Thread by @ashleyhopeperez

We need to unite behind a clear, forceful message. First: This is not just an attack on books. It's an attack on kids. It's an attack on schools. It's an effort to paint teachers and librarians as "the enemy."

Second: ALL of our kids belong in public schools. ALL of our kids deserve to find themselves in the books they seek out in libraries. ALL of our kids have parents whose "rights" matter, not just white, straight kids.

Third: Students--especially those with the identities represented in the books under attack- have faced unprecedented challenges through the pandemic, and these garbage games from the right are diverting essential school resources from the work of getting kids back on track.

Fourth: School leaders need to calmly follow existing policies for content review (including the curricular value of diverse lit) instead of opening libraries to attack by folks who don't read but do want to erase history, progress, and the very existence of non-dominant people.

Now, these points are already too nuanced for circulation as wide or fast as the shriek, "There's porn in the schools!" That's why we need more advocates, including PROACTIVE messaging to school leaders and SBs before demands for book removals come to them.

The condensed, diplomatic version of this position is this: "Let's focus on ALL students, not just these parents' kids. What response to these parents' concerns protects the interests of all students and supports the diversity of perspectives that is foundational to democracy?"

We don't react to shrieks of, "PORN!" "PEDOPHILIA!" "FILTH!" We focus on a positive message about students and the positive role of school libraries in providing support for navigating the complex realities of our world. We say, "Wouldn't we rather kids read than watch TikTok?"

Students benefit from thoughtful engagements with the issues and experiences that matter to them. When they are denied access to books that do this, they resort to unmonitored access to less reputable sources--the Internet, locker room, SnapChat. Books serve them better.

And, there is dark $ behind what is being painted as spontaneous parent concern, $ for everything from burdensome info requests that verge on harassment of school admin staff, to bounties on teachers and librarians, to bankrolling lawsuits

opensecrets.org/news/2021/06/s…