By Christina Connor, Assessment and Instruction Librarian, Ramapo College and Edward Shannon, Professor of Literature, Ramapo College

Ramapo College literature professor, Dr. Edward Shannon, and I have collaborated on activities inspired by banned books, censorship, and academic freedom for many years. Past initiatives have included creating displays with various themes (mostly connected to literary works challenged or banned) as well as running roundtable talks and read-a-thons on challenged literature during September’s Banned Books Week. 

For this year, Ed was inspired to change the approach, in large part to his recent election as Ramapo’s as president of Ramapo College’s AFT (American Federation of Teachers) Local 2274, and attending the summer  2022  Labor Notes meeting in Chicago inspired a new shared project.  Labor Notes is a coalition of labor activists, labor unions, and labor union representatives who work together for a variety of purposes, and tend to be fairly politically engaged, progressive. And, as Ed remarked, “aggressive.” Various unions are represented there: performers unions, labor unions, teacher unions, even the Teamsters. This broad swath of perspectives on the role of labor unions shed new light on what unions can be. 

One workshop run by the AFT concerned  classroom censorship. However, the session wasn't really about books; rather, it was about how individuals were being censored.   One presenter - a Florida elementary school teacher and vocal gay rights advocate - faced a real challenge. He had been appearing on news programs opposing passage  the  of the “so called”  Don't Say Gay law. Once the law had been passed, he was told by his principal, "Listen, the governor of Florida might be actually trying to get you fired," and I cannot help you.  However, his union did, and he kept his job as well as his dignity.

Teacher unions like the AFT can actively engage with these assaults on academic and human freedom.  The AFT 2274 Constitution and our state contract both offer many specific references to academic freedom. So, in August 2022, the AFT Local partnered with Ramapo faculty members to schedule talks on academic freedom.  Each presentation would include a short introduction by the AFT president focusing on how AFT advocates for academic freedom, followed by a longer discussion by a faculty member researching these topics. After the discussion, the Local would provide refreshments for a short Q and A session about the presentation. 

The first presentation was by me, Christina Connor, Ramapo College librarian and book historian instrumental in curating and teaching about the college’s American History Textbook Project (AHTP), a special collection which traces the history of American history textbooks and the evolution of educational materials in the country.  The series kicked off during Banned Books Week on September 22, 2022 with a talk entitled “Not Suitable for Schools: A Textbook Example of Censorship.” 

At Ramapo, students who use AHTP study a topic by exploring the text and accompanying textbook information in order to discuss changes, omissions, and evolving perspectives in the American historical narrative. The collection, which continues to grow, currently spans from 1826 to 2015, with a major focus on high school level materials. 

For this talk, I pulled materials that were considered controversial or “too progressive” for the time. I emphasized to students that this debate over how American history should be taught may seem like a current issue, but in fact, has a long history in the country. I explained to attendees that we’re all familiar with the Scopes Trial and controversy of teaching evolution in the classroom, but debates surrounding a perceived “progressive,” or what critics called a socialist approach to teaching American history, predate the trial. I drew on examples from over a hundred years ago and showcased news coverage of parents as well as various interest groups protesting specific books and authors used in the classroom, and presented a continued timeline of this issue. Books were challenged or censored if texts were deemed too critical of American history, and therefore considered “unpatriotic.” I also shared criticism from former confederate soldiers who were concerned with the perceived Northern bias with which textbook authors discussed the Civil War. The most rewarding part of the talk was the thoughtful questions and observations made by student attendees. Many approached me after and asked about accessing the collection to do further research with what our special collection had to offer.

For Ed and me, the idea to expand the banned books conversation beyond the one week in September is exciting. Partnerships between librarians and the AFT that encourage students to actively engage with their communities over education, activism and censorship could be impactful in many ways and we encourage librarians to reach out to their AFT locals and consider similar collaborations. 

By Dr. Kate McGivern

Banned Book Week 2022 has come and gone but challenges to library materials, which increased dramatically in the past year, continue to make news both nationwide and in New Jersey. School board meetings are being barraged by parents, residents and non-residents who want books removed from shelves. Because of these challenges, the Sidney Silverman Library at Bergen Community College stepped up its plans to mark the week (September 18-24) by inviting other BCC community members to join in the fun. The Bergen Banned Books Committee, spearheaded by Dr. Kate McGivern (Library), came together over the summer with participation from English and Theatre faculty as well as students, the Bergen Alumni Theatre Group and other college staff and faculty. 

The committee applied for and received the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund for Banned Books Week grant of $1000. Plans call for these funds to subsidize a college sponsored bus trip to a theater production of a banned or challenged play in partnership with the Office of Student Life.

Several contentious school board meetings took place last spring in Hunterdon County, New Jersey where a right-winged parent’s group advocated for the removal of several LGBTQ+ themed books and verbally attacked the high school librarian. The school board ultimately passed a resolution retaining all the materials. The school librarian has, subsequently, been awarded the 2022 Lemony Snicket Award for Nobel Librarians Faced with Adversity. Students from the North Hunterdon – Vorhees High School Gay Straight Alliance, who bravely spoke up at board meetings to defend not only the librarian but the value of the materials being challenged were awarded the New Jersey Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Award. 

