Academic freedom and censorship: Why librarians are better together

By Janelle Zetty, head of cataloging, Edith Garland Duprè Library, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

What are your concerns related to book bans and censorship in higher education and for librarianship? Why is academic freedom so important? What do you want your colleagues in higher ed to know and what can they do to help?

In 2023, the ALA documented 1,247 censorship cases with known locations. Of these cases, 2 percent occurred in academic libraries, 54 percent in public libraries, and 39 percent in school libraries. Although academic libraries face fewer censorship challenges, threats to academic freedom coincide with book challenges and bans in public and school libraries.  

For example, legislators introduced seven library bills during Louisiana's 2024 regular legislative session. One of these bills, recently signed into law, removed the Master of Library and Information Science requirement for Louisiana library directors and allowed directors to have any graduate degree. The bill's author, Representative Josh Carlson, claimed there is a lack of MLIS degree holders to fill the director's position in his district’s public library system. At Carlson’s committee hearing for his bill, he stated that he had experience with the process of hiring a library director from his time as a former Lafayette Parish councilman. Carlson stated, “…[w]hat I’ve noticed is that when we have this come up, the current requirement to be a director of a library, you have to have a master’s in library sciences. The problem I noticed is that so few people were actually receiving that master's degree that we were excluding who I would consider highly qualified people simply because of their degree requirements.”  

However, statistics from the 2023 academic year show that 6,906 library science degrees were awarded by universities across the United States, and Louisiana State University School of Information Studies granted 243 degrees during the 2022-23 school year. Carlson maintained he merely wanted to increase the applicant pool. It is important to note that the public library system in question has been gripped in controversy and legal battles and has lost three directors due to resignations and attempted illegal firing over the past several years. 

Janelle Zetty, head of cataloging, Edith Garland Duprè Library, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Another bill, which did not pass committee, aimed to prohibit public employees from spending public funds with the American Library Association. Violators would have faced fines of up to $1,000 or two years in jail. Critics of the ALA claimed that the organization is anti-American and Marxist and aims to expose children to sexually explicit materials, allegations purported by far-right groups. Passing the bill would have been detrimental to Louisiana State University's School of Information Studies, the only ALA-accredited library school in the state. In this case, a bill presumably written to target public and school librarians would have affected academia and the profession as a whole. 

Additionally, a bill excluding acts of civil disobedience from free speech protections on college campuses recently became law. The senator who introduced the bill also filed library-related bills during the previous legislative session. As Dreiling and Garcia-Caro, editors of the Journal of Academic Freedom, have said, "Authoritarian societies across the world have historically demonstrated how censorship and closely watched political control of education play out." Academic freedom—freedom to research and publish in one's discipline, select course material and content, and publicly express oneself—is essential to a democratic society. 

Academic librarians should defend our profession and academic freedom and support public and school librarians. We can do this by educating stakeholders about our profession, becoming active in professional organizations, and researching and publishing articles about the current political trends in libraries to increase awareness and evolve our profession. Additionally, we can attend public library board meetings to show support for our colleagues. When our profession is devalued, it impacts us all. 

About

Janelle Zetty is the Head of Cataloging at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She graduated with a B.A. in English and a minor in History from UL Lafayette in 2003. She earned her Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from Louisiana State University in 2008. Janelle has been a cataloger with experience in public and academic libraries for sixteen years. "Her forthcoming journal article, "History of Library and School Material Challenges and Banning in Louisiana," will be published in Louisiana Libraries."

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