Showing posts with label School libraries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School libraries. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

PEN America Puts a Fox in the Hen House: Philomena Polefrone, Gramsci, and the 'Freedom to Read'

Philomena Polefrone
photo credit Publishers Weekly
Philomena Polefrone was recently named Senior Manager of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, according to a July 2026 interview in Publishers Weekly. In that role he oversees research on book bans and educational censorship in K-12 schools and public libraries, helps produce PEN America’s reports on the subject, and works to raise public awareness and mobilize opposition to what the organization terms censorship.¹

Polefrone previously served as Associate Director of the American Booksellers Association’s American Booksellers for Free Expression initiative. He holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from Columbia University, where he taught literature, writing, and political philosophy. Although PEN America’s staff page and Publishers Weekly use she/her pronouns, the biological reality is that Polefrone is male.²

In the Publishers Weekly interview, Polefrone cited the Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci to describe his approach to the work: “Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.” He immediately added: “It’s impossible to ignore how many norms have been shattered, and it feels so much worse to do nothing than to do something.”³

That combination is revealing. Gramsci, a founding figure of the Italian Communist Party, developed the concept of cultural hegemony—the idea that lasting political change requires transforming cultural institutions and the common sense of society, not merely seizing state power. The remark about shattered norms also aligns with a well-documented affinity of Karl Marx himself. Marx’s favorite line from literature, according to multiple accounts, was from Goethe’s Faust (spoken by Mephistopheles): “Everything that exists deserves to perish.” Friends reported that Marx would recite or chant the phrase.⁴


As one critic recently illustrated with a cartoon of a child stomping on a sandcastle while shouting “Stop having a better sandcastle than me,” labeled simply “Socialism,” the impulse to level what already exists is not incidental to this tradition—it is central.⁵


PEN America has been active in litigation and advocacy surrounding school library materials in Escambia County, Florida. The organization is a plaintiff (alongside Penguin Random House, authors, and parents) in a broader federal lawsuit challenging the county’s removal or restriction of numerous books. Separately, the authors of the children’s picture book And Tango Makes Three—which depicts two male penguins raising a chick—sued Escambia County after the school board removed the title. A federal district judge ruled in the school board’s favor in 2025; the authors have appealed. PEN America has publicly supported efforts to restore access to such titles.⁶

Independent journalist and psychologist Dr. Karlyn Borysenko has spent years documenting how far-left and Marxist activists treat libraries, schools, and the “freedom to read” narrative as strategic terrain. Through undercover work at socialist conferences and analysis of primary sources, she has shown how activists discuss using book challenges as an organizing tool, how libraries are framed as sites for socialist work, and how gender ideology functions within a broader project of cultural transformation aimed at children.⁷

While at the American Booksellers Association, Polefrone authored The ABA Right to Read Handbook: Fighting Book Bans and Why It Matters (2024), a practical guide for organizing against book challenges and removals in schools and libraries. The handbook and related ABA materials position resistance to such challenges as essential free-expression work and feature voices from advocacy groups active on these issues.⁸

James Lindsay has argued at length that gender ideology initiatives aimed at young children, including Drag Queen Story Hour, function as tools of Queer Theory intended to reshape children’s understanding of s[*]x and norms. He points to academic literature that openly describes these programs as a means of “bringing queer ways of knowing and being into the education of young children.” In that light, elevating a biological male who identifies as a woman to a senior position at PEN America overseeing school and library materials looks, to many parents, like placing a fox in the hen house.⁹

Parents and local school boards that seek age-appropriate standards for materials available to children now face an advocacy apparatus that frames many such efforts as illegitimate censorship. Whether this leadership choice will ultimately serve the interests of children, or instead intensify institutional pressure to keep contested ideological material on school shelves, remains an open and consequential question.

