This conference paper presents the results of a critical public higher education policy analysis of book banning, censorship, and silencing of specific voices--usually those of marginalized voices and those who fight for the oppressed. United States public higher education seeks to provide an environment for intellectual freedom that allows…

This article is a summary of information provided in a workshop encouraging educators to explore creating brave spaces in schools and communities through literacy. Educators are introduced to a culturally responsive pedagogy that prioritizes fostering inclusive literacy environments and supporting students with dignity. Teachers are encouraged to…

This paper examines how neoliberal multiculturalism and racialized emotions function to inhibit racial justice in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. To do so, I trace how the proliferation of the discourse of anti-racism in education alongside the rise in popularity of anti-racist books, contributes to a racial project that embraces…

Adults at school board meetings screaming at elected members about "groomer" and "pedophile" school librarians' books, programs, and displays. Politicians who repeat these claims and pledge to remove pornography from local schools. Public threats of physical harm or loss of livelihood against school librarians. The result of…

An unfair division of resources and biased treatment favoring the ruling elites have perpetuated social discrimination in the postcolonial societies in developing countries. Pakistan, one of these countries, has struggled to emerge from the legacies of colonialism. The situation demands strong support of equality, social justice, and the rule of…

Children in P-12 schools are growing up in racially tumultuous times, despite the promises of desegregation since "Brown vs. Board of Education." Multicultural education, included under the umbrella of equity, diversity, and inclusion, is under attack and illegal in an increasing number of school districts. Advanced placement in Black…

Banned Books Week is a hallmark tradition among US-based librarians and the American Library Association. Yet, the ALA and librarians across the profession are excluding the most significant and egregious violations of intellectual freedom and access to literature and information in our so-called free society -- the US prison system. In this…

Using storytelling as a framework, this study analyzes a faculty promotion book plating ritual through the lens of a twenty-year corpus of faculty-created and library-gathered data. The sources for this analysis are faculty reasons for book selection, or "book stories," which are part of an annual book plating ritual at the University of…

The annual "What's Hot in Literacy" survey uncovers the current focal points within literacy education. A panel of twenty-five literacy leaders participated and engaged in interviews to identify the most and least emphasized literacy topics, as well as those deserving more attention. The findings for 2023 spotlight several topics…

In a socially just world, everyone would have an equal chance to become an enthusiastic reader. This article presents a detailed 'asset map' of a successful reading life and investigates three necessary components for creating readers: access, choice and time to read. Access to books, the chance and the requisite knowledge to choose reading…

A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual book club curriculum for students during the pandemic. Third-grade students were encouraged to explore social justice issues prevalent in their community first by reading relevant children's books, doing research, and collaborating to develop potential…

Though Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training (DEI) has proliferated, facilitators still seek effective tools to support the growth of anti-racist consciousness in participants. An avenue with great promise around these needs is how shared reflexive vulnerability can promote the growth of this consciousness. Using the tools of microethnographic…

According to the American Counseling Association and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, social justice advocacy is an ethical imperative for counselors and a training standard for counseling students. As a group of socially conscious mental health counseling students and faculty, we developed and…

This article focuses on Aliza Levenberg, an educator who taught at a Kiryat Shmona high school at the beginning of the 1960s. For three years Levenberg, a middle class Western European, travelled every week from her home in Tel Aviv to the poor town in the northern periphery of Israel, the inhabitants of which were mainly immigrants from Islamic…

One teacher encourages her students to write in the margins of the novels they are reading. These notes then turned to conversations about social justice issues and history when the books were passed to family members. The conversations in the margins were jumping-off points for conversations in class, and then students invited members of the…