Intellectual Freedom News 11/17/2023
Highlights
- No Quiet in the Library | Chicago
- LeVar Burton Is Still Fighting For Your Right to Read | Esquire
- ALA appoints Leslie Burger as Interim Executive Director | ALA
- ALA announces new YALSA Executive Director | ALA
- SAG-AFTRA Actress, Model, Artist, and Down Syndrome Activist Mia Armstrong to Present at 2024 LibLearnX | ALA
Censorship
- The librarian who couldn’t take it anymore | Washington Post (FL)
- How Moms for Liberty and a notorious English teacher exploited a high school student | Popular Information (FL)
- Kansas mayor who tried to rid city library of LGBTQ books loses school board race | Kansas Reflector (KS)
- Surge of book removal requests turning Nebraska libraries into cultural battlegrounds | KOLN (NE)
- Best-selling author Jodi Picoult says Menomonee Falls School District won’t discuss book ban | Wausau Pilot & Review (WI)
- Column: Censorship rears its ugly head at Santa Monica College, over a play about slavery | Los Angeles Times (CA)
- HEPL library director to leave role next month | IndyStar (IN)
- Authors of George Floyd Book Banned From Discussing Racism in School Event | Root (TN)
- Shenandoah County School Board OKs library materials selection policy | Northern Virginia Daily (VA)
- Group concerned about efforts in Alabama to censor children’s books | WVTM (AL)
- State library disaffiliation from ALA not enough for book banning group | Alabama Political Reporter (AL)
- Pittsburgh-area school board pauses decision to amend a book review policy | CBS Pittsburgh (PA)
- Hillsborough Schools committee to discuss appeal over keeping challenged book ‘Blankets’ at Plant High | WFTS (FL)
- School board candidate goes to sheriff’s office with book complaint | Navarre Press (FL)
- Moms for Liberty asks Oklahoma to drop book fair vendor, claiming it’s promoting ‘radical viewpoints, sexual ideologies’ | Yahoo! News (OK)
- OPS board votes to keep ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ and ‘Tricks’ in school libraries | Omaha World-Herald (NE)
- LCWM school board reading policy in the works | KEYC (MN)
- ACLU, Other Groups Oppose ‘Unconstitutional Censorship’ of Children’s Books in Fresno County Libraries | Davis Vanguard (CA)
- Spotsylvania County school board pauses plan for parent approval over library books | NBC Washington (VA)
- Brevard County School Board rejects proposal to ban hundreds of books | WFTV (FL)
- National library group criticized among Brainerd’s book policy discussion | Brainerd Dispatch (MN)
- Carmel school board members clash over proposed updates to policy to review, remove library books | Current (IN)
- Books, complaints on library network agenda for Thursday | Coeur d’Alene Post Falls Press (ID)
- School and Public Librarians Describe On-the-Job Harassment | School Library Journal
- Hamilton East Public Library board rescinds controversial book policy | Current (IN)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Reauthorizing Mass Surveillance Shouldn’t be Tied to Funding the Government | EFF
- Legislation billed to protect kids comes with warnings of government censorship | New Mexico Political Report
- Asian Americans raise alarm over ‘chilling effects’ of Section 702 surveillance program | WIRED
- Rep. Gaetz introduces bill to give parents access to students’ medical, counseling records | WPDE
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Ayanna Pressley Denounces GOP for Trying to Gut LGBTQ+ Housing Funds | Advocate
- Ohio’s drag queen, trans healthcare and athlete bans to be debated at Statehouse | WCMH (OH)
- First Amendment Coalition, ACLU Sue City of Fresno for Open Meetings Law Violation | ACLU NorCal (CA)
- A City in Tennessee Banned Public Homosexuality—and We All Missed It | Yahoo! News (TN)
- The Supreme Court won’t allow Florida to enforce its new law targeting drag shows during appeal | AP (FL)
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- A New Organization Enters the Battle Over Academic Freedom | Dispatch
- ACLU says DeSantis is violating students’ First Amendment rights | WLRN (FL)
- More than 100 Harvard Faculty Sign Letter Criticizing President Gay’s Censure of Pro-Palestine Slogan | Harvard Crimson
Legislation
- Utah lawmakers consider proposal to make removing books from school libraries easier | KSLTV (UT)
- Sen. Aument’s bill would curtail students’ freedom to read | Lancaster Online (PA)
