Intellectual Freedom News 08/11/2023
Highlights
- Freedom to Read Foundation welcomes preliminary injunction barring implementation of Arkansas Act 372 | ALA
- ALA and AASL Respond to Houston Independent School District’s Decision to Eliminate 28 School Libraries and Respective School Librarians in Houston | ALA
- ALA upholds its support for LGBTQIA+ library workers and reaafirms its commitment to equity and inclusivity | ALA
- Tracie Hall: What’s behind the rapid surge in book banning in the US? | Al Jazeera
- Michigan Library Association launches campaign against book bans | CBS Detroit (MI)
- New Research Examines LGBTQIA+ Inclusive School Library Services for Youth | ALA
- ALA, ATALM applaud FCC Report and Order to support Tribal, small and rural library E-rate applicants | ALA
Censorship
- The small-town library that became a culture war battleground | Nation (WA)
- Moms for Liberty event back on at Madison Public Library after capacity concerns led to cancellation | WHNT (AL)
- Campbell County library board fires director; hundreds attend special meeting | Gillette News Record (WY)
- Library’s new policy on hold as board looks for new director | Gillette News Record (WY)
- Wyoming library director fired for refusing to remove LGBTQ books from children’s section | Messenger (WY)
- ‘Arthur’ book could be removed from Clay County school library shelves; What about ‘Captain Underpants?’ | Newsbreak (FL)
- Psyched out: How the DeSantis administration duped the media | Popular Information (FL)
- Opposing groups to have events on the importance of books at the Round Rock Public Library Saturday | KXAN (TX)
- Montgomery County to restrict teen access to LGBTQ books, add books with conservative themes | Courier of Montgomery County (TX)
- Schools navigate library restriction law without state guidance | Quad-City Times (IA)
- Iowa school district flags 374 books as potentially banned, from ‘Ulysses’ to ‘Heartstopper’ | Des Moines Register (IA)
- Some books that won’t be banned in Iowa school libraries | Gazette (IA)
- Urbandale schools pause removing books referencing gender identity, sexual orientation | Des Moines Register (IA)
- Two books removed from Sartell High School due to public pressure | St. Cloud Live (MN)
- Protests erupt over Drag Queen STory Hour outside new Children’s Museum | CBS8 (CA)
- Armed neo-nazis with swastika flags disrupt Wisconsin Pride event | Advocate (WI)
- Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus calls for libraries to leave the American Library Association | WESA (PA)
- Two members of Campbell County library board join new library association | Rocket Miner (WY)
- Librarians urge public to fight book bans | Macomb Daily (MI)
- Florida school board reverses decision nixing access to children’s book about a male penguin couple | NBC News (FL)
- School librarians inspect ‘over a million books’ to comply with new Florida law | ClickOrlando (FL)
- Conservative group pushes religioius books while seeking to ban others | Texas Observer (TX)
- ‘Stamped’ co-author cites racial equality as goal of book challenged by NHCS parent | Port City Daily (NC)
- School board to discuss banning book about racism | Public Radio East (NC)
- NCAC urges New Hanover County, North Carolina, school board to reject challenge against ‘Stamped’ | NCAC (NC)
- Library petition in Columbia County qualifies for general election ballot | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (WA)
- Podcast: Why one WA library could be voted out of existence | Crosscut (WA)
- Houston ISD faces community backlash over Saturday library removal decision | GVS (TX)
- Free speech wins as Des Moines pauses LGBTQ+ school book removal | LGBTQ Nation (IA)
- Group protests ‘inappropriate’ books in BCSC libraries during board meeting public comment | Republic (IN)
- Samuels library director resigns amid controversy over banning books | Daily News Record (VA)
- Confusion over new laws leads to alleged closure of Escambia County school libraries | WEAR (FL)
- John Green calls Hamilton East Public Library’s decision to move ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ out of the YA section ‘an embarrassment’ | FOX59 (IN)
- Two books are back in District 20’s school libraries, after being removed in April | KOAA News5 (CO)
- This conservative group is challenging over 100 books in Fort Worth ISD. Here’s why. | Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
- California school district at center of earlier controversy is sued over critical race theory ban | CNN (CA)
- CA school board adopts LGBTQ+ curriculum, reverses book ban | NewsNation (CA)
- Grappling with new law, fearful Florida teachers tossing books, resellers say | Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
- Missoula Public Library Board of Trustees: Missoula Public Library supports the American Library Association, intellectual freedom, and Montana libraries | Missoulan (MT)
- Court of appeals considers whether library ‘users’ include those who want books banned or reclassified | Crested Butte News (CO)
- Mount Vernon school board weighs library policies after citizen concerns | Knox Pages (OH)
- Botetourt County to consider further restricting minors’ access to libraries | Roanoke Times (VA)
