Partners Against Censorship: Education Librarians and School Librarians 

Date: Friday, September 20, 2024

Time: 4:00-5:00pm EST


Join us for a panel discussion featuring experts at the forefront of book challenges in the U.S. April M. Dawkins, Assistant Professor in the Department of Information, Library, & Research Sciences at UNC-Greensboro; Gavin Downing, Teacher-Librarian at Kentridge High School in Kent School District, Washington; and Elissa Malespina, a high school librarian, author, and educational consultant working in New Jersey will address critical issues facing teachers, school librarians, academic librarians and teacher education programs pertaining to readiness and training of educators in the defense of the freedom to read. Based on their research and lived experiences, the panelists will offer guidance on how librarians can support each other when it comes to dealing with book challenges or issues of censorship given the current legislative landscape.


This event is jointly sponsored by ACRL’s EBSS Instruction for Educators Committee and EBSS Curriculum Materials Committee.

Registration Link: 

https://iu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-AXar2s8Sl69ca72vZvZkg 


The session will be held from 1-2 pm Pacific, 2-3 pm Mountain, 3-4 pm Central, 4-5 pm Eastern Standard Times.

Meet the Panelists

Dr. April M. Dawkins

Dr. April Dawkins is an assistant professor in the Information, Library, & Research Sciences department at UNC-Greensboro. Prior to joining UNCG, April was a high school librarian and high school social studies in North Carolina for 21 years. Her research focuses on intellectual freedom in school libraries and the preparation of school librarians. She is the editor of Intellectual Freedom Issues in School Libraries (2020, Libraries Unlimited) and co-author of the 7th edition of The School Library Manager: Leading Through Change (2023, Libraries Unlimited). She is on the Advisory Board of the Get Ready Stay Ready Toolkit, an advocacy tool for parents and caregivers. She also currently serves on the executive board of the American Association of School Librarians as Director-at-Large. 


Gavin Downing

Gavin Downing is a teacher-librarian in Kent School District.  He was the recipient of the 2022 Candace Morgan Intellectual Freedom award from Washington Library Association, and the 2023 Student Involvement Award from the Washington Education Association for his work fighting book bans.  He currently is one of Washington's two Law for Librarians trainers with the American Library Association.

Elissa Malespina 

Elissa Malespina is an award-winning school librarian, educational consultant, and advocate for technology integration in education. Her work in educational equity includes testifying before the NJ Assembly Education Committee on the challenges faced by school librarians. Elissa is also featured in the book "Trouble in Censorville." Additionally, she runs her consulting company and provides professional development. Learn more about Elissa and her contributions at elissamalespina.com.

Meet the Moderator: 

James Rosenzweig

James Rosenzweig is a professor on the Library faculty at Eastern Washington University, and serves as EWU's Education and Children's Studies Librarian. Prior to arriving at EWU in 2015, he worked as Education Librarian at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, and as a social studies and language arts teacher at several middle and high schools in his home state of Washington. He is active in ACRL's Education and Behavioral Sciences Section, having served a term on EBSS's Executive Board as well as multiple terms as a member of the Curriculum Materials Committee, the Instruction for Educators Committee, and now the EBSS Awards Committee. His research interests include information literacy for incoming college students and the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ representation in children's picture books.

EBSS Instruction for Educators (IFE) Committee

The EBSS IFE Committee is charged with providing “a forum for librarians interested in bibliographic instruction in education; identifying the issues and problems encountered by librarians serving schools, colleges, and departments of education in colleges and universities; and developing approaches and solutions to those problems.” The current membership of the committee engages with with this mission through hosting events such as the virtual forum on AI and also through the development of the Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Instruction for Educators which was approved for publication by ACRL Board of Directors in June 2023. 

View the committee roster or volunteer.

EBSS Curriculum Materials Committee (CMC) Committee

The EBSS CMC Committee is charged with providing a forum "To examine areas of concern in curriculum materials administration; to explore the possibilities for improving curriculum materials administration (including selection, acquisition, classification, reference and retrieval, automation aspects, circulation, personnel, facilities, national and regional needs, cooperation, and continuing education); and to recommend to the EBSS Executive Committee alternative actions for making such improvements. 

View the committee roster or volunteer.

Book Challenges and Teacher Education Resources

Books and Articles

Dawkins, A. (2022). Censorship and silence: How book bans and removals threaten diverse stories and voices. Literacy Today, 39(4), 30-34. 

Dawkins, A.M. (2018). The decision by school librarians to self-censor: The impact of perceived administrative discomfort. Teacher Librarian, 45(3),8-12.

Dawkins, A., & Branyon, A. (2022). Prepared to Defend? Results of a Gap Analysis to Measure School Librarian Students’ Prior Knowledge and Learning of

Intellectual Freedom Concepts. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 63(4), 461-476. 

Manning, R. & Peyton, S. (Executive Producers). Fierce Compassion: Episode 21: Libraries Under Threat with Gavin Downing [Audio podcast].

  https://antiracistconversations.com/episode-21-libraries-under-threat-with-gavin-downing/ 

Sachdeva, D. E., Kimmel, S. C., & Chérres, J. S. (2023). “It’s Bigger Than Just a Book Challenge”: A Collective Case Study of Educators’ Experiences With 

Censorship. Teachers College Record, 125(6), 30-59. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681231184515

Sheppard, C. (2022, May 10). Kent middle school librarian wins intellectual freedom award. Seattle Weekly. https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/kent-middle-

school-librarian-wins-intellectual-freedom-award/ 

Woolls, B., Valenza, J. K., & Dawkins, A. M. (2023). The School Library Manager: Leading Through Change. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. 

Yorio, K. (2022, Oct 18). After her book displays drew criticism, librarian Elissa Malespina lost her job. She's here to say, 'I'm not OK with this.' School Library

  Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/After-Her-Book-Displays-Drew-Criticism-Librarian-Elissa-Malespina-Lost-Her-Job-Shes-Here-to-Say-Im-Not-OK-with-This


Online Resources and Tools