Wokeness is still alive and well in our school libraries

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We keep hearing that wokeness is over or “woke is dead.” It isn’t. At least not in America’s school libraries.

Just look at the American Library Association’s agenda for its annual Conference and Exhibition now taking place in Chicago. Rachel Maddow is scheduled as the opening speaker for tonight. Critical race theory scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw is delivering the keynote. Sessions on the agenda like “Queer Kidlit Joy” and “Decolonizing the Stacks” make clear that the ideological excesses of the last few years are still very much alive.

The American Library Association is not some fringe group. It has enormous influence over K-12 libraries through its division, the American Association of School Librarians, which sets standards, guidance, and so-called “best practices.” While it does not directly control school policy, it shapes what books are purchased, displayed, and promoted. It has been a fierce opponent of efforts to place age-appropriate limits on sexually explicit or heavily ideological materials.

A quick look at the session titles on the conference schedule tells you everything you need to know about the organization’s ongoing commitment to filter even childhood education through a mishmash of critical theory argle-bargle: “Charting Queer Visibility,” “Read Trans Books,” “Queer Kidlit Joy,” “Decolonizing the Stacks,” and “Cultivating Radical Empathy.”

These are obviously not neutral topics. They reflect an extreme worldview rooted in social justice ideology and queer theory. The American Library Association’s leadership is not shy about it, either. The organization has explicitly moved away from neutrality, on the grounds that neutrality itself upholds racism and inequality. In fact, since 2021, the word “neutrality” has disappeared from the organization’s Library Bill of Rights and Code of Ethics.

That same year, the organization passed a resolution condemning white supremacy and fascism as “antithetical to library work,” claiming that libraries have contributed to both through a “misplaced emphasis on neutrality.” So the idea that libraries should present ideas in a viewpoint-neutral fashion — once the very foundation of the profession — is now treated as part of the problem.

“Decolonizing the stacks” doesn’t just mean adding more authors with greater racial or gender diversity. It means reassessing books through an explicitly ideological lens, often framing Western literature and values as an oppressive force upholding white supremacy. In practice, that usually means elevating certain perspectives while sidelining or even removing others from the traditional canon.

The push for “queer visibility” and “trans books” is not presented as optional or supplemental. Rather, librarians are expected to actively promote and celebrate, as part of their professional duty, a specific (and not especially widely held) perspective on gender and sexuality.

Even the language — “radical empathy,” “equity audits” — signals the ideological shift. Libraries are no longer positioned as open forums for ideas where texts from different viewpoints are celebrated. Instead, they are tightly curated spaces, dedicated to advancing a particular set of revolutionary values.

And what happens at the American Library Association doesn’t stay there. It directly influences which books are purchased, which are displayed, which are recommended — and which are disappeared or ignored. It shapes the environment that students encounter every time they walk into a school library.

Yes, in our age of smartphones and social media, school libraries have less influence than they once did. And yes, many students may not notice or care. But others do. Some internalize the worldview being presented. Others are so alienated by it, they become part of a backlash. Neither outcome is good.

Our schools are public institutions. They have a constitutional obligation to uphold the free exchange of ideas, not to indoctrinate or engage in viewpoint discrimination. Far too many are failing at this.

None of this is to argue that libraries should not include diverse voices or tackle complex and contentious issues. However, we need a balanced approach. We are instead saddled with activism in place of learning.

The American Library Association is not hiding any of this. It has told us what it prioritizes and what it is promoting to schoolchildren.

School officials have an obligation to understand this group’s influence and serve as a backstop for students and parents against this unrelenting ideology and propaganda.

Erika Sanzi is senior director of communications at Defending Education. She is a former educator and elected school board member and a mom of three boys.

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