We know your schedule is tight. That’s why we’re introducing a series of brand new crash courses: 2-hour, expert-led virtual courses that are recorded for on-demand viewing; feature queer theory and manga crash courses!
Censorship and Book Bans: How to Defend Intellectual Freedom |
Learn tangible, proactive ways to handle censorship, find allies, and ensure your library policies are up to date. |
The last few years have seen a drastic uptick in book bans and curriculum challenges. As a librarian, teacher, administrator, or trustee, it can be difficult to know your options for managing these challenges and advocating for intellectual freedom and diverse educational materials. This half-day online course will focus on proactive preparation to ensure you are set up for success. We will also discuss ways to cope and protect yourself if you’re already in the throes of censorship challenges. Live sessions will be available on-demand. |
Session 1 | 12:00-12:45 EST Proactive Resistance: Policies, Procedures, and Protocols Whether you’re preparing for challenges or you’re already dealing with them, this session will give you the practical tools you need to manage censorship. You will learn innovative policy ideas to reduce and resist censorship in your area, as well as strategies for auditing your current practices to ensure they will adequately defend intellectual freedom in your area. You will leave this session with new ideas for streamlined procedures and protocols that you can establish in your library to help you resist book bans and defend the right to read. |
Session 2: 12:45-1:25 EST Stronger Together: Building Community, Coalitions, and Allies Defending intellectual freedom can’t be the job of just one person. This session will teach you how to find allies inside and outside of your library or school, build coalitions, and work as a community to combat censorship challenges. You will leave with shared resources and tools for how to connect with others to drive change in your community. |
Session 3 | 1:35-2:15 EST Local Advocacy: How to Gain Political Support for Intellectual Freedom Building from the previous session, this session will discuss tactics for gaining local legislative support for intellectual freedom in your area. You will learn how to craft your advocacy story and what types of lobbying most libraries are allowed to do. Leave with practical tips for political action you can take to defend intellectual freedom. |
Session 4 | 2:15-3:05 Proactive Governance: How to Prepare for and Handle Problems in Your Board Meetings Learn tangible tools you can use and actions you can take to help manage disruptions to your board meetings. Whether you’re facing internal challenges, external challenges, or both, you will leave this session prepared with best practices to keep your governance on track. |
Session 5 | 3:15-4:00 EST Protecting Yourself Amid Censorship and Defamation Attacks Too often, librarians and educators are being publicly targeted by people attempting to advance censorship. This session will teach you how to protect yourself online from doxxing and other harassment. You will also learn strategies for setting and maintaining boundaries, advocating for yourself in the workplace, and prioritizing wellness through rest and connection to others through affinity groups. |
Our courses are perfect for your team! Group rates available now! Request a discount for groups of 3 or more and work with your colleagues on a project for your library. Purchase 15 or more registrations and apply them across multiple courses. |
Introducing course credit packages! Buy now, decide later. Plan your library’s professional development for the year by purchasing course credits. Starting at $5,000, purchase packages of course tickets that you can allocate to your staff as needed and apply to our full roster of courses. Contact us to plan your group purchase. |
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