Lauren (she/her)
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laurenstro.bsky.social
Lauren (she/her)
@laurenstro.bsky.social
630 followers 200 following 270 posts
Elementary school librarian & avid reader. Always learning. Thoughts/opinions belong only to me. #ClearTheAir #LibCollab #TheBookChat
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Had a conversation with a friend today about censorship and book banning as it relates to my job as a school librarian. They asked if that was a hill worth dying on.

Unequivocally and without reservation: YES.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
May every single human being on this planet be safe.

May every single person be protected from harm.

May we bring into being a time in which we are all free from those who do evil— together, speedily and in our days.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
As a classroom teacher it's frustrating that my intellectuality and my perspective are systematically overlooked while my labor, my pedagogy & my time are never enough

I feel this is even more true because I teach elementary.
I wanna see more classroom teachers delivering keynotes, facilitating workshops, and given space and larger platforms to talk about what’s working/not working with students in this moment.

Too many educator conferences, not nearly enough current teacher voices and experiences.
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If you care about libraries, and the stories they hold dear, you should be following Kelly. She’s been reporting what’s happening from the beginning and we are so blessed she has been.
"What can we do to stop book censorship and destruction of libraries in the US? How can we push back against the dismantling of public education?"

This is over four years of how-tos, guides, insights, and more. Resources are beyond plentiful.
A massive thread of resources, history, information, and material to help you not only fight and understand book censorship but protect the incredible democratic institutions of public libraries and public education.

This is updated regularly!
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
Remember that every time you deride "red" states you deem "bad," you're deriding the thousands of folks doing unbelievably hard, tireless work to stop these brutal anti-literacy/library/school bills.

CONGRATS, Alabama library advocates and thank you <3
For the past 3 months, thousands of Alabamians have joined Read Freely Alabama to work tirelessly to ensure that two bills that would have had devastating effects on libraries, HB4 and SB6, did not pass.

Read our post-legislative session statement here:

www.readfreelyalabama.org/2025_legisla...
Anti-library bills dead in 2025 Alabama Legislative Session
Supporting the Right to Read in All Alabama Libraries
www.readfreelyalabama.org
I’ve been a @katemessner.com fan for a long time, but even I wasn’t prepared for her newest book, THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES. Absolutely blew me away. 😭😭😭 Don’t miss it!!!

(Also, the audiobook is excellent & @libro.fm is offering it to teachers/librarians for free this month thru their ALC program!)
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
a friendly reminder never to buy your books from Amazon, where they are used as a loss leader so that you'll buy a flatscreen TV and your toilet paper instead-- and then use that money to send Katy Perry to space.

Books aren't just products. They're culture. Buy them from those who understand that.
libro.fm Libro.fm @libro.fm · Apr 22
Tomorrow, a certain online mega-retailer launches a book sale, just days before Indie Bookstore Day on 4/26. This is no coincidence; Bookstore Day is one of the largest revenue drivers for indies.

Indies need our support to thrive & build community spaces for all...mega-retailers do not.
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This.

And here's the thing - we need joy. We need connection. If we can't find that, even in these times, it makes fighting THAT much harder.
No, I’m sorry, if you’re telling people posting cat photos is a distraction from the real issues, you’re a Fed and you’re trying to make the movement eat itself.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
When we silence books, we silence voices—and we risk raising a generation without the tools to think freely and compassionately.

Because the real danger isn't in the pages of a book—it's in a world where people stop reading them.

#FreedomToRead #StopBookBans #ReadBannedBooks
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines.

When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
My god she sucks. How many trans people read HP fervently and with wild delight under the covers as children. How can she have such disrespect, such contempt and outright hatred for the young adults whose imaginations she nurtured and fed? It's unacceptable.
You all need to treat Harry Potter IP like we’re treating the Tesla brand.
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Banning books is not about books.

Banning books is about the erasure of stories.

Banning books is about the erasure of identities.

Erasure is the precursor to eliminationism.

Silence is complicity.

Resist this regime.
Resist this regime of monstrous evildoers.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
We had a Holocaust survivor speak at the school today. He told the kids 1930s-40s Germany was inspired by Jim Crow here in the USA.
I know I keep saying this, but it is incredible important to understand that the Nazi playbook was US policy. So much of the anti intellectualism has been to erase the fact that the US was on this road before the Germans and is simply reverting to the original horrors that were in motion.
I must say I no longer believe that this is reminiscent of the Nazi playbook, I believe they’re using the Nazi playbook - offshore extermination and concentration camps, targeting people on basis of race and manufactured legality, academic onslaught, media, gender policing it’s all there.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
Authors Speak Up About Their Books Being Misrepresented in a Lawsuit Headed to the Supreme Court buff.ly/xecdhKZ
Also: many many attempts to ban & censor books have nothing to do with the books themselves, but with the targeted, systematic erasure of marginalized and oppressed groups of people.
Please support the librarians in your life and in your community. We need it now more than ever. 💛
Stay informed about book bans and censorship across the country, but especially in your community.

@heykellyjensen.bsky.social has been doing amazing work around that for YEARS if you’re not sure where to start. bsky.app/profile/heyk...
A massive thread of resources, history, information, and material to help you not only fight and understand book censorship but protect the incredible democratic institutions of public libraries and public education.

This is updated regularly!
Related: if attempts are being made to ban or censor books where you live, speak up against it however you can.

You can anonymously report to ALA OIF and PEN America using the links below. Both also offer help if requested.

www.ala.org/tools/challe...

pen.org/book-bans/re...
Challenge Reporting
Reporting censorship and challenges to materials, resources, and services is vital to developing the best resources to defend library resources and to protect against challenges before they happen. He...
www.ala.org
Everyone has the right to put down a book that isn’t right for them. But banning a book or removing it from library shelves makes that decision for others and for others’ children.
Children absolutely deserve to see themselves, their families, and their identities represented and affirmed in the books they read.
Had a conversation with a friend today about censorship and book banning as it relates to my job as a school librarian. They asked if that was a hill worth dying on.

Unequivocally and without reservation: YES.
Reposted by Lauren (she/her)
Free Palestine and free all the people being kidnapped for saying free Palestine.

(And, of course, free. them. all.)