- Parents debate what and how NHCS students should learn about racism, removal of ‘Stamped’ | Port City Daily (NC)
- Facing surge in book complaints, Wake school board changes challenge policy | WRAL (NC)
- The Glenside Library has been promoting books that Central Bucks residents are trying to ban | Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
- Hanover schools add book guide for librarians but move is criticized by opponents | Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
- Dozens of books removed from area schools as new academic year starts | WPTV (FL)
- Pender County school board debate district review process of challenged books | Port City Daily (NC)
- As book bans sweep the US, incarcerated people face the worst censorship | Truthout
- Montgomery County, Texas, library system forced to label and restrict access to children’s books | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Lawyer demands school district ban the Bible after it banned other books for being sexually explicit | LGBTQ Nation (FL)
- Leon County school board votes to keep ‘I am Billie Jean King’ book on library shelves | Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
- They checked out Pride books in protest. It backfired. | New York Times (CA)
- In CMS book battles, a superindendent’s plan collides with legislators’ mandate | WFAE (NC)
- ‘Perks’ book to remain amid school board obscenity debate | Gallatin News (TN)
- School board moves closer to amending book challenge policy | Hickory Daily Record (NC)
- Residents speak out against creating book-rating system at Timberland Regional Library | Spokesman-Review (WA)
- Battle over books: Wood County residents pressure library to restrict titles with LGBTQ, sexual themes | Register-Herald (WV)
- Outspoken activists are using an old playbook to challenge Massachusetts libraries | WGBH (MA)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Schools’ online surveillance raises parental concerns over student learning, well-being | K12 Dive
- ‘Digidogs’ are the latest in crime-fighting technology. Privacy advocates are terrified. | Politico
- This is a reminder that you’re probably oversharing on Venmo | New York Times
- Intelligence board recommends curbing F.B.I.’s power to use surveillance program | New York Times
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Fed up and filing suit for intellectual freedom | School Library Journal
- Suit filed over Texas book restriction law | Justia (TX)
- Judge issues temporary injunction against Montana’s ban on drag story hours | LGBTQ Nation (MT)
- Challenge to Florida drag shows law won’t go to trial until next spring | KTAR News (FL)
- Trump lawyers say proposed protective order would restrict his First Amendment rights | PBS
- Trump’s First Amendment defense | FactCheck.org
- Idaho educators file lawsuit challenging state law censoring professors’ speech on abortion | ACLU (ID)
- New Hampshire is sued over removal of marker dedicated to Communist Party leader | Huron Daily Tribune (NH)
- Lawsuit challenges Biden administration’s new $39 billion student loan forgiveness plan | USA Today
- Critics barred from writer-actor Kirk Cameron’s ‘faith-filled free speech’ library event in Alabama | Messenger (AL)
- ACLU of Texas sues state to block unconstitutional drag ban | ACLU of Texas
- ABA files suit challenging Texas censorship law | American Booksellers Association (TX)
- US appeals court reinstates Guam in-person abortion counseling law | Reuters
- The authoritarian agenda behind the scheme to attack democracy and abortion in Ohio | ACLU
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Why the populist right hates universities | Atlantic
- Idaho wants to jail professors for teaching about abortion | ACLU
- A student sues after suspension for mocking principal on Instagram | New York Times
- Victory: Ninth Circuit affirms Clovis Community College flyer policy is unconstitutional | FIRE
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- Net neutrality is true target of GOP obsctruction over FCC nominees | Tech Policy Press
Legislation
- Bill slashing Alabama Archives funding over LGBTQ History program dead for session | Alabama Reflector (AL)
- Hearing on hot-button education issues signals Nebraska conservatives’ plans for next year | AP (NE)
- Ohio’s out lesbian Senate Dem leader works to stop ‘out of touch’ anti-LGBTQ bills | Law Dork (OH)
- As new law looms, Follett asks publishers to help ‘rate’ their own books for sale in Texas | Publishers Weekly (TX)
- Despite all the talk, no states have active laws banning drag in front of kids | NPR
- School board members opposing ‘inclusive’ policies, curriculums can be removed under California bill | WPDE (CA)
- A new school year means new education laws on the books | Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
State and Local Governance
- Florida approves conservative PragerU lessons for schools | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- GOP official wants to require teens [to] be accompanied by their parents at the public library | LGBTQ Nation (VA)
- APA gratified that Florida Department of Education will allow teaching of full AP Psychology course | American Psychological Association
- Shakespeare and penguin book get caught in Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws | NPR (FL)