Endnotes

  1. Claire Kirch, “Defending the Literary Ecosystem: PW Talks with Philomena Polefrone,” Publishers Weekly, July 29, 2026. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/100923-protecting-the-literary-ecosystem-pw-talks-to-philomena-polefrone.html
  2. PEN America staff profile for Philomena Polefrone. https://pen.org/profile/philomena-polefrone-2/ (Official materials use she/her pronouns.)
  3. Same Publishers Weekly interview as Endnote 1. Exact quotation: “It’s impossible to ignore how many norms have been shattered...”
  4. Paul Kengor, The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism’s Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration (TAN Books). https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Karl-Marx-Communisms-Infiltration/dp/1505114446 Reporting on Marx’s favorite line from Goethe’s Faust (“Everything that exists deserves to perish”) appears in the book and related interviews.
  5. James Lindsay (@ConceptualJames), X post, August 7, 2026: cartoon of a child stomping a sandcastle with the caption “Fig 12.7 – Socialism.” https://x.com/ConceptualJames/status/2085565331620139018
  6. Coverage of Escambia County litigation, including the And Tango Makes Three case (Parnell v. School Board of Escambia County) and the broader PEN America / Penguin Random House suit. See, for example: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/books/and-tango-makes-three-escambia-county.html
  7. Work of Dr. Karlyn Borysenko (Decode The Left / Red Menace Press), including undercover recordings from socialist conferences, analysis of Marxist librarians, and documentation of Queer Marxism. Main sites: https://decodetheleft.com/ https://karlyn.substack.com/
  8. Philomena Polefrone, The ABA Right to Read Handbook: Fighting Book Bans and Why It Matters (American Booksellers Association, 2024). See also the ABA Right to Read Toolkit: https://www.bookweb.org/aba-right-read-toolkit https://www.bookweb.org/right-read-handbook
  9. James Lindsay, “Groomer Schools 4: Drag Queen Story Hour,” New Discourses, June 27, 2022. https://newdiscourses.com/2022/06/groomer-schools-4-drag-queen-story-hour/ See also Harper Keenan and Lil Miss Hot Mess, “Drag pedagogy: The playful practice of queer imagination in early childhood,” Curriculum Inquiry 50 (2020): 440–461. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03626784.2020.1864621

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Location: 120 Broadway 26th Floor, New York, NY 10271, USA

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Opposes Explicit Books In Schools, Pleas for Parents to Act to Get These Books Removed, Calls Out School Librarians

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (speaking at a press conference):
It's about the dirty, filthy, and vulgar books in our school libraries.  Last session we passed Senate Bill 13 by Angela Paxton that would remove these books.  These are books that are so disgusting, so filthy, so dirty, so vulgar, so p[*]rnographic that for the ladies here, I wouldn't even open it and show you.  I wouldn't show my wife.  I didn’t show the female senators last session.  I had the books to hand out, we passed the bill, but I did it without, you know, if someone wanted to take the book for themselves, and I'm gonna give you a copy, everyone here, you can decide not to look at it or you can.  And if you're offended, understand these books are on our library shelves.  
Many books are on our library shelves, in all of our schools.  Over 2,000 titles of filthy, dirty, vulgar books.  So when I talked to Bonnie Wallace about it in the interview it just took off and I said parents wanna know about this and the purpose of this press conference today is to get parents in action to get these books removed.  
Senate Bill 13 says they should be removed.  But what we’re finding out is about 80% of the school districts have not done anything, and some school districts push back, even when they're told about the books they have.  Some superintendents don't know what's on the shelves, teachers don't know what's on the shelves, the librarians know.  
The librarians are the ones responsible.  The American association of librarian [ed: American Library Association] is one of the, librarians. is one of the most leftist, woke groups in America.  They train our librarians and they think these are just fine.  And I can assure you that, and I'm not, I can't always be positive about everything in life, but I would say 90% plus of parents or grandparents would not want their children seeing any of these books.
The video is a roughly two-minute clip from a Texas Senate press conference by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. He is holding up a book titled Let's Talk About It and discussing the continued presence of explicit books in school libraries despite the law, the failure of many schools to remove them, and the role of school librarians as to why such books are on the shelves in the first place and why they remain there despite the law.

Watch here:


And here is his conversation with Bonnie Wallace to which he refers. By the way, Bonnie Wallace is a member of World Library Association:


All these parents being sued by school librarians, including myself? We now have a state lieutenant governor saying essentially what we have been saying for which ALA has been provoking people to sue.

