In the face of a growing number of complaints about the content of books in Maine schools, several education groups have launched a campaign promoting intellectual freedom and offering resources to educators.
Groups including Educate Maine, the Maine School Superintendents' Association, the state teachers' union and the Maine Department of Education have released a joint statement saying that challenges to books are "an attempt to silence and erase the truths and humanity of the books’ characters and creators."
Iris Eichenlaub, an instructional coach and school librarian at Camden Hills Regional High School, said she hopes the campaign will help educators know what policies and laws to reference when responding to such attacks.
"It's that knowledge that, yeah, it's really important to stand up for their students and their rights. And that there are so many organizations here to back you, that you don't have to feel alone," she said.
Kelsey Stoyanova, a teacher at Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden and the 2022 Maine Teacher of the Year, was another organizer of the statement. She said she's recently faced such pushback over books in her own classroom.
"If I had been lesser in my career, and less confident, I think that whole scenario could have played out a lot differently for me as a professional," Stoyanova said.
Stoyanova said the new campaign offers resources, policies and talking points for teachers, staff and school board members if they face challenges in their own district.
The American Library's Association Office of Intellectual Freedom reports a 60% increase in challenges to books last September over the year before.
