Intellectual Freedom News 02/24/2023
Highlights
- Los Angeles Times Book Prizes to honor James Ellroy and Freedom to Read Foundation | Los Angeles Times
- American Association of School Librarians and ADL form partnership to bring anti-bias, Holocaust educational resources into schools | ADL
Censorship
- Banned book library opens in St. Pete following school book challenges | WFTS (FL)
- Parents of Lafayette library’s minor patrons may block access to sexually explicit material | Acadiana Advocate (LA)
- NCAC asks Madison County, VA school board to keep books in libraries | National Coalition Against Censorship (VA)
- CMS ‘masde aware of the presence of an inappropriate book’ in two school libraries | WCNC (NC)
- Defunded over book controversy, West Michigan library may try third time for millage | Michigan Live (MI)
- Cumberland County Schools reviewing books for explicit content; some condemn it as censorship | ABC11 (NC)
- Library director” ‘We have our own responsibility’ | Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)
- Teacher fired after DeSantis says bookshelf video was ‘fake narrative’ | Washington Post (FL)
- Ron DeSantis’s war on ‘woke’ in Florida schools, explained | Vox (FL)
- Escambia County school board reviews banning three books from libraries | WEAR (FL)
- Escambia Co. school board removes 3 books from schools | WKRG (FL)
- ‘I am embarassed to be a student in Escambia County.’ District bans 3 more books | Pensacola News Journal (FL)
- Banned book library opens in St. Pete following school book challenges | WFTS (FL)
- Scoop: Texas abortion ban architect turns to libraries | Axios (TX)
- NCAC objects to Kutztown, PA school district’s cancellation of reading program | NCAC (PA)
- Book-banning talk heats up in Bay Area school district | Mercury News (CA)
- Lawsuit filed against CCSD claims students being taught Critical Race Theory in classrooms | WCIV (SC)
- Some Anchorage parents heated over ‘inappropriate’ books in school libraries | KTUU (AK)
- Proud Boys violently attack suporters at DC-area Drag Queen Story Hour | Advocate
- Montgomery police to patrol drag story hours after Proud Boys protest | Washington Post (MD)
- Locals stand with the Meridian Library District amid controversy | KTVB (ID)
- Library supporter helps organize counter-protest | KPVI (NE)
- Community group urges Savannah schools to remove books from libraries | WJCL (GA)
- How will Tennessee’s textbook commission handle calls for book bans? WPLN obtained a draft of the guidance. | WPLN (TN)
- Two Charlotte schools pull books after complaint about sexually explicit content | Charlotte Observer (NC)
- Book banning is apparently welcome now in Crawford County; librarian’s severance approved | Arkansas Times (AR)
- 4 states to review AP African American studies class amid Florida’s ban | Axios
- Police called to heated PF library board meeting | Bonner County Daily Bee (ID)
- LGBTQ book stirs controversy at library | County Press (MI)
Privacy and Cybersecurity
- Drones, stingrays, hidden microiphones: Law enforcement in Massachusetts is increasingly using surveillance technology | Boston Globe
- Wikimedia wants the Supreme Court to hear case over NSA surveillance. Here’s what’s at stake | Cyberscoop
- Supreme Court turns away challenge to warrantless surveillance program | Wall Street Journal
- NSA’s ‘state secrets’ defense kills lawsuit challenging internet surveillance | ArsTechnica
- Trove of L.A. students’ mental health records posted to dark web after cyber hack | 74
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- US judge blocks New York’s social media law targeting hate speech, cites First Amendment concerns | NTD
Legislation
- Republicans take aim at risque jokes and romance novles with anti-sex bills | Guardian
- ‘America in Black’: The plan to erase Black history forever | BET
- Bills to restrict ‘sexually explicit’ library content passed in House, Senate | Dickinson Press (ND)
- ND advances bill to remove ‘sexual’ content from libraries | AP News (ND)
- Tensions rise at Indiana statehouse over bill targeting ‘harmful’ library materials for minors | Indiana Capital Chronicle (IN)
- Indiana education advocates reignite fight against latest anti-CRT bill | Indiana Capital Chronicle (IN)
- Senate committee OKs bill allowing government censorship, criminal charges for teachers and librarians | Arkansas Times (AR)
- Bill addressing ‘obscene’ materials in public, school libraries passes state Senate committee | Arkansas Democrat Gazette (AR)
- Senate passes bill that would limit sexy books in schools and create new librarian crime | Arkansas Times (AR)
- In Mountain West statehouses, conservative lawmakers push to censor books in schools, libraries | KUNR
- Safety measure or book banning tool? K-12 obscene materials bills parks heated debate | New Hampshire Bulletin (NH)
- Critics say Arizona book ban bill could marginalize trans kids | AZ Mirror (AZ)
Net Neutrality and Broadband Access
Social Media
- Supreme Court to hear case that targets a legal shield of tech giants | New York Times
- Momentum builds in Congress to crack down on TikTok | NBC News
- Students, faculty uneasy with DeSantis’ proposed campus TikTok ban and media censorship | Oracle (FL)
- How online speech is moderated in the US | Washington Post
Journalism and Media
- FL takes a swing at reporters, knocks out First Amendment | Above the Law
International
Around the Web
- ‘Libraries, you are my heroes’: Readers share memories of a favorite haven | New York Times
- Local opinion: Celebrate the right to read | Tucson.com
- The book that exposed anti-Black racism in the classroom | Atlantic
- Interest in Gender Queer has only grown after ban campaigns | Bangor Daily News
- As book bans and legislative attacks escalate, the New Press pushes back | Publishers Weekly
- Why I’m thrilled my Pulitzer-winning book has been banned | Daily Beast
- ‘Stop WOKE Act’ is no solution to orthodoxy. It’s censorship that will further entrench orthodoxy. | FIRE
- Author George Johnson on writing Black, queer — and banned — stories | ACLU
- How teachers can shield students from harm as debates rage over race and gender | 74
- Farzana Doctor wins 2023 Freedom to Read Award | Quill & Quire
- How drag queen story hour became a battle over gender, sexuality and kids | Los Angeles Times
- Over 300 picture books were banned last school year | Education Week
- What happens to our culture when books are banned: ‘A chilling effect’ | USA Today
- Flamer: ‘I want this book to be a lifeline.’ | Story Spectator
- Organizers are fighting Ron DeSantis’s educational bans with free books | Teen Vogue
- We read the banned books | Atlantic
- Calgary Public Library opens book sanctuary in time for Freedom to Read Week | Calgary Public Library
- A torrent of censorship | American Federation of Teachers
- Roald Dahl’s books are rewritten to cut potentially offensive language | New York Times
- AI image generator Midjourney blocks porn by banning words about the human reporductive system | MIT Technology Review
- Opinion: The real reason North Dakota is going after books and librarians | New York Times (ND)
ALA News
- Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellows Program Application Deadline Extended to March 6, 2023
- Reference and User Services Re-Imagined
- A guide to manga for teen librarians
- ALA, Capital One invite rural libraries to apply for Community Connect: Fostering Digital Access grants
- Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table introduces Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant with funding from Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment
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