#FReadom Fighters

How we started:

On November 4, 2021 a group of librarian #FReadom fighters organized a twitter takeover of the #Txlege. We highlighted positive books and invited families, authors, librarians, teens, and parents to join. We shared this Information https://bit.ly/FReadom

Our mission and goals:

We are committed to highlighting the positive work of librarians, to speak up in support of authors and students, and to provide professional resources for librarians, teachers or authors facing book challenges.

We invite you to join us, check out resources on our website, and follow along on hashtag #FReadom.

Background:

Representative Krause, Chairman of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, sent a letter to unnamed Texas school districts that has Incited a war on books. A war on access to information, a constitutionally protected first amendment right. Censorship from parents, community members, or politicians on information FOR ALL patrons is still censorship.

We support parents/family members as partners in their own child's learning, and encourage conversations with librarians and principals about their reading wishes for their own child. But libraries also adhere to board policies that "A parent's ability to exercise control over reading, listening, or viewing matter extends only to his or her own child." We support districts adhering to their own board approved policies which offer a process for parental requests.

Click here to learn more about librarian job qualifications and library processes.

As Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop writes, books build empathy, providing windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors. They help us to see others & understand their lived experiences. Every human being deserves to be seen and valued for their full and authentic selves.