Teachers and librarians are well-aware of the current wave of book bans crashing over the country. You’ve heard about it in the news, from colleagues, or even experienced it for yourself. 

PEN America has tracked a coordinated ideological attack on books and teaching in public schools since 2021. Taking the form of oppressive state laws, book bans, and inflammatory rhetoric, the turmoil has only worsened, with more than 10,000 books banned in the 2023-2024 school year. Book bans disproportionately target books about LGBTQ+ topics, themes of race and racism, and sexual violence, thanks in part to draconian state laws that in some cases encourage punitive action against teachers and librarians.

The crisis is overwhelming. But educators can fight back. 

PEN America is collaborating with Everyday Advocacy, a grassroots group of educators, to help teachers find ways to promote the freedom to read. Below, you will find resources to help you understand the crisis and develop tools to combat it in your classroom and in your community. 

Together, we can help turn the page on book bans. 

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How to Advocate in Your Community

Teachers can change the public narrative about book banning as part of their everyday lives as teachers. Using a framework from Everyday Advocacy and relying on the knowledge gained from PEN America reports, teachers can do this by working in ways that are smart, safe, savvy, and sustainable.  These four guiding principles help teachers learn to work within the system even as they seek to change it. Important steps include informing yourself, forming a community, advocating for yourself and the books, and taking care of yourself. 

INFORM YOURSELF: Work in ways that are smart

Learn about books, book challenges and bans, and why the freedom to read is so important.  You might:

• Become familiar with books that might be challenged, especially books with the themes that PEN America has identified as potential for risk. (You can find them from organizations like PEN America or We Need Diverse Books)
• Know how these books have made a difference in kids’ lives–through your own teaching and through stories authors have shared about the books have made a difference in their readers’ lives 
• Learn ways to talk about books: from rationales for their inclusion to some common push-back points on book content.
• Understand how books get selected, objected to, and banned in your district. 

FORM A COMMUNITY: Work in ways that are safe 

Find like-minded others with whom to share ideas. Working together can help protect your job – and those of your colleagues. You might:

• Identify your allies and consider who else might become allies, like other teachers, administrators, parents, or community members.
• Share stories and resources.
• Seek out the professional organizations that have your back, like PEN America, NCTE, or your teacher’s union. 

ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF, AND THE BOOKS: Work in ways that are savvy

Identify strategic and do-able steps to help others understand why books are so important. You might:

• Identify decision-makers in your community. Who makes the decisions about which books can be read? School boards are a good place to start. 
• Learn ways to influence the decision makers. Organizations like PEN America and Red, Wine, and Blue have guides on how to speak out.
• Reach out  to your allies and potential allies to help them understand more about the value of books.
  • Create parent and youth book clubs in which you read banned or challenged books together.
  • Share videos of students or teachers talking about books that have mattered to them.
  • Create a parent newsletter (or co-write one with students) that talks about books and why they matter. 
• Take part in revisiting district or school and library policies
  • Find out what the district or school policies are on how books are chosen and how books can be challenged. (See this video on how one teacher got this started in her district.)
  • Volunteer to help create or rewrite a policy for book selection.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF:  Working in ways that are sustainable

Find ways to keep this work from becoming overwhelming by integrating it into your day-to-day life as a teacher. You might:

• Create an advocacy calendar with one small step or action scheduled per week.
• Pull together a group of teachers to share the load and divide the steps.
• Remember that small steps can lead to big changes.

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A Proactive Approach to Fighting Bans: A Weekly Advocacy Calendar

Advocacy is hard work, and it takes a lot of time. This sample weekly calendar divides the work into small, actionable steps that you can customize according to your own comfort level, time, and community needs. 

Week 1

• Read PEN America’s latest reporting on book bans
• Start a list of books you want to read
•  ________________________________ (you fill in!)

Week 2

• Watch videos of authors explaining how their books have made a difference in the lives of a reader.
• Ask your students to write their own reflections on a time a book has made a difference in their lives.

Week 3

• Share videos and student reflections with some teacher colleagues. 
• Ask if they might be interested in trying the same thing with their students.

Week 4

• Share what you’ve been learning so far with an administrator and ask if they might be willing to share the PEN America report at a department or faculty meeting.

 Week 5

• Reach out to other teachers to see if they are interested in a book club to read and discuss banned books or books with themes that are commonly targeted, like racism, LGBTQ+ identities, or sex.

Week 6

• Plan a parent night in which you ask them to share a book that made a difference in their lives.
• Share some of the student responses about books that are important to them.

Week 7

• Ask your department head or principal how books are selected and how book challenges might work in your district. See if they might be willing to form a committee to write or rewrite a policy. 

Week 8

• Reflect on what you’ve done so far (the allies you’ve made, the conversations you’ve started) and celebrate this great start to advocacy!

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