Only three months into the year, campus deplatforming is already on pace to set a disturbing new record, and if current trends hold, 2026 won’t just be a bad year for campus free speech.
Thank you as usual. On a small scale, over several decades, I helped some public, school, and academic libraries deal with people who wanted to remove books from their shelves. One strategy I would suggest: Instead of removing books, help create a more balanced collection. Can you recommend books to add to our inventory? Here is our protocol for acquiring books. (Usually commonsense guidelines regarding budget, the focus of the current strategic plan, preferred sources, library customer requests, reviews, and feedback from experts. Also, addressing "holes" in the collection. Some libraries refuse self-published works; others welcome local authors.)
In one case, a school district learned that their school librarians, misinterpreting "separation of church and state", had removed all the books related to Christianity from their shelves. Books about other religions were not touched. The citizens were delighted to be asked to help, and all of their suggestions were added to the collections. The district coordinator personally visited all of the schools to make sure the books were added.
I have a lot of respect for FIRE's work. I think that the issue sometimes is that the administrators can't think of anything except binary, either/or solutions: Books? Yes or no. Lectures? Yes or no. They need help adding "add" to their toolbox.
Thank you as usual. On a small scale, over several decades, I helped some public, school, and academic libraries deal with people who wanted to remove books from their shelves. One strategy I would suggest: Instead of removing books, help create a more balanced collection. Can you recommend books to add to our inventory? Here is our protocol for acquiring books. (Usually commonsense guidelines regarding budget, the focus of the current strategic plan, preferred sources, library customer requests, reviews, and feedback from experts. Also, addressing "holes" in the collection. Some libraries refuse self-published works; others welcome local authors.)
In one case, a school district learned that their school librarians, misinterpreting "separation of church and state", had removed all the books related to Christianity from their shelves. Books about other religions were not touched. The citizens were delighted to be asked to help, and all of their suggestions were added to the collections. The district coordinator personally visited all of the schools to make sure the books were added.
I have a lot of respect for FIRE's work. I think that the issue sometimes is that the administrators can't think of anything except binary, either/or solutions: Books? Yes or no. Lectures? Yes or no. They need help adding "add" to their toolbox.
Is 1998 the earliest for which you have data?