Intellectual Freedom News 01/10/2023
Highlights
- American Library Association President: Librarians are facing harassment | Teen Vogue
- One voice: Using collective power to advocate for libraries and democracy | American Libraries
- Brooklyn Public Library Books Unbanned team named librarians of the year by Library Jounal | City Life
Censorship
- America’s culture warriors are going after librarians | Coda
- Reflecting on promising developments, signs of progress and remaining challenges in Lancaster County [editorial] | LancasterOnline (PA)
- Letter: Library right to embrace diversity and not segregate LGBTQIA+ materials | Daily Record (OH)
- A Texas superintendent ordered school librarians to remove LGBTQ books. Now the federal government is investigating. | NBC News (TX)
- Library plan calls for opposing censorship, increased promotion of services | Potomac Local News (VA)
- Protesters swarm NYC library hosting drag story hour for kids | NBC News (NY)
- Homes of council members who support Drag Story Hour vandalized | Queens Chronicle (NY)
- Drag Story Hour protest in NYC caps a year of anti-drag attacks | NBC News (NY)
- Controversial memoir ‘Gender Queer’ to be discussed at library board meeting | Winchester Sun (KY)
- Huntsville Public Library (TX) privatized after pride display | World News Era (TX)
- Huntsville Public Library could be privatized in aftermath of pride display dispute | Houston Public Media (TX)
- Huntsville library to privatize months after Pride book display controversy | KXXV (TX)
- The books banned in your state’s prisons | Marshall Project
- The battle to keep LGBTQ+ books in Louisiana libraries | The Guardian (LA)
- Conservatives push library censorship agenda over holiday weekend | Big Easy Magazine (LA)
- Greeley-Evans School District 6 board of education meeting stopped twice, adjourns early due to disruptions during public comment | Greeley Tribune (CO)
- Official complaint filed over sex ed book | Fremont Tribune (NE)
- Local moms decry sex education, LGBT books in city library | Fremont Tribune (NE)
- Controversial library books moved to adult section | Fremont Tribune (NE)
- Ohio county schools book selections draw questions from public | Wheeling News-Register (WV)
- Template for attack on LGBTQ books replicated in central Oregon | OPB (OR)
- From nudity to prison disruption: Here are all the books currently banned in Texas prisons | San Antonio Express-News (TX)
- Livingston Parish school board unanimously passes new policy against critical race theory | WAFB (LA)
- WA schools became a battleground over books | Crosscut (WA)
- Swearing and sex: Why residents tried to ban books from Meridian’s library… | Idaho Press (ID)
- Appeal filed over book about racism taken out of Beaufort County schools. What’s next? | Beaufort Gazette (SC)
- Polk school board gives conservative group more time to review books for 2 new schools | The Ledger (FL)
- ‘Fences’ removed: LCPS cuts book version of award-winning play from curriculum | Loudoun Times-Mirror (VA)
- Michigan librarian goes viral after ripping board over anti-LGBTQ book bans, threats on her life | Daily Kos (MI)
- Washington schools become a battleground over books | Columbian (WA)
- Book ratings could be coming to Texas school libraries | Fort Worth Report (TX)
- Crawford County Library officials relocate books about homosexual, transexual lifestyles | Talk Business & Politics (AR)
- Progressives are organizing to monitor Pa. school boards in pushback to book bans, ‘harmful’ actions | Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
- Another Pennsylvania school district clamping down on reading rights | Bucks County Beacon
- Riverside library pushes back on request to ban book | Riverside-Brookfield Landmark (IL)
- Kentucky library board starts down the road to censorship | Forward Kentucky (KY)
- Fight over St. Tammany library books escalates to include law enforcement | Louisiana Illuminator (LA)
- ‘Don’t Say Gay’: Florida schools purge library books with LGBTQ characters | Popular Information (FL)
- Florida high school cancels production of Indecent; students ay it’s because of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws | Playbill (FL)
- Florida county bans book on gay penguins, citing ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law | Metro Weekly (FL)
- Maine parents band together to fight ‘inappropriate’ books because of ‘inaction’ by school district | Fox News (ME)
- Library board sets new policy | Central Wisconsin News (WI)
- City council tables library advisory board’s policy recommendations | Victoria Advocate (VA)
- Macon County Public Library considers changing complaint policy after LGBTQ display | WLOS (NC)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- A breach at LastPass has password lessons for us all | New York Times
- FTC’s $520 million settlement with Epic Games puts the spotlight on COPPA, teen privacy, and dark patterns | Mondaq
- A year in internet surveillance and resilience: 2022 in review | EFF
- Bristol Community College network targeted in ransomware attack | WJAR
- WhatsApp launches a tool to fight internet censorship | WIRED
- Students have privacy too! | JD Supra
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Strife in the schools: Education Dept. logs record number of discrimination complaints | Ne York Times
