[Libs-Or] September 2018 Tuesday Topic: Banned Books Week & Oregon Battle of the Books

[Miranda Doyle]

*Welcome to Tuesday Topics, a monthly series covering topics with intellectual
freedom implications for libraries of all types. Each message is prepared
by a member of OLA's Intellectual Freedom Committee or a guest writer.
Questions can be directed to the author of the topic or to the IFC committee
(information at http://www.olaweb.org/contact-ifc).*

*Banned Books Week & Oregon Battle of the Books*











* As we celebrate Banned Books Week <https://bannedbooksweek.org/> (Sept.
23-29), some Oregon school districts are debating one specific book.
George, by Alex Gino, is on the grade 3-5 list for Oregon Battle of the
Books, a voluntary statewide reading competition. Everyone thinks the main
character, a fourth grader, is a boy -- but George identifies as a girl,
and wants to be called Melissa. The main character dreams of playing
Charlotte in the school production of Charlotte’s Web, even though it’s a
“girl’s part” and not everyone is supportive. In Oregon, some school
districts are not supportive, either, as they object to using George with
elementary OBOB participants. The debate about whether George is
appropriate for elementary school students and should have been selected
for OBOB was the subject of an article in The New York Times
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/books/george-alex-gino-controversy-oregon.html>in
May.It’s unfortunate that a few school districts are deciding not to
include the book in their OBOB reading list. This presents an opportunity
to have a statewide conversation about intellectual freedom, diverse books,
and why we support the freedom to read in our libraries.Latest Updates -
Over the summer, Canby School District
<https://portlandtribune.com/cby/147-news/400830-296636-school-district-excludes-controversial-obob-book>
decided to exclude the book from its Battle of the Books competition. Canby
joins the Hermiston and Cascade school districts in ruling against George.
- Public libraries may now sponsor an OBOB team as part of a one-year trial
program. Registration prices for public libraries is the same as for
schools, and the responsibilities are the same. Public libraries that would
like to participate can sign up through the OBOB website.- There was a
webinar for school administrators on August 9 that includes information on
George, but focused on book challenges and intellectual freedom as larger
issues. It was developed by  Jen Maurer, Oregon’s School Library
Consultant, who worked with ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Office. The
recording for the webinar, “When Books Spark Controversy  => Best Practices
for Administrators,” and other resources related to intellectual freedom
are available at bit.ly/IF-Webinar-Resources
<http://bit.ly/IF-Webinar-Resources>.- The Oregon Association of School
Libraries also has a new intellectual freedom website for administrators:
Controversial Materials & School Libraries
<https://sites.google.com/oasl.olaweb.org/intellectual-freedom>.- The
Oregon Department of Education has been very helpful in providing
information about Oregon’s health education standards
<https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/standards/health/Pages/default.aspx>,
which include teaching about gender identity in elementary schools, and
about equity and diversity in schools and libraries.- There will be at
least one session on intellectual freedom and book challenges, including
information about OBOB and George, at the Oregon Association of School
Libraries fall conference
<https://sites.google.com/ttsd.k12.or.us/oasl2018/home> in Wilsonville on
Oct. 12-13.If You Face a ChallengeIf your school or public library receives
questions about George and OBOB, you may want to be familiar with the
points below. - Emphasize that OBOB is a voluntary program. No student is
required to participate, and OBOB team members do not need to read all of
the books. Many teams divide up the 16 books on the list. The books are not
part of the official school curriculum.- Direct patrons to the OBOB website
<https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/>, which explains the book
selection process
<https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/book-nomination-criteria/>. The
site also makes it clear that, once selected, books will not be removed
from the OBOB list.- Encourage patrons to read the whole book rather than
relying on what they’ve seen on social media or heard from others. Many
objections to George cite brief passages or references in the book as the
issue, not the fact that it features a transgender protagonist. For
example, in one scene, Melissa searches online for information and then
clears her browser history, as her older brother has shown her how to do.
Some parents say this encourages children to be deceptive. However, there
are examples of children lying to their parents in several other OBOB books
this year, and these books have not been removed from the reading list.- As
with any book challenge conversation, remain calm, ask questions, listen,
thank the person for their concern and interest, and if needed, explain the
library’s reconsideration policy. Most people just want to express
themselves and feel heard, but don’t want to initiate a formal challenge
process.- Please report intellectual freedom challenges
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/c.php?g=843530&p=6029014> to the State
Library’s Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/c.php?g=843530&p=6029014>. No
identifying information is published in their annual report, as you can see
from the 2018 report
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/ld.php?content_id=43653214> that was
just released. Contact InformationIf you have questions, concerns, or need
support on a library materials challenge, please contact Miranda Doyle,
Intellectual Freedom Chair for OASL, at doylem at loswego.k12.or.us
<doylem at loswego.k12.or.us>.For questions about OBOB, contact OBOB
Administrative Chair Linda Fukasawa at oboblsta at gmail.com
<oboblsta at gmail.com> or Korie Buerkle, OBOB Finance Chair,
obobfinancechair at gmail.com <obobfinancechair at gmail.com>.Miranda
DoyleIntellectual Freedom ChairOregon Association of School
Librariesdoylem at loswego.k12.or.us <doylem at loswego.k12.or.us>*
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