Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 7 pm CT/ 8 pm ET for the second 2026-2027 UIOWA SLIS Professional Development Series “Professional Growth Through Personal Engagement” session featuring Arizona State University assistant professor of English Education, Dr. Josh Coleman. Dr. Coleman will be discussing his research on how to “Challenge Censorship through Librarian/Classroom Teacher Collaborations”
In this presentation, Dr. Coleman shares findings from a National Academy of Education supported study of Iowa State Senate File 496’s first year of implementation in Iowa K-12 schools. Focused on the 2023-2024 school year, he spotlights inroads for collaboration between librarians and classroom-teachers to challenge book bans. Dr. Coleman also shares findings from his forthcoming book: Ban Censorship, Not Books: How Teachers, Schools, and Communities Can Fight for Intellectual Freedom, including a local resistance framework to support educators in developing community agency.
Dr. James Joshua Coleman (Josh) is an Assistant Professor of English Education in Arizona State University’s Department of English. His research interests include English education and censorship, critical literacy studies, and diverse youth literature. Josh was a 2023 Spencer / National Academy of Education Postdoctoral Fellow and can be reached at josh.coleman@asu.edu.