FEATURE
Tough Times for Library Curation: How to Fight Back
by Carolyn Foote
| “[I]t is a challenging time for curation and purchasing in a number of states. School librarians and public libraries—already short-staffed—are having to take more time away from interactions with students and patrons. … But the largest impact is the chilling effect of these bills and legislative actions. |
Somewhere in Texas, a student is eagerly waiting for a library to get a new book—the newest Wimpy Kid or Rick Riordan title. But in states such as Texas and Florida, new state laws and, in some cases, misuse of AI are slowing down titles arriving in school libraries. Lengthy processes have been legislated by state law. Additionally, legislators or attorneys general in states such as Florida have reached into the curation process itself, often leaving access for all families behind. A growing movement challenges community belief in our library institutions and the librarians who helm them in our public schools and school libraries, politicizing the process of curation. In Texas, a new law—SB 13—creates a series of definitions for the selection process, sets up a process for library advisory committees that will review purchases, adds a 30-day period for booklists to be posted online for comment, and requires school boards to approve each book order. Because of provisions in the bill also requiring that students be barred from checking out certain titles, some districts are discontinuing their ebook platforms until they have the capacity to individualize titles and are discontinuing their joint use agreements with community libraries. A previous bill—HB 900—reaches into classroom libraries as well.
In Utah, HB 29 states that if three districts in the state remove a title for objectionable content, then all school libraries in the state have to remove the title. When Florida’s most recent bill failed, the attorney general began pursuing superintendents on social media and sending threatening letters to school districts asking for removal of particular titles that had already been vetted and approved by local reconsideration committees. A well-meaning school leader in Iowa attempted to screen library books using AI, and at the time of this writing, a couple of companies are attempting to use AI for the same purpose: to match titles against banned books lists.
A Chilling Effect on Purchasing
Laws like these create confusion and have a chilling effect on purchasing, including planning ebook contracts for librarians, teachers, and administrators. They also impact business platforms that are trying to rapidly adapt to changing laws, state by state. Some booksellers, such as the independent bookstore BookPeople in Texas, have even suspended their school book purchase services because the new curation processes required in that state make the market too uncertain.
Library management system software companies are scrambling to make modifications to software that allow for parent notification, often in ways that bend library ethics expectations. Book vendors are modifying practices in a variety of ways. Preview books can’t be permitted in Texas, for example, and “diversity collections” became a target in places such as Florida and Tennessee. Ebook platforms, if they are to maintain their school business, are having to adapt to isolating certain patrons or specific titles. Librarians worried about their jobs may stay away from diverse or challenging titles.
All of this means it is a challenging time for curation and purchasing in a number of states. School librarians and public libraries—already short-staffed—are having to take more time away from interactions with students and patrons to work behind the scenes vetting titles, screening library collections, and engaging with vendors. But the largest impact is the chilling effect of these bills and legislative actions. Librarians believe, as S.R. Ranganathan outlined, that every book has its reader. They are guided by professional tenets to purchase books that represent all of the members of their community and to build well-balanced collections. However, self-censorship is a common reaction that arises in climates like these, even in libraries that are wholly unaffected by any laws or community outrage. Librarians, after all, are humans first, with lives and families, and the viral nature of social media adds to the intense pressure and difficulty. So what can be done?
Lean Into the Data
Librarians have to continue to dig deep into the values of the profession and embrace the best curation tools and practices from ALA and other organizations that provide training and support. AI can assist. Tools such as Perplexity can quickly pull up models of best practices (along with the sources) for librarians who need support. Preparing data for purchases is a first step.
Librarians can collect and curate reviews for titles from vendors and conduct audits analyzing the library’s current collection requirements to demonstrate why titles are needed. Knowing the school district’s curriculum or local community’s concerns can help you be prepared in selecting the best titles for your community. Collaborating with other partners—such as librarians in your region—to discuss titles together is another safeguard to prevent your own “self-censorship” from spilling into your work.
Summarize Local Policies
Being prepared to outline to your supervisors the actual language from the law or from local policies is also key. Often, school leaders aren’t well-versed in library policies to begin with. To prevent leaders from reacting emotionally, preparing them ahead of time, familiarizing them with the law and local policies, and helping them be ready for potential conflict are helpful steps to avoid problems later. If leaders know what to say when confronted by a community member at the grocery store, they will feel more prepared.
Share the Library’s Value
Telling the library’s story, including its curation process, is also an important step for building understanding. In San Antonio, librarian Lucy Podmore hosted a Freedom Walk at her campus, with a variety of information—one table had a Candy Land-inspired display of how a book gets into the library—to help build understanding among her families and students (knowledgequest.aasl.org/engaging-voters-with-a-freedom-walk). Most patrons, whether in public or school libraries, do not know how librarians select materials. In my district, I hosted a webinar for parents on how books are selected and what the state policy was at the time to build goodwill and understanding.
Another proactive step to ensure support for the curation process is to build relationships with other community organizations that care about student access to literature. Connect with vendors or publishers that can help you support titles that might get more intense attention. Keep written rationales already prepared for any titles that might prove controversial so that staffers aren’t scrambling to explain a purchase.
Leverage AI
In the face of this challenging environment, librarians are also watching AI tools unfold rapidly. Not only will they become more and more a part of the way librarians curate books, but they will also make it easier for critics to spin up lists of books for would-be censors to challenge. However, AI can be a helpful tool in supporting curation decisions, writing research-based rationales for titles, and scouring data for book summaries and reviews. For example, I used Perplexity (perplexity.ai) to ask for reviews for a frequently challenged title from reputable book review sources and requested six reasons why the book should be retained in a high school library (see the image above). Similarly, I’ve used ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) to quickly generate talking points for the freedom to read. Librarians can also anticipate the role of AI to increase in helping dissect data about their collections, make recommendations of titles, and make titles more accessible for patrons through features added to library management systems. Acquisition processes, notwithstanding cumbersome legislation in some states, will of course become more automated.
Challenges and Opportunities in a Time of Rapid Change
We find ourselves in a strange time, when books are often readily available to under-resourced communities, but efforts to censor and limit access are underway in many different states. Librarians find themselves caught in the middle in both a politically regressive and technology-progressive era. The challenge/opportunity is that more than ever before, the processes of acquisition for school and public libraries are becoming more familiar to our communities. Librarians have continued to respond professionally to heated rhetoric, social media mayhem, and repressive state laws to put the needs of students and patrons first and to engage in best practices for purchasing materials. In fact, these difficult environments have helped libraries shore up their best practices in some cases and have provided a perfect opportunity to be more transparent and responsive in their purchasing. As budgets have grown tighter the last year or two, this transparency might serve some libraries well, and the professionalism of librarians may firm up their spot in the local school or public library ecosystem.
If nothing else is clear, it is a time of rapid change—societally, legislatively, politically, and technologically. Our ongoing job, no matter the changes, is to sort out how to continue getting that book in our collection so the young person waiting for the next Wimpy Kid or Riordan title—or a title about their mental well-being—is not denied access. Our goal is what it always has been: to get books in the hands of readers and to build informed communities. That is worth our engagement in the freedom to read, and it’s worth our engagement in navigating AI changes to our processes. As BTS member RM sings, “Things change, people change, everything change.” But our core values—of access to reading materials and information—must endure.
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