Proactive, Reactive, and Supportive
Saturday, May 16
8:30 am – 1:00 pm
Dutchess BOCES Conference Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
Cost: $30, includes lunch

REGISTER HERE

This half-day conference will feature presentations in all capacities of banned and challenged books and programs. This Symposium is in partnership with Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, Ramapo Catskill Library System, Mid-Hudson Library System, Mount Saint Mary College, SUNY New Paltz and BOCES School Library Systems of Dutchess and Ulster. Registration will be available at senylrc.org the week of March 23rd.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

8:30 am Registration opens
9:00 am Welcome Remarks
9:15 - 10:05 am Session1 (choose one)
10:05 - 10:20 am Break
10:20 - 11:10 am Session 2 (choose one)
11:10 -11:45 am Lunch
11:45 am - 1:00 pm Keynote

Keynote Speaker: Kasey Meehan

Kasey Meehan is the Freedom to Read Program Director at PEN America, leading our initiatives to protect the right of students to freely access literature in schools. Previously, Kasey served as the Associate Director of Postsecondary Policy at a mission-driven education research organization in Philadelphia, Research for Action. Kasey’s research centers students, educators, and school leaders’ experiences in identifying strategies for reform and capturing emerging best practices and strives to connect research to policy and program change. Kasey holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a MPA from the Fels Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, along with a Certificate in Politics.

Breakout Sessions

Session 1:

• Cancel Culture and the Right to Read (Public) Elizabeth Portillo and Jessica Gordon, Finkelstein Memorial Library, Rockland County
  The ALA Bill of Rights states, “Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.” Meanwhile, ALA releases their yearly list of challenged and banned book titles that feature LGBTQIA+ themes, sexual content, EDI content, profanity, drugs, and more. But what about the other side of book challenges? J.K. Rowling, Dr. Seuss, James Dashner: authors whose personal lives or outdated text have led to many calling for their books to be removed? Does “cancel culture” have a place in the public library? The presenters will dive into their experience defending the ALA Bill of Rights in a way that isn’t discussed as much because it isn’t glamorous: defending terrible authors and offensive out-of-date texts, while trying to explain to patrons why keeping these books on the shelf is the very foundation of public librarianship.
• Let the Students Do All the Work! Student-Produced Banned Books Week Posters as Course Projects and Library Marketing Opportunities (Academic) Johanna MacKay, Lucy Scribner Library, Skidmore CollegeLucy Scribner Library, Skidmore College 
  Lucy Scribner Library offered a credit-bearing course that looked at the history of public libraries in the United States that included a focus on censorship. For one of the final assignments, students researched and produced posters and short reports on cases of censorship including book challenges and bans from several time periods in public library history. The project placed a particular emphasis on primary source research. Posters included QR codes that linked viewers to the short reports produced by the students. These posters were then used the next fall for the Banned Books Week display in the library, allowing for the posters and reports to serve multiple purposes and allowing for student-driven outreach during Banned Books Week. In this workshop, we’ll talk about the makeup of the course and lessons that covered censorship, the structure of the project and students’ research, how the posters were utilized in the library’s Banned Books Week display, and how one might adapt such a project if not able to teach a longer, credit-bearing course.

• Stories that Connect Us. Community and Communication in the Face of Book Challenges (Schools) Kelly McGuire, Cayuga Onondaga BOCES
  Stories shape who we are and help us understand one another. When books are challenged, it is not only access to ideas that is at stake, but also the connections and shared values that bind a community together. In this session we will explore how stories serve as a source of empathy, identity, and resilience, especially in times of controversy. Together, we will consider how our role in protecting access to books is also protecting the shared narratives that strengthen our schools, our communities, our past, and our future. Initially, this was for k-12, but is applicable to a wide range of library settings.

Session 2:

• Judged by the Covers: Meet the Challenge – Organize, Advocate, and Overcome (Public) Steve Alcalde and Casey Golda, Rogers Memorial Library; Erin Kanelos, Suffolk Cooperative Library System ; Kimberly Manise, Port Jefferson Free Library 
  A panel of public librarians representing Adult, Teen, and Children’s Departments, will explore strategies to counteract book challenges, bans, and board infiltrations in libraries. Participants will gain access to a comprehensive online toolkit, providing digital resources for effectively addressing these challenges and engaging with advocacy groups. Additionally, attendees are invited to join a newly established online forum, designed as a collaborative space for exchanging ideas and supporting efforts against censorship in libraries. This event, which has been presented at ALA and NYLA, is essential for professionals committed to preserving the freedom of information and expression within library environments.
• Young Adult Intellectual Freedom Advocates (General) Deborah Engel-Di Mauro, Elting Memorial Library
  Elting Memorial Library established a Young Adult Intellectual Freedom Advocates program, using curriculum materials from Brooklyn Public Library's Freedom to Reed Teen Advocacy Toolkit. Advocates met roughly twice a month for four months and made zines for their capstone projects. In this session, we'll try some toolkit activities and talk about how Elting Library implemented the program with funding from BPL's Books Unbanned initiative.
• Guided By Values: How School Librarians Navigate Collection Development in Time of Censorship (Schools) Melissa Iamonico, Tuckahoe School District
  In an era of heightened censorship and book challenges, school librarians are increasingly called to make principled collection development decisions that balance intellectual freedom, professional ethics, and community expectations. This session presents findings from a recent doctoral dissertation exploring how school librarians apply the ALA Core Values and Code of Ethics to guide their work in these complex circumstances. Through quantitative data and circulation data, the research illuminates how values such as access and diversity shape librarians’ responses to censorship pressures. The presentation also underscores the critical role of collaboration between school and public librarians in defending the freedom to read and ensuring equitable access to information for all young people. 

REGISTER HERE