Intellectual Freedom News 06/30/2023
Highlights
- American Library Association, Association of American Publishers reaffirm 1953 Freedom to Read Statement, joined by the Authors Guild and American Booksellers Association | ALA
- Judy Blume kicks off ALA Annual, talking censorship and thanking librarians | School Library Journal
- ALA 2023: Experts and allies supply librarians with information and tools to fight censorship | Publishers Weekly
- American Library Association to Distribute $1 Million to Support Fight Against Censorship | ALA
Censorship
- Demonstrators protest Drag Story Hour at Petaluma library | ABC7 (CA)
- Huntington Beach mayor pro tem seeks to identify, stop kids from reading ‘obscene’ public library books | Daily Pilot (CA)
- Llano County libraries case has lawyers and publishers worried about existing legal precedents | Texas Tribune (TX)
- Saline County book ban watch | Arkansas Times (AR)
- More regulations proposed for Saline County Library | THV11 (AR)
- Pride Month display at North Shelby Library causes heated community conversation | WIAT (AL)
- New group formed to Save Samuels | North Virginia Daily (VA)
- ‘I did not feel safe’: South Carolina teacher recalls being ordered to stop teaching lessons on racism | Alternet (SC)
- Libraries likely to be targeted in two counties’ quorum court meetings | Arkansas Times (AR)
- Hillsdale fills vacancy on library board amid controversies | Hillsdale Daily News (MI)
- Ohio prison system band Java computer manual, but allows Hitler’s Mein Kampf | Marshall Project (OH)
- Williamson school board votes to keep 5 books on library shelves | WSMV (TN)
- Amid tension, Travelers Rest library manager refuses to remove LGBTQ Pride Month display | Post and Courier (SC)
- Greenville library leaders aim to remove all displays amid Pride Month, Juneteenth gripes | Post and Courier (SC)
- Special called meeting canceled amid Pride display at Upstate library | WSPA (SC)
- After dustup, Greenville library board orders all displays removed amid LGBTQ tensions | Post and Courier (SC)
- Central York School District passes new library policy | WHTM (PA)
- LGBTQ+ community hold ‘read-in’ at Blasco Library over pride display removal | YourErie (PA)
- Protesters ruin Rancho Penasquitos library’s Pride exhibit by checking out nearly all the books | San Diego Union-Tribune (CA)
- Rockwell Falls Library board grows its policy, shrinks its number | Post-Star (NY)
- Katy ISD halts all library book purchases, directs incoming books to storage pending book reviews | Houston Chronicle (TX)
- Former Portales High School teacher sues district, says book ‘The Hate U Give’ led to firing | KRQE (NM)
- Elizabethtown Area school board advances library policy revisions outlining new book rating system | Lancaster Online (PA)
- AG office: Dayton voters have no say in future of Columbia County Rural Library District | Union-Bulletin (WA)
- How parents outraged by library books, diversity initiatives and sex ed tranformed one New Jersey school board | ProPublica (NJ)
- Old Lyme residents challenge two sex education books in library over sexual content | CT Insider (CT)
- Halted lesson using book on racism draws censorship claims from SC educators group | Post and Courier (SC)
- Mansfield, Texas, school district proposed review policy remains problematic | National Coalition Against Censorship (TX)
- Central Arkansas Library System collects $25,000 in private donations to fund censorship lawsuit | Arkansas Times (AR)
- New Hanover County school board will now decide “Stamped” book challenge | WHQR (NC)
- Tallahassee mom makes case that ‘I am Billie Jean King’ book ‘infringes’ on parents’ rights | Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
- Pinellas schools under fire for book review list | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- A Pinellas official targeted a library Pride display. Now it’s gone | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- Lander school board takes on library policy | News Letter Journal (WY)
- Saline County judge breaks silence with press on library controversy | KARK (AR)
- Cobb teacher fights to keep job after parent complains about book | Axios Atlanta (GA)
- Teachers union celebrates rejection of ‘culture war’ candidates in local school board races | Beacon (ME)
- Embattled Prattville Library board to hold meeting after library director resigns position amid LGBTQ+ children’s book controversy | 1819 (AL)
- Another sociology book rejected by Bernards Township school board | TAPinto Basking Ridge (NJ)
- How Christian groups helped parents pull books from some Pennsylvania school libraries | Reuters (PA)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Policing gender: How surveillance tech aids enforcement of anti-trans laws | POGO
- Barred from grocery stores by facial recognition | New York Times
- Permanent injunction imposed on online education platform company Edmodo, LLC for alleged violations of children’s privacy law | U.S. Dept. of Justice
- The tech flaw that lets hackers control surveillance cameras | BBC
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Authors and students sue over Florida law driving book bans | New York Times (FL)
