Missouri librarians developed a workshop in 2015 designed to train frontline library workers in the basics of intellectual freedom principles and book challenge defense. Now they have used the knowledge to fight state censorship.
Missouri lawmakers on March 23, 2023, moved to strip state funding from public libraries in retaliation for a lawsuit challenging a new state law that bans certain materials in school libraries.In October 2022, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroftof a proposed state regulatory rule that would eliminate state funding to libraries that failed to comply with a list of requirements meant to restrict access to “age-inappropriate” materials that might fall into the hands of children.
Norman and her colleagues tested the training at their branch of Mid-Continent in 2015. Then they extended the workshop to the entire library system, training 900 Mid-Continent library workers in one-on-one conversations in just six weeks. Norman and her colleagues then pitched the training to the Missouri Library Association’s annual conference, and it was a hit. Now, intellectual freedom and challenge defense training has become a standard offering at the event.
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