My Essay in Perspectives on History

I did not know how to take the news. My internal dialogue was struck dumb as I checked my district-approved “classroom library” app for an updated list of vetted and approved books. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s acclaimed novel written as a rebuke of McCarthyism and censorship, was approved. I could allow my students to read it.

I have been teaching in Florida for the last 30 years. For almost a quarter of a century, I have been dedicated to teaching social studies and history at the secondary and college levels. My classroom library is vast, having been collected over the course of my career. Many of the books I purchased because they were relevant to the subjects I was teaching. Some were donated by retired teachers. Others were gathered from boxes of discarded books as school libraries were transformed into “media centers.” My classroom library is the centerpiece of how I approach my subject area—usually history, but currently sociology, economics, and philosophy.

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