- Pennsylvanians address rise in censorship, book bans | Chester County Press (PA)
- Book banning Moms for Liberty just got canceled by US voters | Insider
- LGBTQ+ issues increasingly targeted in K-12 censorship bills | K-12 Drive
- Georgia Must Reject Digital Teen Censorship Legislation | Saporata Report (GA)
- Democrats propose state law to help limit book bans | Wausau Pilot & Review (WI)
State & Local Governance
- North Carolina Launches Digital Equity Grant Program | Broadband Breakfast (NC)
- ‘Books are not the problem in our schools:’ SC education board proposes new book standards | WPDE (SC)
Social Media
- Antisemitic and Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Surges Across the Internet | New York Times
- Nikki Haley calls for name verification in social media profiles: “This is a national security threat” | CBS News
Journalism & Media
Disinformation & Information Literacy
- China is using the world’s largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds | CNN
- The urgent call for a bipartisan disinformation commission | West Point
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- FCC adopts rules to eliminate ‘digital discrimination’ for communities with poor internet access | AP
International
- Restrictions on L.G.B.T.Q. Depictions Rattle Hungary’s Cultural World | New York Times (Hungary)
- Overdue: The case for Canada’s public libraries | Canadian Urban Institute (Canada)
- French report flags Azeri-linked disinformation campaign targeting 2024 Olympics | Reuters (France)
- Digital apartheid and the use of social media algorithms in humanitarian crises | AdVox (Palestine)
Around the Web
- Moms for Liberty leadership poses with Proud Boys and flashes “white power” sign | Space Coast Rocket
- “I’m so tired of these psychos”: Moms for Liberty is now a toxic brand | Salon
- Moms for Liberty and Florida Teacher Schemed to Manipulate Student Book Controversy | Advocate
- Progressives win, book banners lose many Iowa school board races | Bleeding Heartland
- This school board made news for banning books. Voters flipped it to majority Democrat | NPR
- In Kansas school board races, voters reject candidates pushing culture war issues | Nebraska Examiner
- Culture warriors suffer defeat in local school board races across Ohio | Columbus Dispatch
- Central York School District elects new board members following book ban controversies | Local21
- Neo-Nazi ex-soldier targets Drag Queen Story Hour in North Carolina | Advocate
- Academic freedom lecturer addresses censorship threats | University Record
- Singer P!nk will give away banned books at 2 Florida concerts | Orlando Sentinel
- Marjorie Taylor Greene angrily shares pic of teacher who hung out with drag queens outside of school | LGBTQ Nation
- Pay, politics, and student behaviors: Here’s why teachers are leaving Central Florida schools | WFTV
- Author of banned book to students: ‘You have a voice. Use it.’ | Las Vegas Sun
- The 50 Very Different States of American Public Education | 74
- School districts navigate wave of activism in wake of Israel-Hamas war | K-12 Dive
- Justin Torres, Author of ‘Blackouts,’ Wins National Book Award for Fiction | New York Times
- Trusting teachers to teach | LA Progressive
ALA News
- Core Webinar: Best of Core at ALA Annual Conference; Thinking Big
- AASL opens call for School Library Research Editorial Board Ex-Officio Doctoral Student
- ALA unveils shortlist for 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction
- ALA Sustainability Round Table to celebrate its 10th anniversary
- Call for Proposals-IRRT Mission Enhancement Grant
- Applications for the 2024 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries are now open
- GameRT seeks nominations of amazing games for its new Platinum Play Awards list!
- David Cohen/EMIERT Multicultural Award nominations open
Subscribe to future issues of Intellectual Freedom News, a free weekly compilation of news delivered to your inbox by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, including
- current book challenges in libraries and schools
- articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
- ALA activities, conferences and institutes, products, online learning opportunities, awards and grants, international exchanges, and more
- how to get involved and make the most of what ALA offers