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  1. Home
  2. Tag: Communication and Advocacy

Communication and Advocacy

How can I build bridges or find common ground with someone who has a materials concern?

Posted on May 6, 2025

Q:  It’s important to me to try to build a bridge when someone comes to me with a concern about library materials. Currently, complaints seem more focused on eliminating certain types of content from libraries …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Public Libraries, School Libraries

Is there a way to make sure reconsideration requests are authentic?

Posted on April 4, 2025

Q:  Recently, my district received a series of reconsideration requests consisting of information copied from websites featuring book reviews from sources intended to cast the books in a negative light. It seems like these requests …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Policies and Procedures, School Libraries

How can I feel more confident that I’m ready to handle a complaint?

Posted on February 3, 2025

Q:  I am graduating with my library degree soon.  The many challenges around the country over the past few years have come up in my classes. I feel great about other aspects of librarianship, but …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Policies and Procedures, Public Libraries, School Libraries

Worried about District Support for Classroom Books

Posted on May 9, 2024

Q:  I’m a classroom teacher and I feel like my district administration has become fearful of the potential for complaints from parents about what we’re teaching, especially with all the attempts around the country to …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Classrooms/Curriculum, Communication and Advocacy, Policies and Procedures

Preparing for a Complaint

Posted on April 10, 2024

Q:  I read your advice on preparing in advance to respond to a concern or complaint. It all makes sense but I feel like I should be doing more, given everything that’s been happening over …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Policies and Procedures, Public Libraries, School Libraries

Updating the Request for Reconsideration Form

Posted on November 10, 2023

Q: Do you have suggestions for changes we might make to our public library’s reconsideration process to discourage challenges from people who haven’t even looked at the materials they are challenging firsthand? It’s so frustrating …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Policies and Procedures, Public Libraries

The Importance of Considering Content in Context

Posted on February 21, 2023

Q: I’m struggling with how to explain why words or a scene or images in a book taken out of context should not be used to discount the book as a whole.  Can you offer …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Classrooms/Curriculum, Collection Development, Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Policies and Procedures, Public Libraries, School Libraries

Talking about Intellectual Freedom with Community

Posted on March 16, 2022

Q: How can I talk with members of the community about the importance of intellectual freedom? That’s a great question. Intellectual freedom is foundational to the work we do in libraries and so talking about …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Public Libraries, School Libraries

Concern Library Attempting to “Indoctrinate” Children

Posted on March 16, 2022

Q: A recent concern raised by several people is that our library is attempting to “indoctrinate” children with the materials we provide. What are your thoughts on how to respond? Like accusations that libraries are …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Communication and Advocacy, Materials Concerns/Challenges, Public Libraries, School Libraries

Claims That Reviews Reflect “Liberal” Bias

Posted on January 25, 2022

Q: How can I respond to accusations that the review journals and other professional sources libraries turn to for book evaluations and recommendations are biased toward “liberal” perspectives? First, it’s important to realize we all …

Posted in What IF ... ForumTagged Collection Development, Communication and Advocacy, Public Libraries, School Libraries
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