Highlights

At a time when librarians across the country are facing baseless allegations and threats of criminal charges for simply doing their jobs, @EPML_uvaldeTX shows the community what a library really is. https://t.co/3FT6JPcLVe#LibrariesTransform

— American Library Association (@ALALibrary) May 25, 2022

Censorship

• Central Bucks is proposing a library policy that targets ‘sexualized content.’ Here’s why people are concerned. | Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Central Bucks teachers, parents voice concerns over proposed library policy | 6ABC (PA)
  • Mychalejko: On the ‘expressway to unconstitutional censorship’ | Bucks County Courier Times (PA)
  • Proposed book approval process for Central Bucks schools vague, unclear some parents say | WHYY
• Map: Which books have been banned in Greater Houston school districts? | KHOU (TX)
• Frisco schools leader rebukes GOP lawmaker on ‘sexually inappropriate’ library book claims | Dallas Morning News (TX)
• Conroe ISD considers changes to its library materials policy | Houston Chronicle (TX)
• Florida’s Department of Education asked textbook publishers to avoid references to critical race theory and social justice | Business Insider
  • Florida warns against CRT, ‘Social Justice’ in social studies textbooks | Newsweek
• Protest held over proposal to ban books from Hillsdale Community Library | WILX (MI)
• Kutztown School Board approves controversial parental consent form for ‘Gender Queer’ | Reading Eagle
• ‘Speech police’: Hood County law enforcement investigates ‘porn’ in Granbury ISD library | Dallas Observer (TX)
• Parents weigh in on Wentzville school district’s decision to ban ‘Fun Home’ | KSDK (MO)
• Pasco braces for book challenges with ideas for new school library rules | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
• Book bans in prison cut inmates’ lifeline to outside world | NBC News
• Upstate school board looks at rating system for appropriateness in books | WSPA (SC)
• Schools, public libraries now censoring digital library apps within hours of complaints | The Mary Sue
• Divided St. Johns County School Board votes to keep 7 controversial books on library shelves | News4Jax (FL)
  • Several audience members escorted out of St. Johns County School Board meeting | St. Augustine Record
• Nampa district’s book ban to affect AP English classes, along with school libraries | Idaho Press
• Hillsdale librarian resigns in wake of failed LBTQIA+ children’s book ban proposal | Hillsdale Daily News
• Fireproof ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ edition is up for auction: A ‘symbol against censorship’ | CBS News
• Greenville Co. school board votes to restrict access to transgender children’s book | WSPA
• ABFE responds to Virginia judge’s tentative ruling on ‘obscene’ books | Book Web
• More people file objections with county library over book controversy | Crested Butte News (CO)
• A Florida library’s LGBTQ pride display started a yearlong battle | Tampa Bay Times
• Enid LGBTQ+ group planning Pride library exhibit after board changes policy | Enid News & Eagle (OK)
• Kansas library board decides to keep ‘Fred Gets Dressed’ despite mother’s complaint | Kansas Reflector

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• Chicago cops can use fake social media profiles to spy on you, with the FBI’s help | Gizmodo
• 2-year investigation reveals ICE has data on most of the American public | NPR
• FTC Unanimously Adopts Policy Statement on Education Technology and COPPA | Inside Privacy

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

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• Judge Finds Probable Cause That “Court of Mist and Fury” and “Gender Queer” Are “Obscene for … Minors”: This finding is now being used as a basis for seeking a restraining order banning Barnes & Noble from distributing the books to minors. Is that constitutional? | Volokh Conspiracy
• Recent Supreme Court ruling shakes up campaign finance law and leaves future restrictions in doubt | JDSupra
• CCIA, NetChoice file Supreme Court reply brief on First Amendment issues in Texas social media case | CCIA
• First Amendment attorney weighs in on new Florida law banning protests at homes | News4Jax
• Florida’s firewall against abortion restrictions is in peril | Politico
• Lewd license plates and the First Amendment | Governing
• What many on the right get wrong about the First Amendment | Washington Post
• Former teachers sue Sewickley Academy for discriminatory practices against Black employees | The Times (PA)
• The surveillance state is primed for criminalized abortion | WIRED
• Future of the First Amendment 2022: High schooler views on speech over time | Knight Foundation
• Civil rights groups: Overturn racist Supreme Court rulings used to deny benefits to Puerto Ricans | NBC News

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• How to protect DEI requirements from legal peril | Chronicle of Higher Ed

Legislation

• NC Republicans push ban on teaching LGBTQ issues, plus other rules for schools | News & Observer
• NC parents’ bill that bars K-3 LGBTQ curriculum clears panel | WFAE / Asscociated Press
• NJ lawmakers worried about ‘anti-racist’ indoctrination want school library ‘transparency’ | NJ101.5
• Arizona House Republicans advance bill addressing critical race theory in public schools | Courthouse News Service
• Education Legislation Largely Focuses on Funding, Censorship | Nashville Scene

