The Call Is Coming From Inside The House

When school leaders are active agents in the targeting of librarians

On Tuesday, January 23, 2024, parents, educators, librarians, activists, students, and others who believe in the freedom to read will once again be showing up to the North Hunterdon-Voorhees school district (NHV) board meeting. They’ll be there in support of Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. The book was challenged by Eric Licwinko, who did what others performing in the book crisis movement do and pulled passages from the age-appropriate sexual education book out of context to manufacture outrage. 

Licwinko ran for school board in 2022 along with several others on a slate called “Education with a Purpose.” The candidates were united in their opposition to New Jersey’s comprehensive sex ed curriculum and were eager to remove books deemed inappropriate from the school district. Those books included titles with LGBTQ+ themes and authors. Members of that slate, including Licwinko, began challenging LGBTQ+ books in the district at board meetings in late 2021. Although the book review committee tasked with reviewing those books recommended banning one of the titles, This Book Is Gay, stating that the book did not appropriately cite its sources, the school board itself elected to keep all five books on the shelf in January 2022. 

The bid for a seat on the board of education the following November failed for Licwinko. Licwinko’s slate mate Cynthia Reyes lost her bid, too, while his other slate mate Nicole Gallo won hers. Reyes would run again in the next election, winning a seat in November 2023. 

While Licwinko may not be on the school board for the district, his presence is evident. Not only has he brought forth the challenge of Let’s Talk About It. He’s connected to another person in the community, Christopher Stadulis, who has prepared a list of upwards of 50 books ready to be challenged in the district.  

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Martha Hickson is a leader in the library world when it comes to intellectual freedom. She's the librarian at NHV, and she became the target of hatred, ire, and harassment from the segment of the community eager to remove the first set of LGBTQ+ books in 2021. During public comment at a board meeting in September of that year, what is a common and normal interaction between a librarian and student became a dog whistle for “parental rights” activists:

“Both of these books [Lawn Boy and Gender Queer] are labeled as adult reading levels, yet my 16-year-old son was able to check them out. As a matter of fact, Martha Hickson, our school librarian, remarked to my son as he was checking out the books quote I love that book and whoever wants to read it has very good taste.” 

Those words came from Gina Delusant. When she approached the mic to speak, she was reprimanded by the board for not wearing her mask. She doubled down on the whistle in her next breath. 

“If I brought into school an older pornographic magazine to share with children, I would likely be arrested and rightly so [...] this amounts to an effort to groom our kids to make them more willing to participate in the heinous acts described in these books.”

The casual drifting from topic to topic and buzzword to buzzword follows in the style of Trump, as well as others on the right. It begins by evoking the image of a librarian doing her job and connecting with her student over a book and presenting it in a sinister tone; then it was further amplified by the quick shift to an absolutely ridiculous equation. Why would any parent bring random old pornographic magazines to schools and give them to kids? The thought alone is more perverse than anything in the books with which she finds such offense. 

Hickson’s been lauded for her efforts in this fight to ensure students retain access to materials and their First Amendment rights–but that praise hasn’t come from her school. It’s come from the profession and from those outside the library and educational worlds. Hickson earned the 2022 Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity and was named 2023 Librarian of the Year by the New Jersey Library Association, among other accolades and recognition. She’s been featured and quoted liberally in the mainstream media about the realities librarians are facing when it comes to book bans. That’s because she’s been at the center of them.

But now as 2024 unfolds, Hickson not only continues to be unsupported by her school. She’s now being targeted by those whose work should be supporting her.

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Christopher Stadulis runs a public Facebook page called the Hunterdon County Project. At least that’s the name of the page now. The URL indicates that at some point, it was “Lies, Truth, and Academia.”

On Saturday afternoon, January 15, Stadulis posted the following on the page:

Not a benign post, of course, but it’s pretty much in line with what a lot of these “parental rights” groups have done in the name of book banning. Naming Hickson and doing so in all caps puts a target on her back, but chances are, the target was already there–particularly for the types of people who’ve made book banning their hobby over the last several years. The video features Licwinko making his Let’s Talk About It performance debut. 

But the post didn’t stop there. Stadulis then posted this same rant under the “Hunterdon County Project” to another public Facebook group. That group, NJ Schools, is an anti-public education group; a quick scroll of their content tells you everything you need to know about their philosophies, beginning with calling themselves “The landing page for the New Jersey Parents making schools better for our children.” Posts are filled with anti-mask and anti-vaccine rhetoric–philosophies we know have been launch pads for the “parental rights” movements invading schools and libraries–peppered with fear-mongering, anti-trans screeds, Q-Anon conspiracies, and more of what you’d expect from far-right groups. 

NJ Schools has over 14,000 members, compared to the 223 of Stadulis’s own. Stadulis is an administrator in the NJ Schools group, too. 

The comments are not only disgusting. They specifically demonize Hickson, calling her not only irresponsible, but they blame her for creating the mental health crisis facing young people today. She’s called a pedophile and only doing her job for the money–and to groom the next generation of queer people. 

