Welcome!
Are you interested in learning more about the book challenge process?
Facing questions about 'appropriate material' in your library or school?
This LibGuide is made to help you answer those questions based on past experiences in an ES library.
First Step
First and foremost, take a breath.
Then another.
The USA, the ALA, and the world, are all facing an unprecedented number of book challenges. One can speculate on why (politics, pandemic isolation, rising temperatures) but know that this is not your fault. No matter what you might have said or done, once a formal book challenge begins, fall back on your own professionalism and library policies to guide you.
Infobase Blog | Protecting Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors
- Defending Challenged Books: Steps Librarians Can TakeRead about how Linda Hoiseth worked to establish board approved policies to protect Student's Freedom to Read in this Infographic blog post.
Board Policies
Library Policy
Does your school and library program have a board adopted book selection policy? A book challenge policy?
If not, rely on the ALA policy linked below.
- ALA | How to Respond to Challenges
Read through the recommended step-by-step guide and access standardized forms.
Book Challenge Report
- Book Challenge ReportA list of the formal and informal* challenges as organized by Julie Jones in April 2022. This report also reviews the steps taken, the conversations had, and the way challenges have been taken place to date.
*Formal is used in this context to indicate that the concern/complaint led to a committee review of the book.
**Informal is used in this context to delineate that the concern/complaint was resolved by a conversation between the initiator and the ES librarian.
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ALA | Transforming Libraries
