The business of reconsideration requests used to be few and far between. Not so in our current climate, where schools and public libraries are faced with lists of dozens (sometimes hundreds) of books being challenged at once. The titles have a lot in common – authored by or sharing the lived experiences of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Challenges are part of the ecosystem of a healthy collection, but the pace and rate at which they are being filed – by people who haven’t read the book and who are using media and social media as a weapon against libraries and staff -- causes undue stress on all library workers.

This session will focus on the Materials Management policies and procedures at your library. Defending challenges against censorship requires a robust yet precise set of guidelines that ensures all materials are evaluated equally. Labeling and proposed rating systems will also be addressed.