Although I have been retired as a school librarian since 2018, I continue to maintain my membership in the Association of Independent School Librarians. This year’s annual conference was originally planned for Orlando, Florida, but, because of the ongoing attack on school libraries empowered by the current governor, many AISL members were reluctant to support the economy of Florida. The creative solution was to turn the 3 day conference into a one day zoom conference with participants joining from their home locations while two popular children’s authors as well as the head of a Holocaust Education Center and a speaker from the Florida Freedom to Read organization shared their insights in sessions throughout the day. It was a stimulating day interspersed with drawings for prizes provided by library vendors. I didn’t win any prizes but everyone had fun little gifts as part of their registration.
For many librarians, this is their week of Spring Break. For me it was just a nice break.
@bkbinthecity I posted a link from a good overview article but it didn’t work. Google “school libraries Florida” and you will see it is now like China and Russia.
Nice you could attend virtually. Unfortunately, it's not just Florida. The Livingston Parish library nearby has been in constant turmoil. The head and assistant librarians resigned and the parish council threatened to reduce the library's budget.
Banning books mystifies me. When I was a kid, if you told me not to read a book, I did my best to find a copy and read it.
@eudora The irony is the group behind this censorship campaign is “Moms for Liberty” whose role models are the totalitarian governments of China and Russia.
March 13th, 2024
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Banning books mystifies me. When I was a kid, if you told me not to read a book, I did my best to find a copy and read it.