Seeking Support in the Midst of a Challenge
Session Description
Libraries have been involuntarily embroiled in a culture war for more than five years, and it is inflicting trauma on communities, library workers, and authors. In this panel presentation you will learn how a librarian, an author, and a parent each embraced powerful advocacy for the freedom to read when censors threatened the stories they shared, told, and loved. Through learning about their experiences, you’ll discover organizations and tools you can turn to, how to take care of yourself, and why we all must stand together to preserve our right to read. Attacks on libraries, literature, and readers seek to undermine, divide, and silence. We can demonstrate our values by showing up for each other, coming together in community, and uplifting the voices of those targeted.
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Learning Outcomes
- Identify organizations and resources that will support and inform you and your defense of the freedom to read.
- Assemble strategies and talking points for communicating about the importance of libraries and the harms censorship inflicts.
- Learn realistic and actionable self-care strategies to heal from trauma and maintain your physical, emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing.
Presenter: Becky Calzada
Becky Calzada is a District Library Coordinator in Leander, Texas and a co-founding member of Texas #FReadom Fighters, a grass-roots led group of librarians launched back in October 2021. She is the Immediate Past President for the American Association of School Librarians President, has served on the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, and is actively engaged in supporting intellectual freedom advocacy both in her state and nationally. She is the recipient of several intellectual freedom awards and is the co-author of Prepared Libraries, Empowered Teams: A Workbook for Navigating Intellectual Freedom Challenges Together published in June 2024. She is featured in The Librarians documentary, an incredibly moving film which spotlights brave school librarians who are on the front lines in the fight against censorship.
Presenter: Leila Green Little
Leila Green Little is a rural mom and intellectual freedom advocate. She has been fighting against censorship in her local public library system since 2021. In 2022, she and six others sued their county (Leila Green Little, et. al, v. Llano County, et. al) for banning books. This case is currently being appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Leila was galvanized to learn more about librarianship, and earned her Master of Library Science degree from the University of North Texas in 2024. She likes to read banned books and advocate against anti-library legislation at the state capitol.
Presenter: Ashley Hope Pérez
Ashley Hope Pérez is the author of Out of Darkness and other award-winning YA novels as well as the editor of the 2025 YA anthology Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights. Before it became one of the most widely banned books beginning in 2021, Out of Darkness was described by The New York Times Book Review as a “layered tale of color lines, love and struggle in an East Texas oil town,” selected as a best book of the year by both Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal, and named to Booklist's "50 Best YA Novels of All Time." Out of Darkness also received a 2016 ALA Printz Honor for Literary Excellence in Young Adult Literature, the Tomás Rivera Book Award, and the Américas Award.
A former public high school English teacher, Ashley is now an associate professor at The Ohio State University, where she directs the Unite to Read Project with funding from the Mellon Foundation. Her advocacy for young people's right to read also includes public speaking, interviews, articles and opinion pieces, and a federal lawsuit filed with authors, students, and publishers.
Moderator: Eric Stroshane
Eric Stroshane worked in public, special, and academic libraries for twenty years before joining ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) full-time. At OIF, he provides education, advocacy, and confidential support defending the freedom to read. He maintains the Book Résumés website for Unite Against Book Bans, curates a weekly news compilation for ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Blog, writes ALA's annual publication The Book Report: Titles Targeted for Censorship, contributed to three chapters of the forthcoming 11th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual, is a former president of the Mountain Plains Library Association, and a former news editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. He presents nationwide on intellectual freedom and the dangers of censorship.
