Dear Member

On April 4, 2022 the State of America’s Libraries Report was released along with the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2021. The information is both disheartening and encouraging. The Office of Intellectual Freedom documented over 700 attempted book bans, the largest number since these statistics were first collected over twenty years ago. As evidenced by the list of Top Ten Most Challenged Books, the majority of challenges were against books by or about marginalized people, specifically people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. This fact is especially disheartening considering the disparities in publishing that already make it difficult for these books to be published and circulated.

That is why I chose to dedicate my annual Chair’s Program to these authors. This year at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., the IFRT Chair’s Program will be a conversation with George M. Johnson. George M. Johnson (they, their) is a non-binary, activist, journalist, and bestselling author of All Boys Aren't Blue (number 3 on the 2021 Top Ten Most Challenged Books List) and We Are Not Broken. Johnson’s books tell the story of Black boyhood, brotherhood, matriarchal love and the trauma from dealing with homophobia, transphobia and racism. All Boys Aren’t Blue experienced attempted bans and even criminalization in at least 15 different states. This program will look at this situation from the perspective of the author, and if you are attending ALA Annual this year I encourage you to come and hear George’s story (Saturday, June 25th at 1pm ET).

The encouraging news from the report is that, in spite of the increasing number of challenges, the majority of people oppose the removal of books from public libraries and hold a high level of confidence in the expertise of librarians. This news is inspiring, and we should continue to encourage those who oppose book banning to speak out against the very vocal minority who challenge books that allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the world we live in. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement.

However, I know that librarians are already doing this work. I wish to congratulate Terri Lesley, the 2022 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award recipient. Congratulations are also due to the Tennessee Library Association (TLA) and the Tennessee Association of School Librarians (TASL), the recipients of the Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award, as well as Jamie M.Gregory, winner of the IFRT Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award.

Thank you all for the work that you do and for your support for intellectual freedom. Please continue to support our colleagues who are on the front lines by contributing to the Merritt Fund!

IFRT Chair, Rhonda Evans