Highlights

ALA Executive Director Calls Book Censorship a Slippery Slope for Human Rights | I Love Libraries: “We’re in a period when the rise in book censorship and book challenges … should be of general concern for everyone.” American Library Association (ALA) Executive Director Tracie D. Hall was a guest on C- SPAN’s About Books on February 3 to discuss her personal history with libraries and the current issues affecting the library and book worlds. Among the many topics she took on was the recent rise in book bans and challenges throughout the United States. She told host Peter Slen: “What we have seen is that when there is one person or a group of people deciding what other people have access to read then that is a slippery slope that begins to encumber other human rights.”

Censorship

• What’s behind the right-wing book-ban frenzy? Big money, and a long-term plan | Salon
• A push to remove LGBTQ books in one county could signal rising partisanship on school boards | ProPublica
• This wave of book bans is different from earlier ones | Washington Post
• Understanding Ourselves and Others: What We Lose With Book Bans | Governing
• From slavery to socialism, new legislation restricts what teachers can discuss | NPR
• Sarasota school board hears concerns over teaching race, limiting speaking time at meetings | Herald-Tribune
• Alabama schools official reports complaints of Black History Month as teaching critical race theory | The Hill
  • Black History Monty is not critical race theory, Alabama educator says in response to complaints | Washington Post
• Teaching Black History Month under Iowa’s new law | Axios Des Moines
• As book ban efforts spread across country, controversy erupts at King County middle school | Seattle Times
• More books are being challenged across the state of Iowa | KTIV
• Tennessee gov, GOP push more scrutiny of school libraries | AP
• US Pastor led ‘Harry Potter’ book burning, told followers it was a ‘demonic influence’ | Business Insider
  • In-Depth: Burning books in Tennessee, Texas pushes to keep certain books off shelves | KXXV
• Why Polk County schools are handling these 16 books differently than a normal ‘complaint’ | Ledger (FL)
  • Polk superintendent outlines review process for 16 books removed from school libraries | WFLA (FL)
  • Polk County Schools to form review committee over 16 books removed from school libraries | WFTS (FL)
• In Tennessee, the ‘Maus’ controversy is the least of our worries | New York Times
• Texas school district refuses to ban children’s biography on Michelle Obama after receiving parent complaint | Yahoo! News
• Book spurs discussion, call for banning in Berkeley County Schools | Journal-News (WV)
  • Arguments heard from both sides related to controversial book in Berkeley Co. classrooms | Journal-News (WV)
• Salina parents want LGBTQ memoir removed from school libraries | KMUW NPR (KS)
  • Why is the book “All Boys Aren’t Blue” being challenged at Salina high schools | Salina Journal (KS)
• Prayer vigil rebukes controversial books in Walla Walla schools | Union Bulletin (WA)
• Campbell County School Board votes to draft resolution ‘condemning’ critical race theory | News Advance (VA)
• County school system looks at policy changes for school books deemed obscene | Chattanoogan (TN)
• Controversial books no longer under review, Kent librarian says | KOMO (WA)
  • Kent School District librarian is ready to defend LGBTQ books ‘even more now’ | Kent Reporter
• TN school librarian successfully defends ‘The Undefeated’ against censors | School Library Journal
• In Hood County, the fight to remove LGBTQ books from libraries isn’t new | Texas Standard
• Controversial Pikes Peak Library District board members appointed in reversal of earlier vote | Gazette (CO)
• Some CMS parents express outrage over controversial book requirement for students | WCCB (NC)
• Colorado librarian alleges she was fired for objecting to cancellation of LGBTQ, youth of color programming: “My only option is to speak out” | Denver Post
  • Former librarian files state, federal discrimination complaints against High Plains Library District | Greeley Tribune
• ACLU of Missouri to file suit against Wentzville School District over book ban | KDSK-TV (MO)

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• Iowa bill would require cameras in public school classrooms | NBC News
• I.R.S. to end use of facial recognition for identity verification | New York Times
• Congress pressures more agencies to end use of facial recognition after ID.me debacle | ZDNet
• Federal government social media surveillance explained | Brennan Center

