Book banners active even in Massachusetts

There's only so many books a teacher can assign so choices will need to be made as to what to formally teach in a class.

But why remove books from libraries? Or why not provide them, in the case of the classics or student requested titles. If a student has the time and desire to read a book, make it available to them.

All libraries are "curated." Public school libraries are curated in a process responsive to democratic will through elections of school board members

Horsefeathers. Once a book's been thrown out due to pressure and threats by a minority of bucket bangers, any "response" will mean at best forcing the library to purchase another copy of the book that you just threw out.

looks like an extremist right-wing group that is already notorious for using harassing and threatening tactics. Their idea of "curation" smells like book-burning mixed with violence.

But continue to bray on about rainbows.

Got it.

As you may have guessed from my user handle, I've worked in libraries (and archives) a very long time-- almost 30 years, with breaks. Most of that has been in public libraries and government archives. You have some misperceptions about library work that I'm happy to clear up.

Most public school libraries don't really use the term "curation" so much as "collection development," which encompasses selection and deaccessioning (aka weeding), among other things. Curation is used more in museums and special collections (like rare books or music libraries). Not to say it's never used, but it's not as common in general libraries as it is in other institutions.

The overwhelming majority of books that are weeded are replaced. That element is often missed by patrons who are not aware of the full process.

Three examples:

1. A copy of To Kill a Mockingbird with a broken spine and loose pages is removed from circulation. TKAM is a perpetually popular book and a new copy is ordered-- perhaps hardback, perhaps an ebook, perhaps both. By the way, every school library in Boston has ereaders if a student needs to check one out.

2. The Encyclopedia Brittanica, once a staple of library collections, stopped being printed in 2010 and is now only fully available via a website subscription. Most libraries that want the EB got rid of the last print copy by 2020 (and reclaimed that shelf space for better purposes) and pays for an annual subscription now instead.

3. Medical books, text books, travel guide books, Windows 95 for Dummies-- a lot of books have material with built in obsolescence. Most are replaced with the most recent edition. Libraries work with professional alliances to make sure copies of out-of-date books are retained and available somewhere, for historic interest, but there's no need for every single book to be in every single library.

~
School libraries serve the school, and are run by professionals, just as schools themselves are run by professionals. Lucky for us, we no longer live in a world where we ask the barber to remove the tumor growing on your hip, because we have recognized that some tasks and responsibilities require time, study, and dedication, that they should not be done half-assed. In short, they should be done by experts and professionals.

School boards hire professionals to do work so that not every damn decision is handled via "democratic will." Of course, some of that is because the sheer scale of decisions is time consuming-- no one wants to have to vote on whether sloppy joe day will be Tuesday or Thursday.

But other decisions require people who have become experts in pedagogy, who understand learning capacity and methodology by age, who can figure out the best practices for building knowledge. If you spend your entire day doing brain surgery, that is wonderful, and that does not make you an expert on teaching long division to a 4th grader. Being a firefighter requires expertise but not the type that is needed to teach a dyslexic child how to read. Bankers are not the right people to decide if cellular biology courses should be taught before chemistry courses or vice verse.

School librarians spend 6-8 years learning how to select books for student populations, how to work with teachers to support their classes, how to provide readers advisory and research skills in K-12. They have masters degrees in this, and some have PhDs.

School librarians are paid for their expertise and skills, not to just do whatever they're bullied into doing by parents who cannot make a logical argument for why a book should be removed.
That's because if a good and informed argument is made for removing a book, then the librarian will consider a book challenge.

Below is a book challenge request form. This is updated from the 2021 ALA form, and I will cut & paste it in full. I think it’s very reasonable. The reference to the cost of a challenge is the cost to the school or library-- often hundreds or thousands of dollars in time and materials. While this was written for a public library, it is intended to be tweaked for a school library as necessary.

What to include on a challenge policy

Include here a short explanation of what the procedure is for challenging a book, the estimated cost of a challenge, and the timeline from form submission to decision. Be clear that only one form from a household is accepted at a time, and that material being challenged must be read in full. The form must also be completed in full.

A short line here about the purpose of the library collection and its commitment to the rights of individuals to read and access materials they would like to is a fundamental principle of the institution.

Part 1: The basic information. This looks like ALA’s 2021 reconsideration request form with some adjustments.

1. Requester’s name, contact information, and if they are affiliated with any group
2. Type of material being addressed
3. Title, author, year of publication
4. How did you learn about this material?
5. Did you read/listen/view the material in full?

For “no” responses on the final question, no further action is needed. The resolution is simply that the material in question was not considered in full and therefore cannot be put through the reconsideration process.

Part 2: Understanding the material being challenged. Note here that incomplete responses or no responses to questions will void the form.

1. Explain the purpose of this material
2. What positive qualities does the material present
3. What are your concerns about the material, including citations and quotes
4. How has the material been assessed in professional review sources (include citations)
5. Provide citations in support of your objections
6. How does the material fail to comply with district educational objectives
7. In what ways does the material fail to meet state educational objectives
8. Explain how the material fails to meet Intellectual Freedom standards
9. Who would be negatively impacted by this material and how (citations and evidence required)
10. What would you replace the material with (include titles and professional reviews of replacement)
11. Why do you believe you should be able to restrict the reading choices of community members, including children?

End your form with a short line reiterating the purpose of the library and that parents always have the right to educate their own children about the books that may be best for them. Make the filer sign this line.

Signed ___________________________
Dated ____________________________

*Forms that are not signed will be void.

.

School committees, accountable to the voters, having open discussions about the books and making decisions.

School committee members, being doxxed and having targets painted on them by right wing extremists funded by a national astroturf anti-LGBTQ/white supremacist movement, receive death threats and resign, leaving the remaining "committee" to have an "open discussion" and decide to ban books that include representation of marginalized groups and truthful portrayals of historical events.

No one could have possibly drunk enough koolade to believe some of the bullshit you've been spouting here. Your disingenuousness reeks to high heaven.