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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'>FYI on the Arizona school censorship situation. The Freedom to Read Foundation has signed onto this statement. For those who were, or were not, at ALA Midwinter this was a significant topic of discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'>Kent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>Kent Oliver, Executive Director <br>Stark County District Library <br>715 Market Ave., N., Canton, OH 44702 <br>W: 330 458 2710 FAX: 330 455 9596 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>"Inspiring Ideas, Enriching Lives, Creating Community"<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Poor Richard","serif";color:black'> <img width=220 height=106 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image005.jpg@01CCDFF7.9EBFAE20" alt=starlibrarylogo> <img width=114 height=100 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image006.jpg@01CCDFF7.9EBFAE20" alt="medal_home[1]"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Poor Richard","serif";color:black'>Named as one of 10 recipients of the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries.</span></i></b><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Poor Richard","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>This communication is a confidential and proprietary communication. It is intended solely for the use of the designated recipient(s). If this communication is received in error, please contact the sender and delete this communication.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><br></span><b><span style='color:#1F497D'>P</span></b><b>ress Release: <a href="http://www.abffe.com/tucsonrelease01.30.12.html">http://www.abffe.com/tucsonrelease01.30.12.html</a></b><o:p></o:p></p><h3><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:normal'>Full Statement Online: <a href="http://www.abffe.com/tucsonstatement01.30.12.html">http://www.abffe.com/tucsonstatement01.30.12.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></h3><h3 align=center style='text-align:center'>JOINT STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO BOOK CENSORSHIP<br>IN THE TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT<br>January 30, 2012<o:p></o:p></h3><p>The undersigned organizations are committed to protecting free speech and intellectual freedom. We write to express our deep concern about the removal of books used in the Mexican-American Studies Program in the Tucson Unified School District. This occurred in response to a determination by Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal that the program “contained content promoting resentment toward a race or class of people” and that “materials repeatedly reference white people as being ‘oppressors….’ in violation of state law.” The books have been boxed up and put in storage; their fate and that of the program remain in limbo. <br><br>The First Amendment is grounded on the fundamental rule that government officials, including public school administrators, may not suppress “an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” School officials have a great deal of authority and discretion to determine the curriculum, the subject of courses, and even methods of instruction. They are restrained only by the constitutional obligation to base their decisions on sound educational grounds, and not on ideology or political or other personal beliefs. Thus, school officials are free to debate the merits of any educational program, but that debate does not justify the wholesale removal of books, especially when the avowed purpose is to suppress unwelcome information and viewpoints. <br><br>School officials have insisted that the books haven’t been banned because they are still available in school libraries. It is irrelevant that the books are available in the library – or at the local bookstore. School officials have removed materials from the curriculum, effectively banning them from certain classes, solely because of their content and the messages they contain. The effort to “prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, [or] religion” is the essence of censorship, whether the impact results in removal of all the books in a classroom, seven books, or only one. <br><br>Students deserve an education that provides exposure to a wide range of topics and perspectives, including those that are controversial. Their education has already suffered from this political and ideological donnybrook, which has caused massive disruption in their classes and will wreak more havoc as teachers struggle to fill the educational vacuum that has been created. <br><br>Book-banning and thought control are antithetical to American law, tradition and values. In Justice Louis Brandeis's famous words, the First Amendment is founded on the belief:<o:p></o:p></p><p style='margin-left:30.0pt'>that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that, without free speech and assembly, discussion would be futile; … that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination …. Believing in the power of reason as applied through public discussion, [the Framers] eschewed silence coerced by law …. Recognizing the occasional tyrannies of governing majorities, they amended the Constitution so that free speech and assembly should be guaranteed.<o:p></o:p></p><p>The First Amendment right to read, speak and think freely applies to all, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, or national origin. We strongly urge Arizona school officials to take this commitment seriously and to return all books to classrooms and remove all restrictions on ideas that can be addressed in class.