt Ottley (2007).  It is so worthy of a place on a secondary school bookshelf.  It deals with the Stolen Generation, a young man’s battle with psychological issues, and his discovery of his father’s part in the hidden manslaughter of a young Indigenous boy.  Not themes for a primary school!  It is listed on Matt Ottley’s own website under YA fiction (Ottley, n.d.).

Photo by Louisa Lowry

But as Catherine Barnes said in the Collection Development Policies webinar, “It is important to acknowledge there may be items in your collection that do need to be reconsidered” (Barnes, 2023, 19:31-19:37).

References

PLEASE NOTE: ALIA Freedom to Read resources are only accessible to members.

ALIA. (2023). ALIA Freedom to read 2023 wrap. Australian Library and Information Association Ltd. https://www.alia.org.au/common/Uploaded%20files/ALIA%20Freedom%20to%20Read%202023%20wrap.pdf.

ALAI. (2024). Resources. Australian Library and Information Association Ltd. https://www.alia.org.au/Web/Advocacy/Freedom-to-read-resources/resources?WebsiteKey=edf1c45a-3f94-4a6e-8d53-fb3b98341a89.

Barnes, C. (2023). Collection development policies [Video]. Australian Library and Information Association Ltd. https://www.alia.org.au/Web/Advocacy/Freedom-to-read-resources/resources?WebsiteKey=edf1c45a-3f94-4a6e-8d53-fb3b98341a89.

Gary. (2023). Collection development policies [Video]. Australian Library and Information Association Ltd. https://www.alia.org.au/Web/Advocacy/Freedom-to-read-resources/resources?WebsiteKey=edf1c45a-3f94-4a6e-8d53-fb3b98341a89.

IFLA. (2022). IFLA-UNESCO Public library manifesto 2022. https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/2006.

Natanson, H. (2023, September 28). She challenges one book a week. She says she’ll never stop. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/09/28/virginia-frequent-school-book-challenger-spotsylvania/.

Ottley, M. (2007). Requiem for a beast. Hatchette Australia.

Ottley, M. (n.d.). Requiem for a beast. https://mattottley.com/product/requiem-for-a-beast/.

Stewart, N. (2024). Know your rights. Australian Library and Information Association Ltd. https://alia.org.au/Web/Advocacy/Freedom-to-read-resources/know-your-rights.