Start the school year prepared and empowered to face whatever challenges come your way by hearing from experts on the most important aspects of the battle against censorship.

Presented on August 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern, “Take Control,” a free virtual town hall, will offer three sessions with practical takeaways for coalition building, crisis management, and legal options available to librarians, educators, and community members.

During the coalition building session, learn why it is important to create a supportive coalition and how to bring like-minded local people and organizations together, as well as the key to effective messaging when fighting restrictive or punitive legislation or angry parents and community members. A panel with EveryLibrary executive director John Chrastka, Wyoming Library Association president Conrrado Saldivar, and Maine Association of School Libraries president-elect Beth Andersen will discuss their successful past strategies and what they have learned in the process.

In the crisis management session, school librarians Martha Hickson and Amanda Jones will discuss what they learned from their experiences, advice they have on preparing before crisis hits, and taking care of yourself and managing your library when it does.

Finally, attorney and journalist Kelley R. Taylor will speak with PEN America’s Kasey Meehan and Democracy Forward’s senior counsel Ben Seel about the constitutional rights of those in K-12 education and legal options for librarians, educators, and community members. Find out where to go for legal advice, how to make sure everything is documented along the way, and what to expect if you decide to file a lawsuit.

Attendees will get time to ask questions of the session speakers. Register now for the free event.