- Lake school district sued for pulling ‘And Tango Makes Three’ | Orlando Sentinel (FL)
- Most in new poll say fundamental rights, freedoms are threatened | Hill
- Liberals try to reclaim ‘parents’ rights’ from conservatives in education | Washington Post
- U.S. Department of Education Toolkit: Creating inclusive and nondiscriminatory school environments for LGBTQI+ students | U.S. Dept. of Education
- Supreme Court rejects theory that would have transformed American elections | New York Times
- Supreme Court puts First Amendment limits on laws banning online threats | New York Times
- Austin Public Library prepares for First Amendment auditors | Austin Monitor (TX)
- Justice Thomas renews attacks on landmark First Amendment decision in fiery dissent | CNN
- Key civil rights groups blast Supreme Court for sharply curtailing affirmative action | NBC News
- Biden plan wrongly proposes censorship to reduce anti-Semitism in pop culture | FIRE
- Rights groups are alarmed over domestic terrorist charges in ‘Cop City’ protests | NPR
- Federal judge rules against new DeSantis drag show law in Florida | Washington Post (FL)
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Yearbook editors overcome intimidation, censorship so they can ‘represent every student’ | Student Press Law Center
Legislation
- How Texas’ new school library ‘rating’ system will work | CBS Austin (TX)
- Arkansas legislator vows to ‘Eliminate all the funding for public libraries’ affiliated with the ALA | Right Wing Watch
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- FCC awards another $29 million in broadband funding | Communications Today
Social Media
- Moms for Liberty: The use of Facebook to spread far-right propaganda and change public school curriculum | Global Network on Extremism & Technology
- Controversy in Facebook posts linked to speed of spread among users | Public Library of Science
- TikTok keeps removing abortion pill content | WIRED
Disinformation & Information Literacy
- GOP targets researchers who study disinformation ahead of 2024 election | New York Times
- How easy is it to fool A.I.-detection tools? | New York Times
- Humans are more likely to believe disinformation generated by AI | Yahoo! Finance
- A.I.’s use in elections sets off a scramble for guardrails | New York Times
International
- Putin’s secret weapon is Russia’s facial recognition surveillance used to punish dissenters | FOX News
Around the Web
- As a Katy student, I fought book bans. We’re losing. | Houston Chronicle (TX)
- VOICES: Teaching truth in the face of book bans | Facing South
- Who’s getting hurt most by soaring LGBTQ book bans? Librarians say kids. | Harvard Gazette
- How students are reacting to book bans in their schools | Education Week
- How book bans threaten democracy | Vox
- The GOP is lining up to pay homage to America’s newest extremist group, Moms for Liberty | VICE
- Moms for Liberty’s school board antagonism draws G.O.P. heavyweights | New York Times
- Battle against book bans: Librarians strategize at annual conference | Christian Science Monitor
- UB’s James Joyce museum gets $10M in funding | WGRZ
- LBCC: College library with few librarians after cuts | Albany Democrat-Herald
- LGBTQ librarians are trying to keep vital books accessible to queer youth, despite bans | Yahoo! Life
- In the attacks on trans rights, we’re seeing the rise of a new confederacy | Nation
- White Supremacists filmed making Nazi salutes during drag story hour | Newsweek (NH)
- San Francisco church hosts its first ever ‘Drag Queen Bible Story Hour’ | NBC Bay Area
- Deal on restoring NYC public library cuts reached between Adams, Council for upcoming budget | Politico
- Inside the African American studies class praised by some and fiercely opposed by others | PBS
- Battle for the 2024 mom vote comes to Philadelphia | Politico
- 75 years after ‘The Lottery’ was published, the chills linger | New York Times
ALA News
- New Core Web Course: Fundamentals of Universal Design for Learning
- Leo S. Lo has been elected vice-president/president-elect
- ALA Welcomes FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Learn Without Limits Initiative
- Accepting Applications for 2024 Class of ALA Emerging Leaders
- Diane Dias De Fazio appointed RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage editor
- Together We’re Stronger National Conference Registration Grants
- American Library Association Awards 29 Libraries with Teen Sci-Fi Great Stories Club Grant
- American Library Association Promotes Digital Equity During ACP Week of Action and Beyond
- PLA releases first Public Library Services for Strong Communities Report
- An updated guide to LGBTQIA+ books for children and teens
- PLA awards $1.27 million to more than 200 Public Libraries for digital literacy and ACP workshops
- ALA to host FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, highlight digital equity at Annual Conference
- Public and academic libraries invited to apply for extended ‘Americans and the Holocaust’ traveling exhibition tour
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