Intellectual Freedom News 12/19/2022
Highlights
- American Library Association President: Librarians Are Facing Harassment | Teen Vogue
- Grassroots organizers show how to mount censorship counterattacks | School Library Journal
- Bestselling Authors Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone to Open LibLearnX
- Grammy Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter and Bestselling Author Ani Di Franco to Close LibLearnX
Censorship
- A fast-growing network of conservative groups is fueling a surge in book bans | New York Times
- How to ban 3600 books from school libraries | Popular Information (FL)
- Two books removed from school libraries | Yahoo! News (TN)
- No parent objected to these books. The school district kept them off the shelf, anyway | Education Week (FL)
- Anti-censorship group in St. Tammany seeks to join frontlines in library battles | WWNO (LA)
- St. Tammany sees showdown over library books | Louisiana Illuminator
- Ellen Oh, Linda Sue Park, and Ami Polonsky speak out against censorship at Florida school board meeting | School Library Journal (FL)
- Charity has difficulty donating dictionaries to students due to new board book policy | NBC DFW (TX)
- Florida’s book battle intensifies as conservatives push for more removals | Tampa Bay Times
- School board votes down parent request to remove book from school library | PRE (NC)
- Shenandoah school board revises rules on sexually explicit instructional items; library books may follow | Northern Virginia Daily (VA)
- These are the books Charlotte-area residents wanted to ban | Axios (NC)
- Katy school students come together as censorship of LGBTQ+ voices ramps up | Houston Public Media (TX)
- Council to consider resolution protecting minors from obscene library materials | Abilene Reporter News (TX)
- Jamestown Twp. Library remains in center of book controversy | WHTC (MI)
- Library to survey community and audit book for teens | Republic (IN)
- Rapides Parish library board hears fierce support, backlash of proposed policy amendment | KALB (LA)
- Cameron Samuels led a powerful movement against censorship in their Texas school district | Seventeen (TX)
- Ban discussion: Kearney school board denies 2 book ban requests | Kearney Hub (NE)
- Challenged books could come down from BPS shelves and school board mulls Mullins’ replacement | Florida Today (FL)
- Neo-Nazis disrupted a drag event in Fall River. Organizers said they won’t be discouraged. | Herald News (MA)
- Critical race theory banned by Southern California school board | Mercury News (CA)
- County democrats adopt resolution on school district’s book removals | Island News (SC)
- Tennessee textbook panel says it’s ill-equipped to manage library book appeals | Chalkbeat Tennessee (TN)
- Why the Bible is getting pulled off school bookshelves | Education Week
- School Board Delays Vote on 37,000 Library Books After Complaints | Lakeland Now (FL)
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Some prisoners remain behind bars in Louisiana despite being deemed free | New York Times
- Billboard campaign tells Texas officials to respect the First Amendment | FIRE
- Tennessee Tech professors lose First Amendment case against university | Florida Phoenix
- Globe journalist forced to testify despite First Amendment concerns | Media Nation
- Teacher’s aide loses 1st Amendment case after being fired for social media comment | Indiana Lawyer
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- UF faculty members perplexed over possible state changes to tenure | Gainesville Sun (FL)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- TSA is adding face recognition at big airports. Here’s how to opt out. | The Washington Post
Legislation
- Disagreements surface over Florida school librarian training | Tampa Free Press (FL)
- Florida school library workgroup roiled by conflict with Moms for Liberty members | Orlando Weekly (FL)
- Critics allege conservative slant as Florida book panel ends its work | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- Some West Virginia lawmakers are interested in banning books. Just don’t call it a book ban | Mountain State Spotlight (WV)
- Okla. book rating bill request faces potential legal issue with Motion Picture Association | KOKH (OK)
- Librarians lament censorship in MO | Public News Service (MO)
- Missouri gets 10,000 public comments on new library rule labeled ‘political censorship’ | Kansas City Star (MO)
Social Media
- Twitter suspends accounts of half a dozen journalists | New York Times
- Tech trade groups petition SCOTUS on Texas social media law | POLITICO
Journalism & Media
- The education of CNN’s Chris Licht | New York Times
International
- In the U.S., his site has been linked to massacres. In Japan, he’s a star. | New York Times
- Moscow Libraries Start Removing LGBTQ-themed Books From Shelves, Stores | International Business Times
Around the Web
- The evolution of the anti-CRT movmenet: A timeline | Education Week
- Advocates, union rep blame national teacher shortage on censorship | The Hill
- The right has expanded its dark money strategy for dominating school boards | Truthout
- ‘Parents first’ school board bids should be a wake-up call | ItemLive
- Taking our school boards back | Progressive
- Transgender Americans feel under siege as political vitriol rises | New York Times
- ‘High alert isn’t fun’: Louisville LGBTQ+ groups get proactive on protection as threats rise | Louisville Courier Journal (KY)
- Towns brace for YouTube 1st Amendment auditors after Ridgefield employee’s arrest | CT Insider
- Owner of vandalized taproom believes business was targeted ahead of ‘drag queen story time’ | KIRO 7
- Thousands of teens are being pushed into military’s Junior R.O.T.C. | New York Times
- | New York Times
- Libraries serve communities, not aggrieved parents. Kansans can learn from challenged books. | Kansas Reflector
- Librarians have a message for book banners: ‘Beware’ | Progressive
- Banned books: Author Ashley Hope Pérez on finding humanity in the ‘darkness’ | Houston Public Media
- Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 2022: The Revolutionary Youth You Need to Know | Teen Vogue
- Beth Chaim reform congregation selling banned books | Philadelphia Jewish Exponent
- ‘We can’t have 2 countries’: 2022’s elections foreshadow new divides in education | Politico
- The censorship wars have only just begun | Times News Network
- Most Americans oppose book bans amid new wave of censorship: Poll | New York Post
- Opinion: Book banning is bad policy. Let’s make it bad politics. | Washington Post
- Facing threat of far right violence, library workers seek safety in unionization | Truthout
ALA News
- ALA supports human rights and freedom of expression in Iran
- YALSA announces 2023 William C. Morris finalists
- Nominations open for 2022 Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity
- Accepting Applications for the Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellows Program
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