Shannon Oltmann, “Fanning the Flames: Why Book Bans are on the Rise and What We Can Do About It”

Book banning has sharply escalated in the past four years, driven by partisan groups and misplaced concern for children. In this talk, Dr. Shannon Oltmann will explore why book bans and censorship are happening more frequently and discuss what can be done to stand up against book bans. We will also talk about the importance of having diverse books available to everyone, followed by plenty of time for discussion and questions.

Shannon M. Oltmann is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky. She obtained her Ph.D. from Indiana University. Her research interests include information ethics, censorship, intellectual freedom, public libraries, privacy, and qualitative research methods. She wrote the book Practicing Intellectual Freedom in Libraries and edited The Fight Against Book Bans: Perspectives from the Field. Oltmann’s work has been funded by the American Library Association and the Institute of Museum & Library Services. She has presented her research at numerous academic and professional conferences and webinars and has published widely.