Based on transcripts and recordings of these public meetings, Dr. Leigh Jonaitis (Theatre and English) developed and directed a play for performance and discussion. “Hunterdon” included actors portraying school board members, supporters of book banning and detractors. All character names are fictional with the exception of the high school librarian. This performance was presented as part of Bergen Community College’s Banned Book Week celebration. More than 100 students, faculty and staff attended this presentation and discussion session. A complete script is available on the Banned Books Research guide.

Prof. Jim Baumgardner (Theatre) and the Bergen Alumni Theatre Group adapted a collection of  children’s books from the list of top book challenges for 2021 as created by the American Library Association and presented the stories as Reader’s Theatre to students, faculty and staff and to children at the college’s Child Development Center. A recording of these presentations is available on the research guide. The Theatre Group also arranged a Banned Book trivia event with prizes provided by the Sidney Silverman Library.

Prof. Seamus Gibbons (English), Prof. Elizabeth Marsh (English) and Dr. Leigh Jonaitis facilitated a faculty development workshop and shared writing and reading assignments around the topic of banned books.  Along with a conversation about why people try to ban books and what some ramifications could be to the larger community and the country as a whole.

The library organized an extensive display of currently held banned or challenged books. Dr. McGivern also curated the research guide which provided a schedule of events, recordings and transcripts of performances, and local and national resources for more information.

Dr. Kate McGivern is a librarian at the Sidney Silverman Library at Bergen Community College. She can be reached at kmcgivern@bergen.edu.

By Desmond Kidney, Secretary of SCARLA, Rutgers University Chapter

On September 21, 2022, the Student College, Academic, and Research Librarian Association (SCARLA) at Rutgers University held its annual event on Zoom, Banned: A Virtual Banned Books Read-Out With Discussions on the Freedom to Read. The event was co-sponsored by two other Rutgers LIS program student associations: LISSA (Library and Information Science Student Association) and SOURCE (Student Organization for Rare and Unique Collections Everywhere). We were joined by over thirty students and faculty. The event included both read-outs of books chosen by the attendees, as well as flash talks prepared by invited Rutgers faculty, librarians and alumni, and concluded with an open discussion for the event’s closing half-hour.

A large portion of the evening was devoted to a series of flash talks. Professor Nancy Kranich discussed statistics related to the banning of books and the sharp increase in challenges over the past two years, particularly of books with politically charged topics—and the talking points politically-motivated groups distributed to foment challenges to books. Dr. Kris Helge spoke on the laws related to book banning and how to cover one’s institution from legal liability related to book bans. Rutgers librarian Kayo Denda expanded on Prof. Kranich’s discussion of the focal issues of books subject to challenges, particularly those that touch on issues of race and queerness. Dr. Kay Cassell discussed the importance of institutional policies for handling the challenging of books and the resources that state and national groups and associations have to assist in defending challenges. Librarian Martha Hickson described her personal experiences as someone working, as she put it “on the frontlines of intellectual freedom,” defending books from challenges. Finally, Dr. Stephanie Mikitish spoke on the need not only to have policies related to book challenges, but to have good policies—both for handling individual challenges and to discourage challenges before they can be issued.

Between the flash talks, attendees read selections from books that have been challenged or banned, including Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, John Oliver’s A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, and Alex Gino’s Melissa, among others. In addition to the readings, participants discussed both their appreciation for the books they selected as well as the time, place, and reasons the books were challenged or banned.

SCARLA is a graduate student organization at Rutgers University, dedicated to academic and research librarianship; it is affiliated with the NJLA College and University Section and the New Jersey Chapter of ACRL. SCARLA’s President is Victoria Sun. Erin Mustard is the Vice President. Desmond Kidney is SCARLA’s Secretary. Carolyn Quimby is both Treasurer and Webmaster. SCARLA’s faculty advisors are Dr. Marie Radford and Dr. Gretchen Stahlman. For more information, including details about upcoming events, visit https://scarla.rutgers.edu. 

If you are interested in connecting with SCARLA, you can join our listserv by sending an email to comminfo_scarla-join@email.rutgers.edu, with the word “subscribe” as the subject line. You can also email one of SCARLA’s faculty advisors, Dr. Marie Radford at mradford@comminfo.rutgers.edu, or Dr. Gretchen Stahlman, at gs838@comminfo.rutgers.edu. 

If you have an employment or internship opportunity you would like to post to the SC&I Job Board, please email details to Ildi Koczan, Assistant Director of Student Services for Careers at ildi.koczan@rutgers.edu

The CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter is edited by Joan Dalrymple, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Bergen Community College; Katie Maricic Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College of New Jersey; and Liz Siecke, Reference and Instruction Librarian/Serials Coordinator at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

This semester we welcome Rachel King to our editing team! Rachel is the Online Services & Scholarly Communications Librarian at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. 

Editors Liz Siecke, Katie Cohen and Joan Dalrymple pose for a picture at Ramapo College's George T. Potter Library in Summer 2022.