{"id":6953,"date":"2025-04-10T07:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=6953"},"modified":"2025-04-15T07:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T07:04:28","slug":"why-libraries-are-still-a-lifeline-for-black-k-12-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=6953","title":{"rendered":"Why Libraries Are Still a Lifeline for Black K-12 Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0<span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/author\/quintessa-williams-special-to-the-informer-via-word-in-black\/\">Quintessa Williams, Special to The Informer via Word in Black<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>At their best, libraries do more than provide resources \u2014 they create belonging. As the nation celebrates\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/events\/national-library-week-2025#:~:text=National%20Library%20Week%2C%20April%206,%22Wake%20Up%20and%20Read!%22\">National Library Week<\/a>\u00a0and its theme \u201cDrawn to the Library,\u201d libraries are among the few public spaces where Black children don\u2019t have to justify their curiosity. Where they can read poetry, explore science fiction, learn about their ancestors, and dream freely.<\/p>\n<p>But as schools nationwide become battlegrounds over censorship, the quiet corners of libraries \u2014 both public and school-based \u2014 are under threat.<\/p>\n<p>A report released Monday by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/bbooks\/censorship-numbers#:~:text=ALA's%20Office%20for%20Intellectual%20Freedom,the%20Book%20Ban%20Data%20page.\">American Library Association<\/a>\u00a0reveals a disturbing trend: Efforts to strip books from library shelves are on the rise, and they\u2019re being driven by organized groups. The report found that \u201celected officials, board members and administrators\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/bbooks\/censorship-numbers#:~:text=ALA's%20Office%20for%20Intellectual%20Freedom,the%20Book%20Ban%20Data%20page.\">initiated 72% of demands to censor books<\/a>\u00a0in school and public libraries.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<div class=\"newspack_global_ad scaip-1 fixed-height\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-caf9af3267-0\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The books under attack often revolve around race, history, and identity, and the most targeted novel is by a Black author: \u201cAll Boys Aren\u2019t Blue\u201d by George M. Johnson. Toni Morrison\u2019s classic \u201cThe Bluest Eye\u201d is the third-most challenged book. Organized efforts to ban books often target them under the guise of \u201cparental rights\u201d and \u201ccurriculum transparency,\u201d but the ALA found parents are behind only 16% of attacks on books.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the organized attempts to censor materials in libraries persist, we must continue to unite and protect the freedom to read and support our library workers, especially at a time when our nation\u2019s libraries are facing threats to funding and library professionals are facing threats to their livelihood,\u201d American Library Association\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/news\/state-americas-libraries-report-2025#:~:text=As%20the%20organized%20attempts%20to%20censor%20materials,to%20read%20and%20support%20our%20library%20workers\">president Cindy Hohl said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-censorship-is-a-racial-justice-issue\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Censorship Is a Racial Justice Issue<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-04\/state-of-americas-libraries-report-2025-WEB.pdf\">ALA\u2019s report reveals<\/a>\u00a0821 documented attempts to ban books in 2024, down from 1,247 in 2023. But the organization warns that the decline is due to tactics like library workers being afraid of being fired for reporting censorship.<\/p>\n<p>According to the most recent data from PEN America,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pen.org\/report\/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools\/\">more than 30% of banned or challenged books<\/a>\u00a0centered on characters of color or were written by authors of color. These bans don\u2019t just limit what Black children can read \u2014 they reshape what they\u2019re allowed to know. When history is whitewashed and diverse voices are silenced, Black students are left with a fractured mirror \u2014 one that reflects little of who they are or what they come from.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-filling-the-literacy-gaps\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Filling the Literacy Gaps<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Book censorship isn\u2019t the only challenge Black students face. Educational inequities \u2014 fueled by underfunded schools, overcrowded classrooms, and limited access to advanced coursework \u2014 also create barriers to achievement. Libraries, in this context, can serve as academic lifelines.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<div class=\"newspack_global_ad scaip-2 fixed-height\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-2bd992b9b0-0\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>ALA research shows that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/sites\/default\/files\/aasl\/content\/aaslpubsandjournals\/slr\/vol3\/SLMR_IndependentReading_V3.pdf\">regular library use is strongly linked<\/a>\u00a0with improved reading outcomes. For Black students, who face systemic literacy gaps \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wordinblack.com\/2025\/03\/reading-the-room-why-black-kids-need-more-than-the-norm\/\">just 17% read at or above proficiency by eighth grade<\/a>, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress \u2014 libraries aren\u2019t just helpful, they\u2019re essential.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most important thing is that children continue to read,\u201d Effie Lee Morris, the first African American president of the Public Library Association,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wnba-sfchapter.org\/tag\/effie-lee-morris\/\">said in 2002<\/a>. Giving students \u201cthe opportunity to make their own decisions about what they read can lead to a new awareness of the role of reading in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ALA notes that every library visit, every new library card, and every storytime you take a child to serves as an act of resistance. They\u2019re also asking people to \u201cContact your members of Congress by phone or email and ask them to protect federal library funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This story was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wordinblack.com\/2025\/04\/why-libraries-are-still-a-lifeline-for-black-k-12-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">originally published online with Word In Black<\/a>, a collaboration of the nation\u2019s leading Black news publishers (of which The Informer is a member).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: Published without changes from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/libraries-under-threat-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Washington Informer Newspaper<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0Quintessa Williams, Special to The Informer via Word in Black At their best, libraries do more than provide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-general","category-online-newspaper"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6953"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6955,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6953\/revisions\/6955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}