A vocal minority has denounced school librarians as either woke social justice warriors with a radical agenda to indoctrinate young children or pedophiles with a perverted mission to “groom” them into victims of sexual abuse. Rates of harassment against educators including librarians have risen, coinciding with a record-high number of book banning efforts. Amid the outrage, some librarians have been fired; others have quit. Many others remain committed to their jobs but, as a few told USA TODAY, aren’t sure how much longer they can take it. Observers fear the viral – and visceral – nature of the accusations, combined with the current election cycle, bodes for an even more hostile climate this school year. The tensions extend to regular public libraries, too, over those librarians’ attempts to provide a broad range of reading material. Read more about the challenges facing school librarians through our link in bio.