More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• Is the legal standard for libel outdated? Sarah Palin could help answer | Washington Post
• Profane or not, obscenity is protected speech, Baxter rules | Brainerd Dispatch (MN)
• OpEd: Supreme Court weakens First Amendment right to film law enforcement in public without fear of retaliation | Mountain Enterprise
• ACLU of Missouri to file suit against Wentzville School District over book ban | KSDK-TV (MO)
• US Supreme Court has consistently sided against banning books | Ledger
• What a Civil War-era provision could mean for candidates accused of inciting violence | NPR
• Partisan viewpoints shape attitudes toward limiting civil liberties of suspected terrorists, study shows | University of Kansas
• Lawsuit claims Rokita violated First Amendment by barring journalists from press conferences | WRTV (IN)
• The freedom to read: How libraries uphold the First Amendment | Rocky Mountain Collegian

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• Texas professor dismissed after recommending students mask | Axios Dallas
• After lawsuit by student, Haskell forced to not retaliate against First Amendment rights | WIBW (KS)

Legislation

• Florida’s LGBT School Censorship Bill Is a Lawsuit Factory That Overrules Many Parents | Reason
  • Don’t Say Gay Bill” crosses first hurdles to becoming law | Spectrum News 13 (FL)
• Ohio House Republicans push bill targeting tech censorship | AP
• Utah parents could sue education officials or teachers for almost any reason under proposed bill | Salt Lake City Tribune
• Arizona House votes to ban critical race theory in schools | AP
• CRT controversy comes to WV | WV Metro News
• Indiana lawmakers try to censor talk about race in schools | ACLU Indiana
• Florida lawmakers to continue debate over CRT, LGBTQ issues in schools | Tampa Bay Times
• Tennessee’s Governor, GOP push for more scrutiny of school libraries | Education Week
• SD House lawmakers limit ‘critical race theory’ bills’ reach | Wilton Bulletin

Our recently formed "Addressing Challenges" committee has taken its first step in helping librarians tackle the many challenges that comics have been facing in libraries with an article in @ALA_Booklist, penned by Committee Chair, @librarylandia! https://t.co/MpUTQjg0sX pic.twitter.com/sOhkMShkrM

— ALA Graphic Novels & Comics RT (@libcomix) February 11, 2022

Access

• Georgia Republicans want internet obscenity filters for K-12 | Government Technology
• “It’s overkill” – MCPS clearly oversteps in its website ban policy | Silver Chips Online

Net Neutrality & Broadband Access

• Ninth Circuit approves California’s net neutrality law, shifts focus to FCC | JD Supra
• Delay on Biden’s FCC pick is stalling net neutrality agenda | Bloomberg Law
• Senate Commerce Committee is letting big telecom hamstring the FCC | EFF
• Cloud gaming could spark new net neutrality row | Forbes

Social Media

• New York senate tries to shut down misinformation on social media | Mind Matters

Copyright

• How does copyright law affect the sale and distribution of NFTs? | Marketplace
• Photographer fires back in Supreme Court fight over Warhol works | Reuters
• Robots have no place filtering creative content, EFF tells U.S. Copyright Office | EFF

Information Literacy & Disinformation

• U.S. reveals Russian plot to use fake video as pretense for Ukraine invasion | CBS News
• Foreign disinformation: What the US government can start doing now | Just Security
• AOC: Facebook’s ‘disinformation’ has ‘sabotaged’ pandemic response | Reason
• When disinformation becomes ‘racialized’ | ABC News
• Disinformation is everywhere — including pregnancy apps | NPR
• The Joe Rogan controversy spotlights how some podcasts spread disinformation | NPR
• Critical race theory thrust into spotlight by misinformation | ABC News
• Democrats, experts warn Spanish-language disinformation is intensifying | NBC News
• Abbie Richards fights TikTok disinformation with a cup of tea, a conspiracy chart and a punchline | WGBH Boston Public Radio
• Disinformation, radicalization, and algorithmic amplification: What steps can Congress take? | Just Security
• The rise of counter-disinformation litigation and what it means for business | Law.com
• ‘Truth drives out lies’ and other misinformation | Knight First Amendment Institute
• What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID telemedicine | NPR
• Fact-checking Covid-related social media posts isn’t working. There’s a better way | The Print

International News

Reading IS quite the adventure! And the fight to keep books in libraries is real. Thanks for the full frontal coverage last night @FullFrontalSamB @iamsambee. #Freadom pic.twitter.com/6Sr1tcOVNQ

— American Library Association (@ALALibrary) February 11, 2022

• Social media censored after American-born skater falls while representing China | WWOS
• How critical race theory sparked controversy in the U.S. and influenced Canadian education | National Post

