“You cannot ban a book without a consequence. And the consequence is the withholding of all or part of the state funding,” said Sen. Andrew Zwicker. Zwicker (D-Middlesex) is co-sponsoring a bill along with Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) to prohibit libraries and public schools in New Jersey from banning books, at the risk of losing their state education aid. “The goal here is to dial down this attempt to ban books and move it back to conversations — legitimate conversations parents want to have — about what’s being taught in schools,” Zwicker said.
Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, says 20% of the association’s more than 1,200 members report book censorship often occurs without even a school board discussion. “We hear this from our membership all the time. One parent, one person makes a phone call to the superintendent … Librarians and teachers are afraid of retaliation and of their working conditions being affected by standing up to censors.”
Librarian Martha Hickson says the latest push by parents to ban books in public schools reflects a political movement organized by a few fringe groups. She successfully fought back book challenges at North Hunterdon-Voorhees schools over LGBTQ-themed books like “Gender Queer” but suffered personal attacks.
“I was labeled at a board meeting by name as a pornographer, pedophile and groomer of children. It was life-altering,” said Hickson, who supports the proposed legislation.
