Texas Library Workers on Censorship in the State: Implications for Practice for LGBTQIA+ Collections

Josh Salmans, Shelby Hebert, Erin Burns

Abstract

Censorship efforts, especially when geared to fight against censorship of materials for minority sexuality and gender identities, are often hindered by social, cultural, religious, administrative, and political resistance. LBTQIA+ collections within libraries face resistance, which can come in the form of overt or covert challenges. This study examines Texas libraries experiences with materials and book challenges through a survey conducted in summer 2023 to discover the policies and responses to censorship attempts. Implications for practice regarding material challenge policies and proactive approaches to intellectual freedom are also discussed.

Keywords

Diversity and Culture; Gender and Women's Studies; Information Policy and Ethics; Open Access and Intellectual Freedom

References

References

Albanese, A. (2023). Texas county to consider shutting down library after book ban ruling. Publisher Weekly. Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/91958-texas-county-to-consider-shutting-down-library-after-book-ban-ruling.html

American Library Association [ALA]. (2006). Library Bill of Rights, June 30, 2006. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill (Accessed June 14, 2023) Document ID: 669fd6a3-8939-3e54-7577-996a0a3f8952

---. (2012). About banned & challenged books, December 10, 2012. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/aboutbannedbooks (Accessed June 14, 2023). Document ID: 777f206e-32cc-4015-b45a-591ee37f2319

--- (2013). Top 10 most challenged books lists, American Library Association, March 26, 2013. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10/archive (Accessed June 15, 2023). Document ID: 8417fa9e-ceff-4512-aca9-9fbc81b8bd81

---. (2021). ALA Statement on Book Censorship. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/statement-regarding-censorship (Accessed June 15, 2023). Document ID: 934d7bbb-ffb4-41e3-bcc1-43e6b032b1ce

---. (2023a). Banned Books, https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks (accessed Sept 18, 2023).

---. (2023b). 2022 Book ban data, March 20, 2023. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data (Accessed June 15, 2023) Document ID: 7abf2016-140c-43dc-b07c-a07133216c0b

Asheim, L. (1953). Not censorship but selection. Wilson Library Bulletin, 28(1), 63-67.

Bale, S. (2017). Social justice and library work: A guide to theory and practice. Elsevier Science & Technology.

Barr-Walker, J., & Sharifi, C. (2019). Critical librarianship in health sciences libraries: An introduction. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 107(2), 258–264. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.620

Beckham, R. (2022). Censorship in Schools: Reading's Position in the Landscape of Policy Creation [Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Harding University]. Harding University Honors College at Scholar Works. https://scholarworks.harding.edu/honors-theses/18

Best, R. (2010). Censorship or Selection? Academic Library Holdings of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2007. Education Libraries, 33(2), 18-35.

Buschman, J. (1994). Librarians, self-censorship, and information technologies. College & Research Libraries, 55(3), 221-228.

---. (2009). Who Defends Intellectual Freedom for Librarians? Academe, 95(5), 15-17.

Cain, C. (2006). Librarians and Censorship: The Ethical Imperative. Louisiana Libraries, 68(3), 6–8.

Downey, J. (2018). Learning on the job: censorship and intellectual freedom in the real world. Journal of New Librarianship, 3(1), 120-[i].

Harris, S. (1999). Discourse and Censorship: Librarians and the Ideology of Freedom. Counterpoise: For Social Responsibilities, Liberty and Dissent, 3(3/4), 14.

Hicks, T., Gabrion, L., Lester, K., & Schoenborn, A. (2022). Standing up and pushing back: Resources from A Conversation Around Book Bans and Censorship. Michigan Reading Journal 54(3): 61-73. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol54/iss3/13

Hickson, M. and Jones, A. (2023, August 30). Take control: Coalition building, crisis management and legal recourse [Webinar]. SLJ. https://www.slj.com/story/Facing-Censorship-Learn-Strategies-for-Coalition-Building-Crisis-Management-and-Legal-Recourse-in-SLJ-Virtual-Event

Mann J. (2017). Intellectual freedom, academic freedom, and the academic librarian. AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom, 8, pages 1-10

McAuliffe, B. (2021) Queer Identities, Queer Content and Library Classification: Is ‘Queering the Catalogue’ the Answer?, Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, 70:2, 213-219, DOI: 10.1080/24750158.2021.1915618

Mia Høj Mathiasson & Henrik Jochumsen (2022) “The Soup We are In” – Reflections on Post-neutrality Librarianship, Public Library Quarterly, DOI: 10.1080/01616846.2022.2149017

Hixenbaugh, M. (2022). Banned: Books on race and sexuality are disappearing from Texas schools in record numbers. NBC News. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-books-race-sexuality-schools-rcna13886

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2019). “IFLA statement on censorship.” IFLA Publications. https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/2633

Garnar, M., and Magi, T. (2021). Intellectual Freedom Manual. Tenth Edition. Chicago: ALA Editions.

Gilbert, D. “Moms for Liberty uses Hitler quote to ‘scare’ parents.” Vice, June 23, 2023. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ak3kz5/moms-for-liberty-hitler-quote

Greenhaus, R. (2023). Sex in the Stacks: Examining the Treatment of Explicit Materials in American Libraries. Libri, 73(1), 77-84. https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2021-0133

LaRue, J. (2016, Sept 26). All schools need book challenge policies. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/all-schools-need-book-challenge-policies

Lopez, B. (2022). Texas has banned more books than any other state, new report shows. Texas Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/19/texas-book-bans/

Matacio, L. R. (2003). Intellectual freedom: challenges and responsibilities of Seventh-Day Adventist academic libraries. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 12(2), 171-192. No doi.

Office of Intellectual Freedom. (2023). Selection and reconsideration policy toolkit for public, school, & academic libraries. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). (2023). Moms for liberty. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moms-liberty

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). (2022). Texas. In 2022, 72 Hate and Antigovernment Groups were Tracked in Texas. https://www.splcenter.org/states/texas

True Texas Project. (2023, July 12). Here’s your new flyer, Lubbock! [Image attached] [Facebook post] Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=672873304887182&set=gm.664421742241246&idorvanity=631746372175450

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.86.5.%25p
Copyright Josh Salmans, Shelby Hebert, Erin Burns


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Article Views (By Year/Month)