Intellectual Freedom News 4/29/2022
Highlights
- Martha Hickson receives the 2022 Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity
- Applications Open for Judith F. Krug Fund Banned Books Week Programming Grants | Grants are awarded for $1,000 and applications are accepted now through June 6, 2022.
- Redwood City Public Library stands against banned books | Redwood City Public Library
- Nashville Issues a special edition “Banned Books” Nashville Public Library card
Censorship
- Residents sue Llano County officials, library director, board members to end book bans | Texas Tribune
- Texas library censorship violates First Amendment, federal lawsuit says | Houston Chronicle
- Texas residents sue county for removing books, firing librarian | Washington Post
- Local Activist, Ridgeland Mayor Distance from ‘Hate Group’ in Censorship Controversy | Mississippi Free Press
- Latino authors, activists set to caravan against book bans | NBC News
- Florida Freedom to Read Project weighs in on DOE textbook rejections | Spectrum News 9
- A Florida school district banned a rhyming picture book with illustrations of babies playing and sleeping | Business Insider
- Florida nonprofit group wants children’s book ‘Everywhere Babies’ banned for LGBTQ imagery | USA Today
- Florida’s book bans: Which titles are being pulled from school media centers? | Ledger
- Graphic novel removed from North Medford HS | Yahoo! News (OR)
- Canyon ISD board hears public comments on library materials | Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
- Anti-LGBTQ flyers target West Chester Area School District’s book collection | WHYY (PA)
- Emails from Buckeye Valley school board members shed new light on book controversy | WSYX (OH)
- Mississippi school district places restrictions on more than 20 books after parents raise concerns | Magnolia State Live
- Leander students, parents gather to support freedom of choice in school libraries | KVUE
- ‘Trash’ or free speech? Parents debate what kind of books are appropriate for Hall students | Gainesville Times (FL)
- Walton schools pull 24 books deemed ‘extremely age-inappropriate’ and ‘harmful’ off shelves | Northwest Florida Daily News
- Parents raise concerns about Black Lives Matter, critical race theory in Elanco district | Lancaster Online (PA)
- OCSD suspends controversial novel | Ottumwa Courier (IA)
- Campbell County school board bans teaching critical race theory | WSLS (VA)
- Grapevine-Colleyville school leaders confront controversial proposal on critical race theory, gender | Dallas Morning News
- Book battle erupts in a Georgia school district. Will more follow? | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- IW school board changes policy for challenging books, resources | Smithfield Times (VA)
- California school district cancels student production of ‘be more chill’ | National Coalition Against Censorship
- Community members argue for ‘challenged books’ at school board | Indianola Independent Advocate (IA)
- Anonymous email, library book ban at forefront of Ramsey board meeting | Patch (NJ)
- Wake school board rejects book challenge. Parent called book sexually explicit | Herald-Sun (NC)
- Ban those books? The debate over ‘obscene’ books in school libraries comes to Savannah | Savannah Now
- 9 Savannah school library books are called ‘obscene.’ Which books and how many students read them? | Savannah Morning News (GA)
- ACLU demands San Antonio’s North East ISD end ban on 110 books it removed from its libraries | San Antonio Current
- Enid residents feel ‘censored’ by new library policy | Fox25 (OK)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- Connecticut Senate passes comprehensive privacy bill | iapp
- When police do marketing for surveillance companies | Vice
- Understanding FERPA, CIPA and Other K–12 Student Data Privacy Laws | EdTech
More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Biden turns to transgender rights in discrimination rules redraft | Times Higher Education
- WashU expert: Florida’s attack on Disney violates the First Amendment | Washington University in St. Louis
- In Austin sign spat, court declines to strike down billboard regulation under First Amendment | SCOTUS Blog
- Supreme Court to hear case of praying coach who lost his job after kneeling on the field | USA Today
- Moving to a new state shouldn’t force you to say goodbye to your therapist. Counseling is speech. | USA Today
- Florida faces First Amendment, contract, and budget issues in dissolving Disney District | Reason
- Judge rejects Musk’s claim that limits on his tweets violate First Amendment | ArsTechnica
- Are Teachers Obliged to Tell Parents Their Child Might Be Trans? Courts May Soon Decide | Education Week
- Los Angeles Sheriff, Accused of Cover-Up, Opens Investigation Into Reporter | New York Times
Academic Freedom & Campus Speech
- National faculty group criticizes political interference it says is damaging UNC system | Charlotte Observer
Legislation
- Tennessee lawmakers pass K-12 library oversight, end session | KTAR News
- After book burning comment, Tennessee lawmakers vote to let state veto library materials | Chalkbeat Tennessee
