School Librarians and Our Fight Against Censorship
What National Library Week means to teacher librarians during a time of book banning
BY NICHOLE BEER
When I reflect upon my 23 years as an urban school librarian so many emotions come to mind. Working with elementary students in the library is not just what I do, it is who I am. Roller Coaster days are the way of the teacher; happy, sad, overcome, joyful, frustrated, in fact every emotion possible is felt in the ‘heart’ of the school, by both educators and the kids. My moments of pure joy and happiness are often punctured by the looming cloud of modern day censorship and arcane anti-inclusionary legislation. This censorship virus, which is not just about materials, but also the censorship of people to even exist in library spaces, has infected my library joy.
Before I even knew how to express my life’s philosophy it lived in me. This simmering need for justice for people who didn’t look like me. I grew up in an urban industrial town in the Midwest, that peaked in the 1950’s and was all but dead by the early 1980’s. I never saw myself as that one white girl in a melanin driven city. I had a passion for books about historical figures, such as Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Che Gevara, Huey Newton, and Khalil Gabrian. The need to fight for social justice appeared to be something that I was born with, I never remember a time that I wasn’t thinking about who and what I could try to change or be passionate about. I mixed my ever increasing formal knowledge, my informal street education, reading, and traveling. I sharpened my brain and my words, for the fight of my life. The fight for the great equalizer, free and open public school libraries.
I teach in Clark County Nevada, mostly centered in the Las Vegas Nevada Valley. This district is the 5th largest in the nation, with 322 schools, 315,000 students, and 30,000 employees. Any changes in our district, good or bad, have a huge impact on literally hundreds of thousands of people.
For 12 long years, I either led, followed, yelled, sat, marched or cried for our school district to turn the tides of library cut backs. In the summer of 2019 I had the opportunity to have a long conversation with our new superintendent who had been on the job for about 8 months. There was something about our new leader that gave me hope for libraries. At that time we had 80 libraries out of 320 with certified teacher librarians, and about half of those were given a budget to purchase new items. In the fall of 2019, I gathered two other librarians and we met with a supportive school board trustee and the superintendent. I brought the passion, and my colleagues brought the data. I was clear about our demands- A certified teacher librarian in every school in the district, an adequate space to teach and offer materials to students and staff, and a sufficient budget to grow and nurture current library collections. In addition, there needed to be change to the antiquated diversity language that applied to collection development. These were the same demands that I and so many others had been fighting to achieve for many years, then COVID.
In spite of Covid, and Zoom meetings and emails, worry, pushback, frustration, and grinding teeth, on February 25, 2021 the Clark County School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously (7–0) to pass our demands, which present to the world as CCSD policies 6161 and CCSD policy 6150. In addition to a certified teacher librarian in every school house, (CCSD 6161, 2021) we also added collection development language to include, “inclusive and responsive to the diversity of people without discrimination to, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation” (CCSD 6150, 2021). The gender affirming and sexual orientation language was one of the battles that I would not give up. In the end, it was my superintendent, who said, “We are going to do this Nichole’s way”. Not bad for a kid from the hood. I can honestly say, when I reflect on those policies and the impact it has had on educators, students, and our community, I feel pure joy.
As it turns out, these policies and strong librarians are the only buffer between our students and would be censorship in Southern Nevada. I know that many of you out there are fighting the same battles I did for 12 years, or even more. What I want to let you know is this, in this time of censorship, and uncertainty, don’t give up. When you don’t know who to call, call me, we will figure it out, when you don’t think there is any hope left, I assure you there is, when you want to scream, scream at me. In this time of censorship, we will not lie down, we will not cower, we will not believe naysayers, we will organize, we will fight, we will march, we will yell, and we will read. I am a phone call or an email away, I will help you organize, fight, and win, even if it takes 12 years.
Nichole Beer is a Teacher Librarian and Social Justice Advocate who lives with her spouse in Las Vegas. She has three fur babies and her daughter is a school psychologist in the same district.
Nichole’s doctoral work focused on Latinx picture books. Most of her academic research and work has all been guided by her work and life philosophy; “ I am only as free as the person next to me”. Nichole has presented at dozens of conferences, professional development and workshops, mostly in the area of diversity and inclusion in library collections. She taught Social Justice English Composition at Nevada State College for 6 years.
When she is not working on library inclusion work, she travels the world and is particularly interested in countries that are working towards indigenous food sources and global food sustainability.
She can be reached at nikkibeerhere@gmail.com or 702–802–8136 (PST)
https://www.ccsd.net/district/policies-regulations/pdf/6161_P.pdf
https://www.ccsd.net/district/policies-regulations/pdf/6150_R.pdf
