In response to a manufactured panic over books, there comes a capitalist solution to eliminate the professional knowledge and expertise of those who work at the intersections of education and literacy. Last week, a new program was launched, marketing itself as a means to help schools, libraries, and parents navigate the new reality of life with book bans. BookmarkED, who soft launched their product during a Texas State Senate Committee on Education meeting March 30, 20023, is “a solution to the ongoing challenge of banned and challenged books in school libraries across North America, with Texas being the fastest growing in this space, followed closely by Florida.” The soft launch occurred two and a half months before Texas passed the READER Act.
Founded by Steve Wandler, who works in the education technology space, BookmarkED aims to “empower parents to personalize school libraries.” The purpose is to ensure that parents get to decide the “individual literary journey for their children, based on their personal values and interests,” while teachers and librarians can keep “confidently recommending and providing more personalized books to their students, knowing precisely the learning outcomes they will achieve.” As a bonus, the technology will help libraries “simply and efficiently navigate the ever-changing challenged books landscape.” BookmarkED’s website states the idea was conceptualized by a Texas superintendent.
In the press release for the technology, Wandler noted that library workers rely on year-old data on book bans and that BookmarkED would provide current data on the books being banned across the country. He notes that “we equip schools with real-time data at the state and national level for challenged books, which no other solution in the market is capable of.” The press release cites data on book bans from the American Library Association’s report earlier this year.
The First App to “Help” Libraries and Schools with Book Bans Has Arrived–It’s Not What It Seems
Industry-First Technology to Enable Parental Choice in School Libraries
The company launches to first help Texas school districts meet upcoming compliance standards regarding challenged books, and then expand nationwide in 2024
DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BookmarkED, the industry-first technology solution to personalize libraries with parental choice, has announced its official launch in Texas. With the passing of Texas House Bill (HB) 900, school districts face a pressing need to meet the changing requirements for parental engagement on library books that children have access to. BookmarkED is a Texas-based company that enables parents to make individual decisions on literary options for their children and protects school districts from liability by ensuring compliance.
Library book challenges are increasing across the US. The American Library Association (ALA) documented 2,571 unique library books and resources challenged in 2022, nearly double the number of challenges reported in 2021 and the highest since ALA began compiling data more than 20 years ago. BookmarkED’s technology addresses the current state of challenged books by fostering parental choice to decide what books their children have access to, based on their family’s values and interests.
“BookmarkED is an innovative solution that fosters parent’s choices for their individual child so that decisions are one-to-one versus one-to-all. Our platform puts the power into the hands of their parents, so that they can decide the literary path for their children by setting parameters over what books their children have access to. We are driven to first empower Texas school districts with this technology, and then move to a national level,” said Steve Wandler, CEO and Co-Founder of BookmarkED.
BookmarkED’s key capabilities include:
- Providing parents with transparent choice and approval of their children’s reading materials.
- Ensuring compliance with state legislation related to parental choice.
- Reducing costs around the challenged book review process.
- Accessing state and nationwide, real-time, factual data on challenged books in district libraries.
- Safeguarding schools and districts to soon provide a “BookmarkED Verified” seal of approval for individual books.
Wandler continued: “Furthermore, we equip schools with real-time data at the state and national level for challenged books, which no other solution in the market is capable of. Libraries currently rely on challenged book data from the previous year, which is quickly out of date as more books become challenged. BookmarkED’s data is real-time, which is powerful since school districts and libraries have the knowledge on when and why a book is challenged, if a book has been removed, and much more.”
Wandler has two decades of experience in leadership and entrepreneurship. Growing up, Wandler’s unique learning style caused him to struggle in the traditional academic setting, ultimately leading to him dropping out of high school. Eventually, he became an entrepreneur in the EdTech space with the dream to reshape the educational experience into a more positive one for future generations. Prior to BookmarkED, his passion for reshaping education drove him to co-found venture capital-funded startup FreshGrade, a learning collaboration and portfolio tool. In addition, Wandler served as the COO of Thrively and on the Education Advisory Board at Simon Fraser University.
The solution will be available in select Texas school districts in fall 2023. BookmarkED will then expand its solution to more states in 2024.
If you are interested in learning more or working together, please reach out to us here: https://www.bookmarked.com/contact
To read our CEO and Founder Steve Wandler’s perspective on the launch, go to: http://www.bookmarked.com/blog-posts/embracing-the-challenge-how-bookmarked-empowers-readers-in-the-face-of-challenged-books
About BookmarkED
BookmarkED is the industry-first technology solution to personalize libraries with parental choice. The innovative platform empowers parents to decide what books their children have access to, based on their personal values and interests. Based in Dallas, Texas, BookmarkED equips schools with real-time data at the state and national level for challenged books, and ensures compliance with state legislation. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, or go to: https://www.bookmarked.com
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