- Why the Florida book ban has come for Shakespeare | Newsweek (FL)
- New state education office boosts conservative school board members in Florida, emails show | Orlando Sentinel (FL)
- As new Missouri Library rules kick in, many teens won’t need new cards right away | St. Louis Post Dispatch (MO)
Disinformation & Information Literacy
Social Media
- Kids in Georgia might need parental permission to join social media next year | Messenger (GA)
- Musk vows to pay legal costs for users who get in trouble at work for their tweets | NPR
International
- Facebook and Instagram start blocking news in Canada | Verge
- Drag Queen Story Hour: Tate Britain protestor found guilty | BBC
- Calderdale libraries at centre of row over gender-critical books removal | BBC
- Norway took on Meta’s surveillance ads and won | WIRED
- Removal of gender diversity, sex education books from public libraries sparks controversy | Korea Herald
Around the Web
- Public libraries are the latest front in culture war battle over books | Washington Post
- As school libraries face more scrutiny, public libraries are feeling the pressure as well | WUSF
- Booklash: Literary freedom, online outrage, and the language of harm | PEN America
- Top librarian calls ‘Marxist lesbian’ tweet backlash ‘regrettable’ | NBC News
- A GOP lawmaker’s wife is taking LGBTQ+ books out of free libraries & leaving Bibles | LGBTQ Nation
- Houston’s ‘Little Banned Library’ highlights literature as Texas leads country in number of books banned | Click2Houston (TX)
- Missouri’s library book ban is based on dogma, not rational discussion of the facts — Opinion | Kansas City Star
- Meet the man driving the right’s culture war panic | The Intercept
- Biden creates new national monument near Grand Canyon, citing tribal heritage, climate concerns | AP
- Nebraska school meeting devolves into culture war debate with repeat of beneficial slavery claim | Raw Story
- New digital resource offers free access to banned and restricted titles | School Library Journal
- Dolly Parton to celebrate a milestone for early literacy in Washington state | KOMO News
- Electronic Freedom Foundation to present annual EFF Awards to Alexandra Asanovna Elbakyan, Library Freedom Project, and Signal Foundation | EFF
- Washoe library trustees get county email addresses after concernse raised | Reno Gaze Journal (NV)
- The three attacks on intellectual freedom | Atlantic
- SUNY Cortland senior researches impact of school censorship on public education | WXHC (NY)
- Freedom Library hands out 4,500 books in Massachusetts to combat book bans | Boston Herald
- Opinion: Banning books prevents understanding, empathy and solidarity | Hartford Courant
- Local filmmaker aims to show library board debate in documentary | News Press Now
- Brevard teacher makes banned books available to anyone | Spectrum News 13
- Opinion: Welcome to the discipline center. It used to be a library. | Washington Post
- Don’t turn school libraries into detention centers | National Coalition Against Censorship
- ‘Criminal liability for librarians’: The fight against US rightwing book bans | Guardian
- Authors like me are fighting the book-ban zealots. We need help. | Mother Jones
- As the school year starts, districts prepare for onslaught of book challenges by conservatives | NC Newsline
- Culture wars creeping into public libraries in Ron DeSantis’ Florida | Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
- More slavery propaganda in Florida. And a secret salary | Orlando Sentinel (FL)
- LGBTQ+ book bans are hitting California schools. How teachers can fight back | Los Angeles Times
- THe book ban backlash has arrived just in time to mobilize voters | Hill
- A Colorado librarian explores the challenges and implications of library censorship in his new book | KSUT
- NYCLU’s Lee Rowland to succeed Chris Finan as NCAC executive director | Publishers Weekly
- Core Webinar: Best of Core at ALA Annual Conference; Thinking to Produce Results
- AASL Commends the South Carolina Education Association
ALA News
- Core Webinar: Best of Core at ALA Annual Conference; Championing Net-Zero Energy for Your Library
- Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States with Explanatory Text
- Successful approaches to decolonizing archives
- AASL commends the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Carolina
- AASL Commends Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship
- AASL Commends Book Riot’s Weekly Censorship Roundup and Archives by Kelly Jensen
- AASL commends the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization
- AASL Commends the Get Ready, Stay Ready: Community Action Toolkit
- AASL Commends Borderlands Comics and Games
- New Core Web Course: Fundamentals of Universal Design for Learning
- Core Webinar: Best of Core at ALA Annual Conference; A Strategic Plan to Live By
- Core Presents “Best of Core at ALA Conference” Webinar Collection for 2023
- Anna Rae Leuning Selected as the 2023 David H. Clift Scholarship Recipient
- Samantha Baldwin Selected as the 2023 ALA Century Scholarship Recipient
- Cameron Gillespie Selected as the 2023 Julia J. Brody Public Librarian Scholarship Recipient
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