The author discusses "Text a Librarian," a short message serviceto-email service provided via Upside Wireless, Inc., a Canadian telecommunications provider. Any user of the University of Virginia Library who has a cell phone and text messaging capability can send a text message to a local phone number provided by Upside Wireless. Upside's "virtual SMS channel," which forwards the message to the Library's reference e-mail account. Librarians then respond to the query with an e-mail message that the user receives as a text message on his or her cell phone. This article describes the process by which a library developed the idea for the service and decided to contract with Upside, as well as staffing for the service and the challenges, successes, and possible new directions. A brief survey of the SMS reference landscape is included.
The early 2020s saw a wave of demands for books to be removed from school and public libraries in Virginia and throughout the United States. A disproportionately high percentage of challenges were aimed at books written by LGBTQ+ authors and authors of color. Involvement by public officials was one of the most striking features of the challenges-especially when Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin chose to make "parental control" of children's education a central feature of his 2021 campaign. However, while these events represent a new and troubling phase in the long history of struggles for control of reading material, race and sexuality have been recurring themes in book censorship throughout Virginia history in periods of backlash to social change. This article surveys episodes in the history of book censorship in Virginia from 1960-present set against the longer arc of Virginia and US history. Books provide exposure to knowledge as well as its representation, ensuring that they will be a focus of cultural and political struggles. Demands to restrict library materials in order to protect children tend to focus on literature giving voice to marginalized communities, and can be followed by demands to restrict adults' reading material as well.
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