- [TN] School library bill advances, sponsor suggests book burning | Washington Post
- Tennessee passes controversial library bill giving textbook panel final say over challenged books | Nashville Tennessean
- DeSantis signs ‘intellectual freedom,’ Stop WOKE law; critics say it’s racist and unconstitutional | Florida Phoenix
- Ohio House Bill 616 seems to do opposite of backing ‘free and fair discussion’ in schools | Akron Beacon Journal
- House to vote on education material censorship bill | WSMV (TN)
- Kemp to sign GOP school bills on race, book bans, and parents’ rights | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Law signed by Gov. Kemp limits who can file complaints on school library books | 11Alive News (GA)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- What low-income people will lose with a deadlocked FCC | EFF
- The EU, US, and 32 other countries just announced a ‘Declaration for the Future of the Internet’ | Verge
Social Media
- EU law targets Big Tech over hate speech, disinformation | NPR
- What Harvard’s Joan Donovan thinks about the future of Twitter | Boston Globe
Copyright
- Not so Smart: The SMART Copyright Act’s Dangerous Approach to Online Copyright Protection | Public Knowledge
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Meet the woman behind Libs of TikTok, secretly fueling the right’s outrage machine | Washington Post
- Online misinformation is linked to early COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and refusal | Nature
International News
Around the Web
- Biden says Americans should stop targeting teachers, banning books | Reuters
- I wrote the ninth most banned book in America. That sucks | The New Statesman
- ‘Porn report’ defames acclaimed Florida author | The Sun Sentinel
- Every teen in the US can now get free access to banned books | Vice
- Commentary: Across America, Students Must Learn All History | Post Group News
- The Right’s LGBTQ+ Books Ban—And the Fight to Stop Them | The Progressive
- Another Lafayette library board member submits resignation | Acadiana Advocate (LA)
- What are book bans really about? Fear. | Flagler Live
- P’burg schools aren’t teaching critical race theory despite GOP candidates’ claims — letter | Lehigh Valley Live (PA)
- To be or not to be: Local school systems in Davidson County outline policy to remove books from libraries | The Dispatch (NC)
- Opinion: The insanity of Ron DeSantis’s book-banning | Washington Post
- Outlander’s Diana Gabaldon hits back after book ‘ban’ at Florida’s Walton County schools | National
- Banning books to save kids? Please. Bullets are more dangerous. | Washington Post
- Critical race theory in colleges: How it can help empower students of color | Teen Vogue
- Texas Library Association draws thousands to Fort Worth, ignites book ban debate | WFAA
- Texas librarians: Book bans are a political power play and your kids are the pawns | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- Censoring books is bad for students, teachers, and democracy | Chicago Sun-Times
- Hundreds of books were banned in Pennsylvania over a nine-month period | WESA
- Grove City College denies ‘going woke,’ CRT in new report | Progress News
- ROWVA board accused of not hiring teacher due to her statements supporting challenged book | Register-Mail (IL)
- SCBOE candidates answer questions about CRT, transgender students during town hall | WNEG
- These are the books school systems don’t want you to read, and why | Washington Post
- Florida man asks schools to ban Bible following the state’s efforts to remove books | NPR
- All 200+ Books Banned in Florida and What Miami Booksellers Have to Say About It | Miami New Times
ALA News
- Help create a sustainable future by preserving climate stories during Preservation Week, April 24-30
- Actor and children’s book author Channing Tatum to present at The Digital Experience at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C.
- Core President’s Program features Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty
eLearning
- Core Webinar: Zotero: Teaching and Supporting in Libraries
- Core Webinar: Communications Planning for Deselection Projects
- Core Webinar: Cataloging Virtual Reality Programming
- May 2022 Online Learning with RUSA
- More eLearning opportunites
Publishing
Awards & Grants
- Fulton County Library, Sarah Cutchall and Emily Best win 2022 ALA Equality Award
- Nominations are being accepted for ALA honorary membership
- AASL announces Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning
- Dr. Alex Poole named 2022 LHRT Justin Winsor Library History Essay Award winner
- LHRT presents the 2022 Gleason Book Award to Rebecka Taves Sheffield
- AASL Awards Five Inspire Collection Development Grants
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One thought on “Intellectual Freedom News 4/29/2022”
I am doing an in-depth article about book challenges, efforts to ban books at libraries and schools, and censorship. I would like to interview someone from ALA or Office of Intellectual Freedom. 248.229.9967. Deadline Friday, May 13.