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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">What I’m going to say may be provocative - but I need to push against some of the ideas around the Freedom to Read.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Freedom/Right to Read - does not exist. Has never existed.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">At least not in the idealized way that we have and continue to use it. When we use this phrase it is to often removed from historical context and the context of how publishing, bookselling, and libraries actually
work.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The Freedom/Right to Read is already manipulated before libraries ever enter the picture, and then we build on those practices, turn them into policy undermining our own stated values. The reality is that
when we take into account the historical/current exclusion of groups of people from libraries (Jim Crow-era segregation, those experiencing houselessness, often unwelcoming environment for neurodivergent people), limited access because of location and the
burden of fines, the lack of a diversity in materials that the libraries provide - it is clear that the Freedom to Read has only ever been a reality for some groups of people.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Over the last 10 years, there has been more visibility of the work of
<span class="spelle">disabilitycrit</span>, LGBTQIAP+, and BIPOC library people who discuss and provide data about the lack of books by and about queer people, disabled people, and people of the global majority yearly. Here are the
<a href="https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/books-by-and-or-about-poc-2018/#USonly">
latest numbers</a> from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center about US publishing if you haven’t gotten to see them yet.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This lack of diversity affects person’s Freedom to Read.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:16.0pt">A Garifuna immigrant didn’t have the Freedom to Read about someone like them. They didn’t/don't have the freedom to pick up a book and trust that anti-black/indigenous racism wouldn’t be present. Historically they couldn’t even
be guaranteed that the library would be open, available, and welcoming to them.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2">
<span style="font-size:16.0pt">Queer children couldn’t freely read about being queer for years, and if they did it was a moral tale where the characters died or experienced trauma because of their identity.
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-size:16.0pt">Until recently you couldn’t find books by transracial adoptees about the experience of being adopted. Books about adoption were almost always by an adoptive parent or industry professional. Most were guides or books about how
to adoption, storybooks were from the adoptive parents' perspective, not adoptees.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The examples are countless.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">At the inverse : white, middle-class, straight, heteronormative people have always had the opportunity to read books that speak to them. To have an abundance of stories to choose from. Some terrible but also
many that aren’t racist, ableist, <a href="https://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression#s-lib-ctab-10174165-1">
<span class="spelle">queermisiac</span></a> or otherwise oppressive to whole groups of people. These books have had the freedom to be read, to exist for decades - even centuries - just by virtue of having taken up space on library shelves when countless books
never even got published.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">If we can agree that we cannot have ALL the books - that there is not enough shelf/server space in our libraries to have every book and we have to use our judgment in selecting what goes on our shelves - then
we need to acknowledge that the library does discriminate. Has always discriminated. Has used collections to welcome AND exclude, to connect and ignore. We obscure that discrimination by leaning so heavily on the Freedom to Read. Whether we do it knowingly
or simply because we’ve succumbed to <a href="https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/">
vocational awe</a> (F. <span class="spelle">Ettarh</span>) does not lessen the impact or harm.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Yes, fighting against bans by schools and government is important, especially since the books most likely to be challenged or banned are by authors or about people from marginalized communities but that is
only a small part of making the Freedom to Read a reality. Until we look critically at the interlocking systems that make the Freedom to Read a privilege for some - not a right for all - until we look at how we perpetuate this in our policies and procedures
then it will never be anything more than a slogan. We have an obligation to do better than that. Shifting our lens as we build collections is a start.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This is not to say that all libraries are in the same place - location, funding, community, leadership and the will to change are varied. I want acknowledge the difficult work many libraries are doing , usually
lead by library workers of the global majority and other marginalized communities, to a more equitable and liberatory framework.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Thank you for taking the time to read.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Marly Osma de Forest<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">she/they <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><a href="mailto:marlyo@wccls.org">marlyo@wccls.org</a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">West Slope Community Library<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">3678 SW 78<sup>th</sup> Ave<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Portland, OR 97225<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Links from body of message for easy copy and paste:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Data on books by and about Black, Indigenous and People of Color published for children and teens compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><a href="https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/books-by-and-or-about-poc-2018/#USonly">https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/books-by-and-or-about-poc-2018/#USonly</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Simmons Libguides : Anti-Opression - what does “misia” mean?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><a href="https://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression#s-lib-ctab-10174165-1">https://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression#s-lib-ctab-10174165-1</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In the Library with a Leadpipe : Vocational Awe by Fobazi Ettarh 01/10/2018</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#4864A7"><a href="https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/">https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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