The ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee is thrilled to announce that they are sponsoring a program at ALA Annual this June in Chicago. The topic is “Toxic Exclusion: Banned Authors Share How to Support Children’s Access to Information”. Two authors whose books have been challenged or banned will join me, Julia Nephew, Co-Chair of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee. I will be the moderator for what is sure to be an insightful discussion about the repercussions of censorship.
Read more: ALSC Intellectual Freedom at ALA 2026Our guest authors are Jess Callans, author of the middle grade novel Ollie in Between, a 2025 Stonewall Honor Book for Children’s Literature, and Kit Rosewater, author of the queer YA romances Buried Feelings and All’s Fair in Love and Field Hockey, as well as the Derby Daredevils, an illustrated middle grade series. Kit is the chairperson of the Freedom to Read New Mexico coalition, and advocates in schools and at the state legislature against book censorship.
Censors claim to be protecting children from perceived harm by banning knowledge, and the negative side effects of limiting information are vast. Restricting knowledge hampers students’ critical thinking, causes emotional suppression, and leads to reduced empathy (https://informationmatters.org/2023/10/silenced-voices-ripples-of-book-ban/ and https://firstbook.org/solutions/banned-books-study/). Censors have been successful in restricting materials from all students and young patrons in their schools and libraries.
We will discuss what supporters of the freedom to read can do to reverse this censorship. As library professionals, we need to know our community supporters and communicate to them how the children are negatively impacted by the act of censorship. Author presenters will describe their personal experiences with having their books and school visits censored. Attendees will learn how authors have responded to the attacks on their publications and what has worked to get the message out that the suppression of ideas harms students. We will learn how librarians, teachers, and parents can support these authors and therefore children’s learning.
Learning Objectives:
- define intellectual freedom as including children’s access to information deemed appropriate by professionals, such as teachers and librarians and that censorship chills their ability to access important information.
- describe how banning books and authors’ speech hampers children’s innate need to understand and question the world around them.
- demonstrate some of the negative effects on our society from the current censorship of characters that represent race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more.
Please join us for a thoughtful program that addresses an issue fundamental to the freedom to read.
Today’s blog post was written by Julia Nephew is Head of Youth Services at Winfield Public Library on behalf of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee. Julia is Co-Chair of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee. She has served on the Caldecott 2023 Award Committee and has published articles in Children and Libraries on intellectual freedom. She has volunteered as an elected commissioner for her locate park district since 2009.
This post addresses the core competencies of I. Commitment to Client Group and IV. Knowledge, Curation, and Management of Materials.
Julia Nephew
Update: we are thrilled to announce that a third author will be joining the program: Jarrett Dapier, librarian and author of the graphic novel _Wake Now in the Fire_. It is based on the true story of how the graphic novel _Persepolis_ by Marjane Satrapi was banned by the Chicago Public Schools without explanation. NPR featured it March 12, 2026. The ALA Annual program will be held Sunday, June 28 at 9:00 AM at McCormick Place, W 179 A B. We hope to see you there supporting intellectual freedom and those who are on the front lines in the struggle for the freedom to read.