as the rhetoric around book bands heats up again in the state lawmakers are trying to rein in the harassment and vital that's come with it state senators Andrew wicker and Teressa Ruiz are proposing a bill to set guidelines around when and how books can be challenged along with protections for librarians who've been the target of lawsuits hate and even violence Martha Hixon knows that all too well she's been on the front lines of the battle as the librarian at North hund Vorhees Regional School District Hixon fought multiple attempts to ban books from the high school library and paid the price she was subjected to threats hate mail and efforts to remove her from her job now Hixon fears a repeat after a November Board of Ed meeting turned contentious when parents spoke out about a graphic novel currently sitting on Library shelves it's called let's talk about it the teens Guide to Sex relationships and being human book Banning is on the docket for the district's board meeting tonight and Martha Hixon recently joined me to share how this fight has affected her life Martha Hixon it's so good uh to get a chance to talk to you I I wonder first what your reaction was just to the outpouring of the public support so much so that we now have to uh follow of course this this next meeting that was rescheduled because of it um it was overwhelming to say the least but not surprising um we have been dealing with the issue of uh attacks on books and attacks on me as the librarian for since 2021 and we had um similar enthusiasm for the right to read and support for the librarian at that time there have been of course other books that have been called into question obviously this has spurred conversations nationally um because while the incident um that you have faced has has caused a lot of I'll say threats and and other repercussions for your personal life um this is playing out really everywhere how is that affected how you're approaching this and how you are continuing to fight um for some of these books to be allowed not just in libraries but other public spaces well first I'd like to take exception with the premise of the question that it's sparking conversations if only um that's what should be happening is a conversation when parents have a concern about a book uh address it at the school building level with the classroom teacher the librarian uh or even the principal but instead what we're seeing is these uh outbursts at board meetings and then these personal attacks on Librarians um in terms of what I'm doing uh through the unfortunate experiences I've had over the last couple of years I've learned quite a bit about how to uh reach out to my community build a network uh use the infrastruct infrastructure of a life Library community and also the first amendment Community to uh get protections for students for our library and even for myself how has it changed Martha how you're going about your job on a daily basis and also just your personal life um in terms of how I'm going about my job it's that's pretty much the same you know uh Librarians are by their very nature rule followers so I've always uh conformed to the policy for select Library materials and I continue to uh read reviews and choose uh the very best materials for our students and that you know my budget will allow uh in terms of my personal life uh when these things erupt and I can honestly say I've never seen anything quite as vicious as what I'm going through now um it turns my personal life upside down uh my work out my life outside of work is now devoted solely to this uh solely to marshalling Res resources to uh gaining support uh and uh to protecting the right to read and also my personal safety this uh latest book called uh let's talk about it is one that's been in the crosshairs What specifically is the issue that's being taken up about it and what are you and other Advocates doing um in your fight to keep it on the shelves well my understanding of um the objection although it hasn't been formally articulated there was a uh reading uh of the book at the November board meeting um a reading of passages of the book I should say those passages had to do with uh masturbation um my understanding of the concern is that some observers of selected passages and pages of the book believe it is too explicit for teenagers um it contains cartoon nudity it is a book about sexual health uh and it does take it from the perspective of a 21st century teenager a 21st century teenager who lives in an environment that is saturated with sexual content by virtue of the device that they hold in their hand um and the material that they access through the device that they hold in their hand is not curated it is not high quality information it may not even be accurate information a book like let's talk about it on the other hand is exactly that um it's highly praised by professional Rie sources it contains accurate information about uh teenagers sexual health and behavior Martha Hixon is a library at the North hun and Vorhees Regional School District who has uh faced a rash of scrutiny uh over particular books Martha thank you so much for coming on the show thank you for your interest [Music]