Social Media

• Texas’ ‘Anti-censorship’ law censors social media. What if it goes into effect? | Texas Observer
  • Texas looks to a Clarence Thomas opinion to defend its social media law | Ars Technica
  • What to know about the latest controversy at the 5th Circuit | CNN
  • Texas’ controversial social media censorship law awaits fate with US Supreme Court | ABC 13
• Federal appeals court rules for social media companies in battle over content moderation | CNN (FL)
  • Appeals court blocks key parts of DeSantis’ Big Tech censorship law | Orlando Sentinel
  • 11th Circuit’s ruling to uphold injunction against Florida’s social media law is a win amid a growing pack of bad online speech bills | EFF

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Information Literacy & Disinformation

• She joined DHS to fight disinformation. She says she was halted by… disinformation | WMFE
  • Opinion: The Disinformation Governance Board’s collapse showcases the problem | Washington Post
  • How an expert on online disinformation and harassment became the target of both | NPR
• Epidemiologist Beyrer tells HWS graduates to beware of disinformation | PR Newswire
• Debunking 3 viral rumors about the Texas shooting | New York Times

International News

• Government bill on Holocaust denial ineffective and likely unconstitutional: civil liberties group | Canada.com
• Bookstore owner detained over Orwell’s ‘1984’ | Happy
• Dutch journalists, rights group file lawsuit challenging EU ban on RT, Sputnik | Today Online

Around the Web

• Hate Crime Reported at Hamilton Public Library
• Book bans in prison cut inmates’ lifeline to outside world | NBC News
• At Subcommittee hearing witnesses warn classroom censorship laws hurt students and teachers, erode constitutional freedoms | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
  • Students share growing concerns over classroom censorship with Congress | WSBTV
• Kid lit authors petition Congress to condemn book banning | Publishers Weekly
• New Data From NPD Finds “Press Coverage of ‘Antiracist Baby’ and Other Banned Books Led to Increased Sales” | InfoDocket
  • Banned books–‘Gender Queer,’ ‘Maus,’ Antiracist Baby’–see jump in sales | School Library Journal
• Parents weigh in on Wentzville School District’s decision to ban ‘Fun Home’ | KDSK (MO)
• Teens fight book banning with their own banned book clubs | ABC News
• For Black Americans, teaching about systemic racism is more urgent than ever | Washington Post
• Video captures vandal removing $1,000 in LGBTQ books from roadside library | LGBTQ Nation
• Barnes & Noble pressured to restrict sales of 2021’s most banned book | CBS News
  • That Barnes & Noble ‘Gender Queer’ lawsuit? It’s the next phase in anti-LGBTQ censorship | The Mary Sue
• National school board group says it wrongly took sides in political debate | Washington Post
• Marjorie Taylor Greene says Democrats “want to turn your kids gay” | LGBTQ Nation
• My queer life is not inappropriate, and neither are the books that reflect it | Literary Hub
• New York City’s three public library systems announce the launch of the NYC banned books challenge | Library Journal
• School privatizers are leaning hard into the culture wars | Jacobin
• Florida high schooler who says he was censored in graduation speech speaks out | ABC News
  • Florida high school graduate uses ‘curly hair’ as code for ‘gay’ after being censored in commencement speech | Independent
• Why the MLIS is a powerful weapon in fighting book bans | Publishers Weekly
• The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images | MIT Technology Review
• What’s it like to be banned? We spoke to the author of one of America’s most controversial books | Katie Couric Media
• As students rally, Orange school board shows support for LGBTQ concerns | Orlando Sentinel
• The long history of book burning | The Hill
• Youth detective story flagged due to young homosexual character | Spectator
• Anti-CRT group holds forum in West Fargo, small protest held outside | KFGO
• Pasco’s sensible idea on school library books – Editorial | Tampa Bay Times

ALA News

• Sourcebooks and ALA present 17-month weekly planner for book lovers
• Meet the 2022 Class of Emerging Leaders at a Poster Session during ALA 2022 Annual Conference

eLearning

• Digital Equity through Literacy: Framing the Conversation
• Graphic Novel Book Clubs In School Libraries
• A Place to Belong: Supporting Neurodiversity and Mental Health in Your Library
• Core Webinar: Core New Members Interest Group Cover Letter Workshop
• Who Manages, Who Leads
• More eLearning opportunites

Publishing

• Save 50% on more than 400 products during the ALA Store Spring Sale
• Michael Cart’s updated YA lit survey
• New from ACRL – “Interim Leadership in Libraries”

Awards & Grants

• The Arab Federation for Libraries and Information is the 2022 winner of the prestigious EBSCO Information Services Library Staff Development Award
• ‘The Eagles Claw’ by Jeff Shaara wins the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction
• 2022 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries awarded to Evergreen Park Public Library, Miami-Dade College Libraries, and RCS Community Library
• ALA Announces 2023 Carnegie Selection Committee
• Five projects receive 2022 AIA/ALA Library Building Award

More ALA News

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