Intellectual Freedom News 4/15/2022
Highlights
- ALA Working Group on Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice schedules online discussions on potential alternatives to neutrality
- United for Libraries and OIF to present May 11 webinar on ‘First Amendment Audits: What Your Library Board and Staff Need to Know’
- FReadom Fighters receives AASL Intellectual Freedom Award
- Editorial: Challenged books and the politics of the Phillips Public Library | Price County Review
- NYC Public Libraries Offer Free Nationwide Digital Access to Combat Censorship | Publishers’ Weekly
Censorship
- U.S. schools pull more than 1,000 book titles in ‘unparalleled’ censorship bid, report finds | Reuters
- Southwest Missouri high school teacher accused of using critical race theory loses job | Springfield News-Leader
- Polk book panels approve ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ and ‘It’s Perfectly Normal’ | Ledger (FL)
- New report from PEN America: “Banned in the USA”; 1,586 school book bans and restrictions in 86 school districts across 26 states | Library Journal
- Osceola schools pull four books for review, give parents library options for kids | Orlando Sentinel (FL)
- ‘Educators are afraid,’ says teacher attacked for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ unit | Washington Post
- Librarians, parents weigh in on Hempfield’s library book policy as some titles are questioned | Trib Live (PA)
- I-SS to conduct official review of less than a dozen books in response to parental challenge of 75 titles | Iredell Free News (NC)
- Osceola County Schools might ban four books from school libraries | WUSF (FL)
- Antioch school district turns the page on book challenge | Chicago Tribune (IL)
- Petition to reverse book ban in the Wappingers Central School District gains traction | News 12 (NJ)
- New TEA guidelines adopted to assess ‘inappropriate’ books inside Texas schools, citing Abbott | KXXV
- Statewide Standards – Policy Regarding Library Content | Texas Education Agency
- OHS board visitors say Afghanistan book is too raunchy for school | WCMY (IL)
- Book remains in library after second challenge | KSAL (KS)
- Money spat resolved over LGBTQ books at Mississippi library | ABC News
- Ridgeland Agrees to Renew Payments to Library System After LGBTQ Book Standoff | Mississippi Free Press
- Cumberland Valley to review 3 books in school library being challenged as unsuitable for kids | Penn Live (PA)
- An author was set to read his unicorn book to students. The school forbade it. | Washington Post
- School board talks book policy | Claremore Daily Progress (OK)
- Enid library leaders vote to change policies about LGBTQ displays | KOCO (OK)
- I-SS board critic says inappropriate books are leading children down ‘path of Sodom and Gomorrah’ | Iredell Free News (NC)
- Some parents in Wayne Township fighting to ban selected books from school libraries | CBS News
- ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ and ‘Real Live Boyfriends’ OK’d by panels for Polk County schools | The Ledger (FL)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Police surveillance and facial recognition: Why data privacy is imperative for communities of color | Brookings
- US civil rights groups call for end to ‘illegal expansion’ of travel watchlist | New Arab
- The Kids Online Safety Act is a heavy-handed plan to force platforms to spy on young people | Scheerpost
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Marjorie Taylor Greene’s pedophile accusation highlights Washington’s First Amendment dilemma | The Hill
- The Freedom to Write Index | PEN America The Freedom to Write Index examines trends in the 10 countries in which the freedom to write is particularly under threat
- You have the right to record law enforcement officers — including at the border | ACLU
- Federal judge dismisses Republicans’ lawsuit to block unaffiliated voter participation in primaries | Colorado Newsline
- Conservative lawmakers push the bounds to restrict abortion | Columbia Missourian
- Civil liberties groups, DOJ reach settlement in Lafayette Square protest case | Washington Post
- Linn-Mar school board votes to continue to consider a new transgender policy | Iowa Torch
- A First Amendment Giant Offers a Way Out of Our Free Speech Crisis | Discourse Magazine
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- Who influenced divisive FL college survey on political leanings? Many questions still unanswered | Florida Phoenix
