Out of Many, One: Practicing Defensive Librarianship

Authors

  • Jayne Walters

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.20.4.5

Abstract

Fifty-two books in Utah’s Alpine School District. Forty-three books in Oklahoma. Thirty books in Kansas. Four hundred sixty five books in Pennsylvania’s Central York School District; 204 books in Florida; 713 books in Texas, with 435 bans in North East Independent School District. Eight hundred books in Texas legislator Matt Krause’s list of books for investigation. The list goes on, the numbers go up, almost all exclusively targeting books by and about people of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

While censorship has long been an issue for libraries, this past year has brought a record number of ban requests across the nation—more than fifteen hundred tracked by PEN America between July 2021 and March 2022. Libraries are also becoming sites for protest—against Drag Queen Story Times, appearances by BIPoC and queer authors, Rainbow Clubs for teens, and other inclusive programming.

Author Biography

Jayne Walters

Jayne Walters (she/her) is a Board Member and the Director of Education for Indy Pride and the first openly transgender manager in the history of Indianapolis Public Library. Having worked in libraries for over forteen years, she helped create and is Chair of the LGBTQ+ Services Committee for IndyPL, she has spoken on LGBTQ+ issues for libraries, companies, and on the news, and is a contributing author in the book Trans and Gender Diverse Voices in LIS (Fall 2022).

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Published

2022-12-07

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 4 (2022): Winter

Section

Features

License

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