Let me add that if anyone in Texas seeks to TPIA/FOIA their schools for information about this, you'll find the documents provided will be slim pickings. Why? Texas Library Association and American Library Association's Dorcas Hand trains librarians how to evade open government laws by using personal contacts and devices, precisely to keep parents and legislators in the dark despite the law. ALA librarians will do anything to keep indoctrinating children, as Dan Patrick confirms above:
Now let's see the entire press conference, straight from the Lieutenant Governor:

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Location: 1100 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701, USA

Monday, May 11, 2026

Texas Freedom to Lie Project

Texas Freedom to Read Project (TXFTRP) has been caught in a Texas-sized lie.

But first, a bit of background.

If you’ve never heard of TXFTRP, it’s the main ALA astroturf group operating out of Texas. EveryLibrary, a de facto subgroup of ALA, is heavily involved in TXFTRP and has been from the beginning. Both organizations openly acknowledge their close ties.

"The support of EveryLibrary has been instrumental in the launch and the ongoing work of the Texas Freedom to Read Project. As attempts at censorship and book banning have skyrocketed across the state of Texas, the need to protect our First Amendment rights is more important than ever. We are incredibly grateful for and look forward to a continued partnership with EveryLibrary. We are optimistic about the future of Texas as we FightForTheFirst [sic]." - Laney Hawes, Texas Freedom to Read Project. (emphasis added)
Statement from TXFTRP founder thanking EveryLibrary

EveryLibrary works to support communities who are fighting against book bans and censorship by providing a wide range of pro-bono tools, data, funding and training. We previously provided the Florida Freedom To Read Project with a sophisticated website built on the NationBuilder platform. Now, we are excited to provide the same tools to a group of advocates in Texas who are fighting against censorship in school and public libraries across the state. This group is called the Texas Freedom to Read Project and you can visit their website at txftrp.org and sign their petition to get involved. We are also providing them with many of the tools and resources that they need to win! See their press release below for more information. (emphasis added)
Statement from EveryLibrary on TXFTRP launch

Note the mention of “Fight for the First” in TXFTRP’s blurb. Fight For The First is—in the words of EveryLibrary founder and Executive Director John Chrastka—“basically change.org for libraries.” It’s a plug-and-play platform developed by EveryLibrary to get ALA astroturf groups up and running in minutes (source).

Fight for the First “About” page citing EveryLibrary’s role

As an EveryLibrary clone with a Texas twang, TXFTRP is scarcely different from the many other ALA-inspired, ALA-funded, ALA-trained organizations around the country. (For a refresher, here are the ALA/EveryLibrary agenda and playbook.)

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with an advocacy group seeking outside help with its operations or funding. But just know that TXFTRP is no more organic or independent than any other ALA astroturf group.

Which brings us to the present day.

On March 11, TXFTRP published an article saying that, as of February 2026, New Braunfels Independent School District (NBISD) had “banned” 600+ books and aged up 800+ books (i.e., moved them from middle school to high school libraries).

TXFTRP article with scary headline and even scarier subhead

TXFTRP allegation that NBISD has removed or aged up nearly 1500 books

NBISD’s supposed actions were in response to SB 13, a bill passed in the 89th Texas Legislature that was signed into law June 2025 and took effect September 2025.

That bill strengthened protections for public school children by prohibiting library materials that are harmful, obscene, pervasively vulgar, educationally unsuitable, or contain indecent or profane content. Naturally, TXFTRP fought it tooth and nail.

NBISD, along with other school districts around the state, undertook a review of its library collection to ensure it was in compliance with SB 13. TXFTRP, sensing a scoop, requested records from the district pertaining to this review.

After analyzing the data provided to it by NBISD, TXFTRP thought it had a bombshell on its hands. Instead, it had a nothingburger.

Here’s why: At the time the article was published, TXFTRP didn’t know the real number of books NBISD had supposedly removed, since they were going off spreadsheets instead of querying the catalog directly. And in fact it had no way of knowing, since NBISD’s review wouldn’t be completed for another 3 months.

TXFTRP admitted as much, albeit in the final paragraph:
A note on our data and information provided.

