NJ bill would protect librarians

Calls to ban books have led to trolling and harassment of those 'just doing their job'

BY: Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Democratic lawmakers are looking to address the social media trolling and harassment that school librarians have faced amid calls in some New Jersey districts to ban or remove books from their library shelves.
..... A new state bill called the "Freedom to Read Act" proposes that school boards be required to adopt policies governing material and its removal from school libraries. If it becomes law, the bill would also protect librarians form being sued by people who disagree with their book choices.
..... While some Republican politicians say the bill would erode parental freedoms, New Jerseyans are more concerned about book banning than about any potentially inappropriate content, according to a new poll conducted by Rutgers' Eagletion Center for Public Interest Polling.
..... According to the poll, conducted before the bill was introduced 58% of residents say they're more concerned that schools may ban books and censor topics that are educationally important, versus 35% who say they're more concern about teaching form books that students or parents feel are inappropriate or offensive.
..... "We see similar numbers when it comes to talking about the motivation behind recent laws across the country banning books or making it illegal for teaches to talk about LGBTQ or racial issues," said Ashley Moning, an assistant research professor and the director of the Eagletion Center.
..... Florida, Utah, South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi have all passed laws limiting classroom discussion or teaching about race and sex or sexual orientation in some form, through some of the laws are limited to early grades, according to PEN America. Similar laws are under consideration in other states.
..... 56% of New Jerseyans believe that book banning and censorship measures are mostly driven by politicians to advance their careers, according to the Eagleton poll, with 31% saying they're mostly being driven by parental concern.
..... Self-identified Republicans are the only group where a 76% majority is more concerned about inappropriate content, Koning said. Some 44% of Republicans feel laws pushing for bans are political motivated, while 43% believe they are being driven by real parental concern.
..... The poll surveyed 1,657 adults. It doesn't represent public opinion as a whole, Koning said, but it is a scientific and representative way of gauging what New Jerseyans think.
..... "What these numbers really tell us is a solid number of over half of New Jerseyans are against book bans and believe that they are politically motivated," Koning said.

Librarians verbally attacked

..... Roxbury school librarian Roxana Caivano sued four township residents in March last year [2023] on the ground of defamation.
..... Her lawsuit alleged that the defendants balled her a "child predator" and accused her of "luring children with pornography" in public and Online, mostly over Caivano's inclusion in the high school library of "gender queer." a graphic novel that made the top of PEN camellia's list of most banned books in the U.S. in 2022, and other books.
..... And just a few weeks ago in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees regional district, speakers at a packed school board meeting talked about Martha Hickson, a librarian in the district who has faced severe attacks Online from groups that opposed her selection of books in the high school library.
..... Harassing videos featuring Hickson's name and photograph were posted Online, and Hickson received threatening emails using a sexual slur, according to PEN America.
..... "How did all these Ghisiane Maxwells get into the school libraries?" Hickson. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

'Freedom to Read' bill

..... The "Freedom to Read" bill was driven in part by conversations with Hickson about the trolling she faces, said Senator Andrew Zwicker, D-Somerset, the bill's co-sponsor.
..... The bill would require school boards to create a policy governing what materials are in distinct libraries, as well as a policy regarding their removal. School boards, would craft their policies based on a model policy cerated by the state librarian in collaboration with the state educating commissioner and the New Jersey Association of School Librarians.
..... The bill would also apply to public libraries and their hovering boards.
..... Libraries would have to provide "diverse and inclusive" materials that concern protected classes in New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination. In schools, these materials would have to be age-and grade-appropriate. Books by and about racial minorities and LGBTQ+ themes are the most widely targeted subject matter for book bans.
..... Finally, the bill would give librarians immunity from being sued for "just doing their job," Zwicker said. A school library media specialist, a teaching staff member, a librarian or nay other staff member of a public library would be "immune form criminal or civil liability," language in the bill says.
..... Librarians also would have the right to bring lawsuits if the face harassment "for complying with the provisions of the bill."
..... Efforts to pass a law that would have cut state funding to libraries that remove books failed in 2023. The current bill. also backed by Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, is taking a different tack at protecting free speech, intending "to protect the freedom of New Jersey's residents to read, and for school libraries and public libraries to acquire and maintain materials without external limitations."
..... The bill will have its first hearing next month [03/2024] in the Senate Education Committee. Zwicker says he expects it to become law.

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