This week Virginia State Senator Amanda Chase called for school librarians in her district of Chesterfield to lose their jobs because she finds books like “Eleanor & Park” to be pornographic, or, in her words “X-rated”. She also called for other books on the school's summer reading list to be banned from school libraries. Senator Chase believes that she knows summer reading better than school librarians who have dedicated their lives to helping children learn and grow. But it is the ease with which she calls for their dismissal that is incredibly disturbing. Senator Chase is instituting a direct attack not only on intellectual freedom, but also on the librarians who are trying to do their jobs by improving reading and literacy across the district. 

This fight began earlier this year when a mother with one child in the school system became enraged at the diversity offered in the summer reading list, thus forcing the schools to alter the list in an attempt to appease her. Chesterfield County Schools serve close to 60,000 Virginia school children from various backgrounds and experiences; the reading list was created to offer a variety of choice for these students. However Senator Chase says that only books that she approves of should be offered by the schools. This is a notion that is both dangerous and reminiscent of darker days in our history.

Will you help defend school librarians and the students that they serve in Chesterfield County? Will you join us in telling Senator Chase that censorship does not belong in our schools or in any libraries? Add your name to our petition by using the form to on the right. We will share it with Senator Chase and the Chesterfield School Board.