Stop censoring books, teachers warn school libraries

Teachers have called for an end to censorship in school libraries, with their union warning it "should ring alarm bells for all of us".

The warning at the National Education Union (NEU) conference in Brighton comes following claims a Salford school ordered dozens of classic titles be removed from shelves.

Index on Censorship reported in March that George Orwell's 1984 and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series were among the more than 130 books targeted at the Lowry Academy in Greater Manchester.

It said the librarian had been "threatened with disciplinary action" and resigned.

The school denied books had been banned and had instead been moved into "age-appropriate categories".

"Following concerns that a number of books within the library were neither age nor content-appropriate, an audit was conducted," said a statement.

"Following this, books have been placed into age-appropriate categories and returned to the shelves. A very small number of books were deemed inappropriate even for older children due to their content and have been removed."

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But several delegates at the NEU's conference have spoken out about reports they've heard of books being removed from school shelves.

They have voted in favour of a motion calling on the union executive to oppose censorship.

Speaking in support of the motion, Laura Butterworth said: "I've heard many accounts from librarians in my district of them having to take art books off the shelves because they have historic paintings and sculptures of nudes."

Matthew Hobbs, from Luton, said he had also had to fight against efforts to remove books by LGBT+ authors.

And Kristabelle Williams, who proposed the motion, said schools must defend their collections to combat the rise of the far right, warning there is a likelihood of more "challenges and hate campaigns".

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: "Any move to censor books in school libraries based on misinformation and fearmongering should ring alarm bells for all of us.

"The US and Hungary are examples of countries which have implemented book bans in schools, primarily targeting books by women, Black and LGBT+ authors, and the NEU is clear that this is not a path we are prepared to follow in the UK."

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