The threats and intimidation then began to hit Hickson. At 8 AM Tuesday, she sent screenshots of the posts to her principal, her superintendent, and to the board of education. She received an email as a result of the post, and it was from an individual who sells tactical shooting gear.

Hickson did not hear back from any of the administration nor did she hear back from the board. 

On Wednesday, Stadulis posted again. First to his Hunterdon County Project Facebook page, then back into the NJ School page. Same tactics, same hateful comments. 

Stadulis is friendly with Eric Licwinko, who initiated the challenge against Let’s Talk About It. Stadulis supports the challenge, of course, and more, he’s helped in developing the rumored list of 50 more books to be challenged. 

Stadulis is the husband of newly-initiated school board member Cynthia Reyes. Yes, the same Cynthia Reyes who ran on the “Education with a Purpose” slate as Licwinko. The same Cynthia Reyes who ran again and was elected in November 2023. She began her term in January. It appears her husband has taken the opportunity to play shadow board member now, too. 

Perhaps it is little surprise, then, that Hickson hasn’t seen support from administration–especially the school board–in this latest round of harassment. The call is coming from directly inside the house, and because Reyes is on the board, door after door is shutting because anything done by administration will be seen by the board. By Reyes, whose husband is behind the crusade to rid the library not only of LGBTQ+ books he doesn’t like, but of a highly qualified, passionate, and competent staff member. 

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This is one story. But it’s dozens, if not hundreds, of stories across the country of not just book bans, but of targeted, well-coordinated attacks on library workers. Intimidation techniques like these are meant to silence librarians and educators, meant to scare them into giving into the demands of a few loud, well-connected, well-funded, and politically motivated individuals within a community. 

In a functioning system, this wouldn’t be allowed to happen. Administration would step up to defend their staff, and for someone like Hickson, administration should be bending over backwards to ensure that she is not only able to keep doing her job, but that she’s a shining example of fighting the type of fascism we’re seeing seep into every public institution. That she is ensuring the First Amendment Rights of all are being protected, not just those of the fringe. 

But they’re not.

In a generous read, they’re burying their heads because they’re in too deep already. In a more realistic read, the administration is scared to push back because people like Stadulis will turn their Facebook pages to actual mob action and put them in harm’s way. They know Stadulis is tied to the board of education; piss him off and your job and school are on the line. (In the least generous read, administration is in the bag with folks like Stadulis and Reyes, but this seems a big stretch, given that administrators, whose careers are in education, are less likely to be attempting to kill public institutions the way that some school board members wish to). 

The inaction on the part of the administration is deeply chiling, and Hickson herself has stated that if she’s not seen on social media after Tuesday night’s meeting that followers should be concerned about her safety. 

An award-winning librarian, scared for her life. Left out in the cold by the very people who should be not only standing beside her, but who should be taking the punches instead. They get paid to do just that. 

Hickson could have given up in 2021. 

She didn’t.

Hickson could have given up in 2022.

She didn’t.

Hickson could have given up in 2023.

She didn’t.

But 2024 might be the final straw. 

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Those of us who’ve been doing this work since the beginning have grown tired of seeing new initiatives spring up in the last year. More new “exciting” anti-book ban initiatives will inevitably be coming up this year, too, as it becomes trendy to finally care about the realities of censorship. For far too many of these initiatives, the focus is on the books. But as we’ve now emphasized for literal years, it is not–nor has it ever been–about the books. Sending banned books to Florida or Texas does absolutely nothing to solve the problem of legislating censorship, legislating homophobia, or legislating fascism. It does nothing to support the actual educators who are fighting tooth and nail to be heard over the noise of book crisis actors at school and library board meetings. It does nothing to help the most vulnerable people find sustenance for the long term. 

This is about the dismantling of public institutions, the systematic revocation of constitutional rights granted to all people, and it’s about the destruction of people. 

People who are queer.

People who are Black or Brown or Multiracial.

People who are showing up over and over to shine a light on this and who, at the end of the day, are too often finding themselves running on empty, burning out, or without any support system from those who should be helping refill their tanks. 

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If you’re in or near Annandale, New Jersey, please consider showing up to the school board meeting on Tuesday night. It’s at 7 p.m. at the NH V Board Office, 1445 Route 31, near the tennis courts at the Regional Rd entrance to NHHS. Use the side entrance at the end of the ramp on the left of the building. Do note that it is possible the location could change due to anticipated attendance. Updates will be here. 

Anti-censorship activists have been engaged in the work here for years. They’re asking supporters to wear red to the meeting and to consider signing up to speak during open comment. 

If you’re unable to go in person, you’re encouraged to send an email to the district administration. While they failed Hickson, the comments they receive from the public will be on the public record. This will continue to create a crucial paper trail as this story continues to unfold. The contact information is as follows: Board president Glen Farbanish (gfarbanish@nhvweb.net), Superintendent Jeffrey Bender (jbender@nhvweb.net), and Principal Greg Cottrell (gcottrell@nhvweb.net). 

Whether attending in person or sending an email, you can find a complete list of talking points, as well as reputable citations, in this document.