<br><br>American Association of University Professors<br>Cary Nelson, President<br>1133 19th St., NW, Suite 200<br>Washington, D.C. 20036<br>202-737-5900<br>cnelson@illinois.edu <br> <br>American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression<br>Chris Finan, President<br>19 Fulton Street, Suite 407<br>New York, NY 10038<br>212-587-4025<br>chris@abffe.org<br><br>American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona <br>Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director<br>P.O. Box 17148<br>Phoenix, AZ 85011-0148<br>602-773-6006 <br>ameetze@acluaz.org<br><br>Antigone Books<br>Trudy Mills and Kate Randall, Owners<br>411 N. 4th Ave.<br>Tucson, AZ 85705<br>520-792-3715<br>info@antigonebooks.com<br><br>Association of American Publishers<br>Judith Platt<br>Director, Free Expression Advocacy<br>455 Massachusetts Avenue, NW<br>Washington, D.C. 20001<br>202-220-4551<br>jplatt@publishers.org <br><br>Association of American University Presses<br>Peter Givler, Executive Director<br>28 West 36th Street, Suite 602<br>New York, NY 10018<br>212-989-1010<br>pgivler@aaupnet.org<br><br>Atalanta’s Music & Books<br>Joan Werner, Owner<br>38 Main Street<br>Bisbee, AZ 85603<br>520-432-9976<br><br>Authors Guild<br>Paul Aiken, Executive Director<br>31 East 32nd Street, 7th Floor<br>New York, NY 10016<br>212-563-5904<br>PAiken@authorsguild.org <br><br>Center for Expansion of Language and Thinking<br>Dr. Kathryn F. Whitmore, President<br>N275 Lindquist Center<br>The University of Iowa<br>Iowa City, IA 52242<br>319-335-5434<br>Kathryn-whitemore@uiowa.edu<br><br>Changing Hands Bookstore<br>Gayle Shanks, Bob Sommer and Cindy Dach, Owners<br>6428 S McClintock Drive<br>Tempe, AZ 85283<br>480-730-0205<br>inbox@changinghands.com<br><br>Comic Book Legal Defense Fund<br>Charles Brownstein, Executive Director<br>255 West 36th Street, Suite 501 <br>New York, NY 10018 <br>212-679-7151<br>charles.brownstein@cbldf.org<br><br>Freedom to Read Foundation, an affiliate of the American Library Association<br>Barbara M. Jones, Executive Director<br>50 East Huron Street<br>Chicago, IL 60611<br>312-280-4226<br>bjones@ala.org <br><br>International Reading Association<br>Richard M. Long, Ed.D.,<br>Director, Government Relations<br>444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 524<br>Washington, DC 20001<br>(202) 624-8801<br>rlong@reading.org<br><br>Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association<br>Laura Ayrey, Executive Director<br>8020 Springshire Drive<br>Park City, UT 84098<br>435-649-6079<br>laura@mountainsplains.org<br><br>National Coalition Against Censorship<br>Joan Bertin, Executive Director<br>19 Fulton Street, Suite 407<br>New York, NY 10038<br>212-807-6242<br>bertin@ncac.org<br><br>National Council for the Social Studies<br>Susan Griffin, Executive Director<br>8555 16th St, Ste 500<br>Silver Spring, MD 20910<br> 301.588.1800 x 103<br>sgriffin@ncss.org <br><br> <br>National Council of Teachers of English<br>Millie Davis<br>Senior Developer, Affiliated Groups and Public Outreach<br>1111 West Kenyan Road <br>Urbana, IL 61801<br>800-369-6283 ext. 3634<br>mdavis@ncte.org <br><br>National Youth Rights Association<br>Alex Koroknay-Palicz, Executive Director<br>1101 15th Street, NW Suite 200<br>Washington, DC 20005<br>202-835-1739<br>akpalicz@youthrights.org<br><br>PEN American Center<br>Larry Siems, Director, Freedom to Write & International Programs<br>588 Broadway<br>New York, NY 10012<br>212-334-1660 ext. 105<br>lsiems@pen.org <br> <br>PEN Center USA<br>Adam Somers, Executive Director<br>P.O. Box 6037<br>Beverly Hills, CA 90212<br>323-424-4939<br>adam@penusa.org<br><br>People For the American Way<br>Debbie Liu, General Counsel<br>1101 15th Street NW, Suite 600<br>Washington, D.C. 20005<br>202-467-4999<br>dliu@pfaw.org<br><br>Reach Out and Read<br>Anne-Marie Fitzgerald<br>Senior Director of National and State Programs<br>56 Roland Street, Suite 100D<br>Boston, MA 02129<br>618-455-0600<br><br>Reading is Fundamental, Inc.<br>Carol Hampton Rasco, President/CEO<br>1255 23rd Street NW, Suite 300<br>Washington, DC 20037<br>202-536-3500<br><br>Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators<br>Lin Oliver, Executive Director<br>8271 Beverly Boulevard<br>Los Angeles, CA 90048<br>323-782-1010<br>linoliver@scbwi.org <br> <br>Spark Teacher Education Institute<br>Educational Praxis, Inc.<br>P.O. Box 409<br>Putney, Vermont 05346<br>802-258-9212<br><br>Student Press Law Center<br>Frank LoMonte, Executive Director<br>1101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1100<br>Arlington, VA 22209-2275 USA<br>703-807-1904<br>flomonte@splc.org<br><br>TESOL International Association<br>John Segota, CAE<br>Associate Executive Director for Public Policy & Professional Relations<br>1925 Ballenger Ave., Suite 550<br>Alexandria, VA 22314 <br>703-518-2513<br>jsegota@tesol.org<o:p></o:p></p><p> <o:p></o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></div><p><a href="http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/hb2281s.pdf" target="_blank">HB 2281</a> (click for .PDF of the bill) bans schools from teaching classes that are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment or advocate ethnic solidarity over treating pupils as individuals. The bill also bans classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government. School districts that don't comply with the new law could have as much as 10% of their state funds withheld each month.<o:p></o:p></p><p>Debbie Reese at the <a href="http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">American Indians in Children's Literature blog</a> has a compendium of <a href="http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/01/teaching-critical-thinking-in-arizona.html" target="_blank">reference links, updates, statements and video</a> from those affected by the ongoing censorship in Arizona.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>