Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
2023
Abstract
One of the core values of the library profession is intellectual freedom, which espouses the rights of individuals to access information that includes all perspectives and lived experience. The past few years have seen that freedom threatened with a record number of book bans and challenges in school and public libraries, with a particular focus on materials for LGBTQ+ youth. This censorship assault is highly organized and grand in scope, backed by newly formed conservative groups and increasing instances of state legislation. While librarianship has a firm foundation in the American Library Association and its tools from which to draw, the battle to keep books on shelves has librarians across the country reeling from an onslaught of verbal and written threats that have taken an emotional, mental and physical toll on their wellbeing. It has become quite clear that a bigger fight is at hand that will require libraries and all those who support intellectual freedom to join in a united front. Established groups that support LGBTQ+ rights with the addition of many more freshly formed organizations that have risen, are joining the anti-censorship fight to safely keep books on the shelves and in the hands of the youth that so desperately need them: youth that are searching for answers and the understanding of their own sexual identity.