- What researchers learned from analyzing decades of civil rights complaints against schools | EducationWeek
- A heavily armed man caused panic at a supermarket. But did he break the law? | New York Times
- Supreme Court takes up First Amendment immigration case | Reporters Commitee for Freedom of the Press
- A charity tied to the Supreme Court offers donors access to the justices | New York Times
- County response to First Amendment suit says removing speaker from meeting isn’t illegal | WECT
- Court rules First Amendment protected teacher who brought MAGA hat to training | Hill
- Florida schools expect new debate over transgender student restroom use | Tampa Bay Times’
- Federal judge sides with Denver school leader after alleged censorship | CBS Colorado
- Is encouraging unauthorized immigration free speech or a felony? | New York Times
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Judge poised to hear ‘intellectual freedom’ fight | WUSF (FL)
- Muzzled by DeSantis, critical race theory professors cancel courses or modify their teaching | ProPublica (FL)
- A Florida University is quickly assembling a list of courses on diversity. Why? DeSantis asked. | Chronicle of Higher Education (FL)
- DeSantis wants to know hwo much Florida colleges spend on ‘trendy ideology’ | Tallahassee Democrat
- Gov. DeSantis taps Christopher Rufo, 5 others to transform New College of Florida into ‘classical college’ | Florida Politics
- DeSantis moves to turn a progressive Fla. college into a conservative one | Washington Post
- Professor’s termination for showing paintings of prophet Muhammad spurs debate around academic freedom | ARTnews
- Stanford University backs away from its harmful language list | Forbes
- Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors | Washington Post
Legislation
- Whatever happened with Texas’ anti-CRT law? | Education Week
- Florida’s Stop WOKE Act in limbo amid fedaral court battle | WFLA
- It’s January. Here come the bad higher education bills | Forbes
- New year means new laws on Georgia’s Books | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- ‘Civics’ group says HB 1775 will ‘limit civic education’ | OCPA (OK)
- Indiana lawmakers revive bill at center of book-banning dispute for 2023 legislative session | Chalkbeat Indiana
State and Local Governance
- Eric Adams’s public library cuts would devastate a system average New Yorkers need | Jacobin
- Arntzen hosts parental rights speakers in Capitol | Montana Free Press (MT)
Copyright
Social Media
- Twitter to ease ban on political advertising under Musk | Yahoo! News
- Jen Psaki deposition stopped by appeals court in social media censorship case | Hill
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Atlanta professors on impacts of disinformation, midterms and political rhetoric on democracy in 2022 | WABE
- White supremacy and the disinformation wars | Nonprofit Quarterly
International
- Putin orders FSB to step up surveillance of Russians and borders | Reuters
- How do you protest in the face of censorship? An empty sign. | New York Times
Around the Web
- Author Maia Kobabe: Struggling kids told me my book helped them talk to parents | NPR
- What book bans are doing to school library purchases | Education Week
- Educators’ opposition to censorship comes at big personal cost | Education Week
- Author Susan Kuklin: These teens wanted to let other kids know ‘they are not alone’ | NPR
- PW’s 2022 People of the Year: The Defenders | Publishers Weekly
- 2022 in the classroom: A look back on book bans, culture wars, and the fight over parental rights | WFTS
- A mom wrongly said the book showed pedophilia. School libraries banned it. | Washington Post
- Publishing, under pressure | New York Times
- When books for children are banned | New York Times
- Why I gave banned books as presents this year | EdSource
- Republican outrage over LGBTQ books escalated in 2022 | Georgia Voice
- A look back on the politicization of school boards and the controversy over books | Casper Star Tribune (WY)
- Under Pressure: Why three library directors resigned following community challenges | American Libraries
- Remembering Joyce Meskis, First Amendment champion | Westword
- The perverse vulgarity of book banning | Creators
- Bernie Rabik: Banning books intended to be read by children doesn’t protect anyone | Times
- A powerful prescription: Pediatrician uses books to connect with kids | School Library Journal
- Libraries aren’t safe, but they are good | Christianity Today
- Black librarians conference pulls out of Indy, citing library CEO controversy | Indianapolis Star
- Florida English teacher pushing book bans is openly racist and homophobic, students allege | Popular Information (FL)
- The top 10 library stories of 2022 | Publishers Weekly
ALA News
- Register for LibLearnX today
- ALA announces slate of petition council candidates
- American Library Association and EBSCO Information Services Offer Scholarships for Librarians to Attend ALA Annual Conference
- Core Webinar: Best of Core Forum: (Meta)data Analysis for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Cassell and Hiremath’s updated introduction to reference and information services
- ACRL releases “Academic Librarian Burnout: Causes and Responses”
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