- UC Davis wins lawsuit protecting academic freedom and scientific process | UC Davis
Legislation
- KY lawmakers killed bill to hand libraries over to politicians. Then they revived it. | Kentucky.com
- Maryland Gives Up on Its Library E-book Law | Publishers Weekly
- Florida’s not alone — 19 other states eye LGBTQ school bills | NBC News
- Anti-LGBTQ bills prompt firestorm of criticism from civil liberty organizations | Alabama Political Reporter
- Gov. Tony Evers vetoes Republican education bills related to ethnic studies, charters, masking | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
- House debate heats up over ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ | Columbia Missourian
- Book banning and censorship highlighted in Congressional hearing | Erie News Now (PA)
Social Media
- TikTok created an alternate universe just for Russia | Washington Post
- Algospeak: The simplest way to bypass censorship on social media | Quint
Journalism & Media
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Obama: I underestimated the threat of disinformation | Atlantic
- How Russian disinformation goes from the Kremlin to QAnon to Fox News | Daily Beast
- Anne Applebaum: Social media made spreading disinformation easy | Atlantic
- The ‘bot holiday’ and why clinicians can’t tackle disinformation alone | STAT
- NJ opens ‘disinformation portal’ to fight deepfakes. Here’s how to tell fact from fiction | North Jersey
International News
- Violence and threats to free speech in El Salvador | U.S. Embassy in El Salvador
- Russians switch to homegrown social media amid Ukraine crackdown | Thompson Reuters Foundation
Around the Web
- A library system announces a program to challenge the tide of book bannings | NPR
- LGBTQIA+ Titles Got the Worst of the Latest Wave of Book Censorship | The Mary Sue
- Here Are The 5 Most Commonly Banned LGBTQ+ Books Of 2021 | IN Magazine
- York County students help orchestrate first national book read-in | WGAL (PA)
- How prevalent are book bans this year? New data show impact | Education Week
- Critical race theory clash at Lakota: Two board members say leadership could be affected | WCPO (OH)
- What comes after school boards ban your book | Columbus Alive
- How the fight over critical race theory became a religious war | Dispatch
- John Krull column: Land of the muted and home of the scared | Kokomo Tribune
- School librarians speak out against book bannings and censorship | WBUR
- APSU dean and BGSU professor release new book on First Amendment rights in schools | Clarksville Now
- ‘A library for all:’ Hundreds vote in Hudson Library board elections | Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
- Public library advocates respond to book ban challenges | Spectrum News 1 (OH)
- The parents fighting for diverse books | Romper
- Students counter censorship attempts with banned books clubs | School Library Journal
- Teachers vote to strike after gay author Green banned from Catholic school | Bookseller
ALA News
- Drabinski wins 2023-2024 ALA presidency
- Hepburn elected 2022-2025 ALA treasurer
- Beth McNeil elected ACRL vice-president/president-elect
- Pentland Elected 2023-2024 AASL President
- Announcing the 2022 Core Election Results
- RUSA 2022 Election Results
- Program proposals for United for Libraries Virtual due May 4
- AASL Announces New Member Benefit
- ALA partners with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to share trusted vaccine information
- Draft 2022 ALA Standards revision
eLearning
- Project Management in Libraries
- Tools for Locating Primary Sources in Archives and Online
- Design and Marketing for Libraries Webinar
- April 2022 Online Learning with RUSA
- Genealogical Research for Librarians
- Providing Effective Health Reference in the Age of Misinformation
- Technology Competencies for Paraprofessionals
- More eLearning opportunites
Publishing
Awards & Grants
- Samantha Mora receives AASL Innovative Reading Grant
- Metropolitan College of New York (N.Y.) and Sara Hightower Regional Library System (Ga.) Awarded ALA’s Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant
- Three libraries awarded ALA’s 2022 Peggy Barber Tribute Grant
- Swanton (Vt.) Public Library Receives 2022 ALSC/Candlewick Press “Light the Way” Grant
- “Bulls on Parade – Banned Books Week Poster Design” receives the AASL Collaborative School Library Award
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