We acknowledge there are discrepancies between the "Books Pulled by Who and Why" spreadsheets and NBISD Library Catalogs which still show some of the "weeded: SB 13," aged up, and restricted titles listed as "available." New Braunfels ISD provided the "Books Pulled by Who and Why" spreadsheets in response to a request for records of books "removed" or "deleted" since June 1, 2025, so that is what our conclusions and statements are based on. Unless we are otherwise informed, we anticipate the books listed as "weeded: SB 13" in the spreadsheets provided by NBISD have already been, or will imminently, be removed. (emphasis added)
Disclaimer at bottom of TXFTRP article on NBISD “book bans”

While the disclaimer attempted to clarify what was and wasn’t known, the article itself showed no such restraint. Here’s a sampling:
[Headline] New Braunfels ISD bans 600+ books, ages up 800+ titles using AI & overly-restrictive selection criteria.

[Subhead] Lonesome Dove, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Guinness World Records & The Three Musketeers among hundreds of books removed from school library collections. ...

The school libraries may be open- but according to public documents obtained by a volunteer for Texas Freedom to Read Project- books are being removed and restricted at an alarming rate. ...

As of February 2026, New Braunfels ISD has removed more than 600 books from its high schools in response to new laws. Additionally, over 800 books have been removed from district middle schools and aged up to the high schools and approximately 60 titles have been removed from New Braunfels ISD elementary school libraries.

While over 450 books are publicly listed as “under review” on the district website, others have been quietly removed behind the scenes. In total, 678 titles are listed on internal tracking logs, obtained through public information requests, as “weeded: SB13.” (emphasis added)
TXFTRP made hay of the titles in the NBISD spreadsheets, stoking alarm across its platforms that beloved classics like Charlotte’s Web and The Three Musketeers were being removed from school libraries in an unprecedented act of censorship.



The sensationalistic narrative was amplified by friendly media outlets like KSAT (ABC affiliate in San Antonio) and the San Antonio Current. Even ALA fellow traveler PEN America got in on the action. They all repeated TXFTRP’s claims uncritically.

When confronted with their methodological errors and NBISD-sourced data showing far lower numbers than those in the article, TXFTRP doubled down.






Finally, on May 1, NBISD published the results of its review: 72 books were preemptively removed before the review commenced; 161 books were deemed non-compliant; 28 were aged up; and 218 were deemed compliant.

Those numbers were rather different from those cited by TXFTRP, to put it mildly. Here are both sets of numbers for comparison:

TXFTRP Number NBISD Number Difference
Preemptively Removed ? 72 ?
Non-Compliant 660+ 161 500+
Aged Up 800+ 28 ~800
Compliant ? 218 ?

It turns out TXFTRP over-reported the number of books removed by more than five hundred and the number of books aged up by around eight hundred.

TXFTRP will argue that they based their conclusions on data provided by the district—which, technically, is true.

However, they failed to ask some (pretty important!) questions:
  1. Does the presence of a book on a spreadsheet mean it has been or will be permanently removed from the library’s collection?
  2. What exactly does the “Weeded: SB13” label mean?
The answer to the first question is “Probably not,” or if one wishes to be charitable, “Not necessarily.” In fact, the answer was no, but TXFTRP never checked. Instead, it presented its assumptions as faits accomplis.

The answer to the second question would have been readily provided by the district, had TXFTRP bothered to ask. That job fell to a reporter for the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, who dropped this nugget in a story published after the NBISD review was complete:
The district stated that books labeled “weeded: SB13” were not necessarily removed for noncompliance, but because SB 13 prompted librarians to conduct a deeper review of their collections. One major factor in removal was age appropriateness, which could include considerations such as reading level, interest level or catalog “adult” designations.The district also notes that publisher’s reviews evolve over time, so librarians make judgments based on the most up to date information and move books as appropriate. (emphasis added)
It’s now clear that TXFTRP (willfully?) misinterpreted the internal labels the district assigned to books during its review. They thought—or rather, assumed, because it fit the narrative—that “Weeded: SB13” meant the book had been or would be removed. This turned out to be false. Nevertheless, it formed the basis for the article’s most sensational claims.

But the article was not just inaccurate; it was pure fear-mongering. TXFTRP’s objective was to generate outrage over a law designed to protect children in order to secure its repeal. And they were willing to spread falsehoods to achieve it.

That ain’t right, y’all.

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URL of this page: https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2026/05/texas-freedom-to-lie-project.html

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