Teachers vow to 'fight censorship' after school book row

Teachers say they will "fight censorship" of books in school libraries in order to promote "intellectual freedom and children's rights". The National Education Union (NEU) said school librarians had reported "internal and external censorship". Its members voted to oppose any censorship as part of a "fight against the far right" during its annual conference in Brighton. It comes after reports that books were removed from a school library in Salford at the end of last year, resulting in a librarian resigning. One librarian told the NEU's conference she had heard several accounts from colleagues who were "having to take art books off the shelves because they have historic paintings and sculptures of nudes". "Literature is an art form, and we need to be making sure that we're not eroding it and we're not censoring it," she said. Daniel Kebede, the union's general secretary, said "any move to censor books in school libraries, based on misinformation and fearmongering, should ring alarm bells". "Children's access to a wide range of literature is a fundamental good that the NEU is proud to defend," he said. He said there have been examples of countries, including the US and Hungary, which