Prepared to Respond

AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO:

• Audit and strengthen your reconsideration policy so it is clear, current, and ready to hold up under real pressure.
• Give frontline staff clear language and steps so they’re not stuck figuring out what to say in the moment.
• Apply proactive strategies to ensure your full community is represented in your collection while reducing your visibility to potential challengers.
• Respond to formal and informal challenges using established best practices that protect both your library and your staff.
• Identify and build relationships with allies and coalitions before a challenge arrives, not after.
• Use effective tactics for board meetings and public-facing advocacy to protect intellectual freedom at the institutional level.
• Communicate clearly and persuasively with challengers, administrators, and community members about the value of a wide-ranging collection.
• Leave with an updated policy framework and the confidence to advocate for all materials in your library.

You will leave with concrete tools, updated policies, and a clearer sense of how to protect your collection and your community without waiting for a crisis to force your hand.

This course is especially helpful for:

• Public and school librarians responsible for collection development or policy decisions
• Frontline staff who may be the first to hear concerns or complaints about materials
• Managers and directors who need to guide staff and respond to challenges
• Anyone responsible for maintaining or updating reconsideration policies
• Library workers who want to feel more prepared before a challenge happens

If that sounds like your role, you will probably see yourself in this course.

If you are someone who:

• Feels a little uneasy about how your library would handle a real challenge
• Has a policy in place but isn’t sure it would hold up under pressure
• Worries about staff being caught off guard at the desk
• Is watching challenges increase and wants to be ready, not reactive
• Wants to protect your collection and your community without making your library a target

This course was built for you.

THIS COURSE CONSISTS OF 5 ON-DEMAND MODULES:

Introduction Module: Sharing Context: Where We Are in 2026 and Beyond

What has changed since censorship peaked a few years ago? What have we learned, and what are the new challenges we face in 2026 and beyond? This introduction module will cover where we've been and where we're going, and how we can support each other in supporting our communities.

Module 1: Proactive Responses: Building Policies and Allies

Are your intellectual freedom policies updated and working for you? And how can you find community support and allies to help advocate for intellectual freedom? This module will teach you how to ensure your policies and procedures are effective, as well as how to find allies inside and outside of your library, gain local legislative support, and work as a community to combat censorship challenges.

Module 2: Protest Ready: How to Respond to Challenges

Is your library prepared for censorship-based protests and active challenges or disruptions? What separates a calm, policy-driven response from a chaotic, reactive one? This module walks through practical strategies for responding to book and material challenges, from de-escalation in the moment to documentation and follow-through. Leave with a response framework and communication tools you can put in place before your library needs them.

Module 3: Staying Off the Radar: How to Increase Inclusivity Despite Censorship

How can you continue to create and advocate for inclusive programs and collections even and especially when your organization is facing censorship? How can you stay off the radar and still support your vulnerable communities? This module will cover real examples from states that have faced censorship directly.

Module 4: Protecting Yourself Amid Censorship and Defamation Attacks

Too often, librarians and educators are being publicly targeted by people attempting to advance censorship. This module will teach you how to protect yourself online from doxxing and other harassment. You will also learn strategies for setting and maintaining boundaries, advocating for yourself in the workplace, and prioritizing wellness through rest and connection to others through affinity groups.

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Sonya Durney, Scholarly Communication Librarian, University of New England

Sonya Durney (she/her) works at the intersection of public policy, democracy, and information access. She serves as Scholarly Communication Librarian at the University of New England and directs educational initiatives for the EveryLibrary Institute. Her advocacy spans state and national policy, drawing on past leadership with the Maine Library Association and service with the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition and the American Library Association. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Muskie School of Public Service and an MLIS from Simmons College, with research focused on information equity and the political agency of library workers. Outside of work, she heads into Maine's woods and trails with her husband and son.

Sam Helmick, They/Them, Community & Access Services Coordinator at Iowa City Public Library

Sam Helmick is a library leader, advocate, and educator whose work centers on intellectual freedom, public trust, access, and the ways libraries can remain steadfast in difficult moments. They are the Community & Access Services Coordinator at Iowa City Public Library, where they lead work connecting the library with its community and expanding equitable access to library services.

Helmick served as President of the American Library Association from 2025–2026. Their leadership has included navigating increasingly complex challenges around intellectual freedom, censorship, public discourse, and the role of libraries as trusted civic institutions. A frequent speaker and writer on the future of libraries, Helmick brings a practical, people-centered perspective to difficult situations by grounding responses in policy, preparation, de-escalation, documentation, and the conviction that library workers should not have to improvise their way through a crisis. They hold a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois.

Julie Miller, Library Manager, Florida State College at Jacksonville

Julie Miller is a Library Manager at Florida State College at Jacksonville with more than 20 years in education and a passion for intellectual freedom. A former high school librarian, she twice earned Florida Power-Library School status, served on the Florida Teens Read committee, and was elected to the Board of Directors of her state library association. In 2022, Julie became a leading voice against the surge of book bans in Clay County, FL, speaking to local, national, and international media about the escalating wave of censorship. Her advocacy work has been featured in the essay collection Trouble in Censorville (2024), on The Daily Show (2024), and in the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary The Librarians (2025). Julie holds an English degree from Florida State University and is currently pursuing her Master's in Library and Information Science at Valdosta State University.

Amanda Jones, Librarian and Author

Amanda Jones is a middle school librarian in Louisiana, where she has worked in education for more than two decades at the same school she attended as a child. After speaking out against book censorship at a 2022 library board meeting, she became a nationally recognized advocate for intellectual freedom, co-founding the Livingston Parish Library Alliance and Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship. Her honors include the AASL Intellectual Freedom Award and ALA's Paul Howard Award for Courage, and she was named School Library Journal's School Librarian of the Year. She is the author of the memoir "That Librarian," which chronicles her fight against book banning. 

ALL THE DETAILS

Book challenges don’t usually start as formal processes. They start with a conversation, a complaint, or a moment where a staff member has to respond without much time to think. What happens in those early moments often shapes everything that comes next.

This course focuses on helping you feel more prepared in those moments and beyond. You’ll look at what actually holds up when policies are tested, how to give staff clearer guidance so responses are consistent, and how to approach challenges in a way that protects both your collection and your team. You’ll also explore how to build support ahead of time, so you’re not trying to figure everything out once a situation is already underway.

GROUP OPTIONS

Training a team? Choose the setup that matches how you want to plan and pay:

Group course enrollment: Enroll 3+ staff in this course and save.

Bulk course credits: Prepay once, get the highest per-seat discount on every course, and assign seats later.

Unlimited annual licensing: System-wide access for a year with no per-course approvals.

Request Discounted Group Pricing

Questions? Email groupsales@libraryjournal.com.

COURSE FORMAT

This is a fully self-paced, asynchronous online course consisting of 4 modules. Each module includes video instruction, slides, readings, and practical exercises designed to connect directly to your library’s policies and day-to-day work.

EXPECTED TIME COMMITMENT

Each module is designed to take approximately 4 hours to complete, for a total of 16 hours. You may move through the course at your own pace and on your own schedule.

COURSE ACCESS

You will have access to all course materials for six months from the material unlock date. You can start at any point during that window and move through the course at your own pace.

CREDIT & CERTIFICATE

Complete all modules to earn 16 professional development credit hours and a Library Journal certificate of completion, which will be emailed to you.

ACCESSIBILITY

All video recordings feature auto-captioning. If you require accommodations, please email course-support@libraryjournal.com upon registration and we will make our best efforts to support your needs.

SUPPORT

For technical or course-related support, please contact course-support@libraryjournal.com.