Librotraficante facts for kids

The Librotraficante (pronounced: Lee-bro-trah-fee-KAHN-tay) movement was a protest in the United States. Its name means "Book Trafficker" in English. This movement started in 2012 because of a decision in Arizona. The state's education leader decided to remove certain books from classes. These books were part of Mexican-American studies. The reason given was that the books might cause problems or favor one group over another.

In response, protesters organized a "caravan." This was a group of people who traveled together. They carried over 1,000 books that had been removed. They brought these books into Arizona. The goal was to make people aware of the issue and to share the books. The caravan happened again in 2017. This was when the Arizona Supreme Court was discussing ethnic-studies classes. In 2013, the Librotraficante protest won an award called the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. This award recognizes efforts to protect people's right to read and learn freely.

Why the Librotraficante Movement Started

In January 2012, a leader in Arizona's education system, John Huppenthal, made a decision. He said that Mexican-American studies classes in the Tucson Unified School District broke a state law. This law said that classes could not "promote the overthrow of the United States government." It also said classes should not create bad feelings between different groups of people.

Because of this decision, the Mexican-American studies classes were changed. They became regular classes with a general plan. Also, many books used in these classes were taken out of classrooms. They were moved to a storage building. Many students and community members were upset by these actions. They protested, and some students even walked out of school.

The Book Caravan

The Librotraficante movement was one of the ways people protested. Author and activist Tony Diaz led this movement. In March 2012, a group traveled from Houston, Texas to Tucson, Arizona. This trip was called a "caravan."

The caravan included authors whose books had been removed. It also had people who believed in intellectual freedom. This means the freedom to think, read, and share ideas. The main goal was to "smuggle" the removed books back into Arizona. They also wanted to raise awareness about the decision. They wanted to promote books by Latino authors. The group collected over 1,000 copies of the books. They planned to create "underground libraries" where people could still read them.

The caravan stopped in cities like El Paso, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. When they reached Tucson, they set up a library. They put some of the books there for young people to use.

New Words from the Movement

Tony Diaz started the movement with a short video. In this video, he introduced some new words related to the protest:

• Librotraficante: This word describes someone who secretly brings banned books back into Arizona.
• Wet-book: This was a book brought into the state by the caravan. It was meant for "underground classes" where people could still study Latino literature.
• Dime book: This term referred to a paperback book. These books usually cost about $10. But Diaz said they became "invaluable" because of Arizona's laws.

The caravan was started again in 2017. This was to happen at the same time as a court hearing. The Arizona Supreme Court was hearing a case about ethnic-studies courses.

Influence on Other Schools

The Librotraficante movement had an impact beyond Arizona. A news article in The Atlantic in July 2015 reported on this. It said that the movement helped lead to new ethnic-studies courses. These courses were started in high schools in other parts of Arizona. They also began in schools in California and Texas.

Awards and Recognition

In 2013, the Librotraficante movement received an important award. It was given the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. This award was presented at the American Library Association's Midwinter meeting. It recognized the movement's efforts to protect the freedom to read and learn.