Around the Web

• The rise in book banning [podcast] | WHYY
• Powerful public libraries | Daily Interlake (MT)
• Why Aren’t There More Black Librarians | The Observer/Word in Black
• State Sets Up Tip Line for Parents to Snitch on Schools Teaching ‘Divisive Concepts’ | Route Fifty
• Fight over Trump records puts focus on low-profile National Archives | The Hill
• Rooting out Glenn Youngkin’s hypocrisy | Chicago Sun-Times
• At Liberty Podcast: The movement to erase Black history and culture | ACLU
• “(We) are being accused of things that (we) are not doing’: Basin School District responds to CRT claims | KTVB (ID)
• Flagler high school student fights back against book bans nationwide | WESH (FL)
• How the “critical race theory” moral panic morphed into book-banning frenzy | Salon
• Book Ban Busters — Moms across the country fight to stop book banning at schools | WUSA (VA)
• Book bans: How Amazon, Google, and Apple can fight back with a Freedom Archive | ZDNet
• Bookstores create ‘banned book section,’ take stance against form of censorship | MY40 (NC)
• Editorial: Legislators, not schools, the ones trying to indoctrinate | Tahlequah Daily Press (OK)
• Books are being banned from school libraries. Here’s what that does to students. | USA Today
• Holier-than-thou book banners in Florida ought to start with the Bible | Palm Beach Post
• Banning books teaches students fiction, not facts | DBKNews
• St. Louis groups launch ‘banned book program’ to distribute challenged books | Los Angeles Blade
• Book banning is seen in historical context in ‘Burn This Book’ [podcast] | NPR
• Scribd opens free access to targeted titles: ‘We ardently oppose banning books’ | Publishing Perspectives
• Opinion: Book bans are on the rise. But librarians and authors are fighting back. | Washington Post
• Texas book ban prompts school librarians to launch #FReadom Fighters | Publishers Weekly
• Ensuring White children’s happiness has long involved racist double standards | Washington Post
• Libraries see rise in book challenges, fueled by social controversies | Sturgis Journal
• Why books should not be banned for the sake of learning | Well + Good
• Banning books like ‘Maus’ is part of sanitizing history | Teen Vogue
• Teaching versus indoctrination debate continues after Newtown schools adopt academic freedom policy | News Times (CT)
• Book banning is about the illusion of parental control | New York Times
• Today’s censorship — darker, and headed for our schools | Forward KY
• As her work once again faces censorship battles, Lorain set to celebrate hometown native with Toni Morrison Day next week | Cleveland Scene
• ‘Throw those books in the fire’: As culture wars escalate so do book bans | Sunday Morning Herald
• How K-12 book bans affect higher education | Inside Higher Ed

ALA News

• ALA, ACRL issue joint statement in support of HBCUs after recent bomb threats
• Kathy Carroll, Sara Dallas to serve on ALA Executive Board
• ALA backs state Attorney General’s defense of Maryland law ensuring fair e-book access for libraries

eLearning

• Introduction to Reference Interviews
• Outreach Services for Underserved Teens; When it comes to teen outreach services, underserved communities provide a variety of challenges. You can’t serve them if you can’t identify them, and this eCourse begins by providing a clear foundation for defining and identifying underserved teens in your community.
• More eLearning opportunites

Publishing

• Media literacy for justice

Awards & Grants

• Elaine Harger named first recipient of SRRT’s Herb Biblo Outstanding Leadership Award for Social Justice and Equality
• PLA announces 2022 conference scholarship winners
• Sustainability Round Table offering stipend to attend 2022 ALA Annual Conference
• Beta Phi Mu Award Call for Nomination deadline extended to March 1, 2022
• American Library Association partners with Estée Lauder Companies on pilot grant project to boost literacy and digital skills of at-risk youth
• Joseph W. Lippincott Award Call for Nomination deadline extended to March 1, 2022
• Nominations extended for 2022 Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity
• Sam Jack has been selected as our 2022 Emerging Leader
• American Library Association and EBSCO Information Services offer scholarships for librarians to attend ALA Annual Conference
• YALSA names 2022 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
• YALSA names 2022 Great Graphic Novels for Teens
• YALSA names 2022 Best Fiction for Young Adults

More ALA News

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• current book challenges in libraries and schools
• articles about privacy, internet filtering and censorship
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