North Hunterdon librarian teams with tech developer to fight book banning

CLINTON TOWNSHIP – Martha Hickson is not one to let sleeping dogs lie − or censorship to flourish.

In preparation for September's Banned Books Week, Hickson teamed up with iorad, a Boston-based software company, and launched Demo Defense, a nationwide online resource to help combat censorship.

Hickson, a librarian at North Hunterdon High School, spent much of the 2021-22 school year fighting personal attacks and opposing the removal of LGBTQ books from the district's libraries.

In turn, the American Library Association awarded Hickson the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity.

Now, along with iorad's Director of Program Engagement Arlen Kimmelman, Hickson created Demo Defense, a list of places where people can report any book censorship they encounter.

The hope is to increase awareness of censorship wherever it is found and the need to report it.

"If you as a parent, as a community member, become aware of attempts to censor or limit library books, library programs, library displays, then you as a private citizen can report that censorship attempt using the resources that we provide in iorad," Hickson said.

During the 2021-22 school year, Hickson was targeted when parents and other community members sought to remove five books that are LGBTQ-themed from the North Hunterdon High School library. She opposed the action, which began during "Banned Books Week."

Also see:LGBTQ books will remain in North Hunterdon, Voorhees school libraries

The group labeled her a "pornographer" and "pedophile" for providing children with access to the books in question. For months, Hickson was subjected to personal attacks in the form of hate mail, threats, vandalism and questions about her judgment and integrity. She said the adversity became so pervasive and extreme that her blood pressure and anxiety rose, and her physician removed her from the workplace.

"Right now there's another librarian in Louisiana − Amanda Jones," Kimmelman said. "She's going through the same thing now. It's a personal attack, and nobody should have to endure that."

Besides guides on how to report challenges to books, Demo Defense offers ways to support organizations that defend intellectual freedom, such as EveryLibrary and Unite Against Book Bans. All the organizations came to Hickson's defense and provided support for her.

"We know that people do not like filling out forms and find them confusing. And by using this to explain it, it made the forms really easy for people to fill out. It just made them accessible," Kimmelman said. "And then we realized the same thing happens where people may try and make donations to these organizations that help them out."

"I've gotten quite a bit of feedback from fellow librarians across the country who said it was fantastic, having a resource all in one place, and they're interested in using it not only in the event that they have a challenge, but also in sharing it with their own community of library users," Hickson said. "So that the general public can feel comfortable as well. Librarians were our first target in terms of pushing it out and they have embraced it fully and are keeping it in their hip pockets for when the situation arises. And sadly, the situation seems to be arising more and more these days."Hickson and Kimmelman began working on it in July, eyeing a release in time for Banned Books Week. It debuted at the end of August and within 24 hours after Demo Defense was posted on Twitter, more than 2,264 impressions and 110 engagements were received.

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More recent statistics found 520 hits on the resource, with at least six coming from Germany, Kimmelman said.

Kimmelman, a former New Jersey school librarian, and Hickson had previously known each other from the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. Already a fan of iorad, Hickson often used its technology in her daily instructional activity to create tutorials after attending a presentation by Kimmelman at a spring workshop.

"iorad’s philosophy is that knowledge belongs to everyone and is meant to be shared," said iorad’s Chief Happiness Officer Dipti Patel. “Our goal is to get Demo Defense into the hands of every school and public librarian nationwide as a way to both prevent and effectively fight censorship."

The first two North Hunterdon board meetings of the 2022-23 school year were uneventful, Hickson said.

"It was the first time in a year that neither the library or library books nor the librarian have been mentioned in a disparaging way," Hickson said. "However, three of the people involved with book banning are now running for board seats. So I am holding my breath on that."

While the experience took its toll on Hickson, she is not going away or abandoning her principles.

"I guess it's like what they do with iron and forged by fire," Hickson said. "I don't want to trivialize people who've been through a war time or truly traumatic situation, but there is kind of this lingering PTSD associated with it. So when I watch news coverage, and I will see a rant going on and another board meeting, it's like those emotions come welling up again. But on a day-to-day basis, I feel like I'm back on my feet."

She is glad some positives have come out of the ordeal.

"My feeling is, it would have been a pointless endeavor indeed, to have gone through this experience and not try to make something positive out of it," she said. "I feel that it's all to the good if my ability is to speak out and I think that's something I am able to do. I have for one reason or another, a greater comfort level with telling my story than some of the other librarians do. "

She has empathy for other librarians caught in the same situation and she is fortunate that she can speak out.

"Because there are some people who are actually in a position where they can't – either because their job is on the line because they don't have a union to protect them like I did or their safety is on the line because maybe they have Proud Boys that are coming to their library which is actually happening," she said. "So far, I have a job with union protection. And so far, I haven't had a Proud Boy in my face. So as long as I have a voice, I need to use it."

email: cmakin@gannettnj.com

Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ librarian teams with tech developer to fight book banning