How are you celebrating Banned Books Week (running September 18-24) this year?

Here’s a simple suggestion: share these infographics — bit.ly/FReadomME —with your colleagues, administrators, school board, and community members. It could be a great addition to your school’s newsletter!

MASL members collaborated with multiple education organizations around the state to create this series of infographics for educational stakeholders last spring.

Here is a suggested note you could include with the link to the infographics, adapted from MASL’s Intellectual Freedom page :

Many school districts in Maine and across the country are seeing a rise in book challenges of library and classroom books, leaving educators and administrators to “defend” the books on the shelves. These challenges are about more than the content of the texts; they are attempts to silence and erase the truths and humanity of the books’ characters and creators. 

The Maine Learning Results, approved by the Maine Legislature, articulate goals for all Maine students to be “a responsible and informed citizen” and “an integrated and informed thinker.” Access to, and choice of a wide range of reading material, are vital to developing perspectives and insights that prepare students for participation in a global society. All Americans, specifically young people in our educational institutions, are guaranteed access to information and ideas from various points of view under the Freedom of Speech in the First Amendment. Censorship is a danger to the ideals of our state and our nation.

In response to the attacks on intellectual freedom and the rights of Maine students to freely access information, this joint statement and series of Intellectual Freedom Matters infographics were designed to support educational stakeholders in responding to book challenges and combating censorship. Access the complete statement, infographics, and other resources on Educate Maine’s website.

~ submitted by Karen Silverman, MASL Intellectual Freedom Board Chair