Intellectual Freedom News 9/18/2026
Highlights
- Award-Winning Authors and Advocates Bess Kalb and Tony Weaver, Jr., to Headline Banned Books Week 2026 | ALA
- “We Need To Tell The Story”: Literary Advocates Nationwide Reflect On Five Years of Relentless Attacks on the Freedom to Read | Book Riot
- Guest Post – Law for Librarians’ Intellectual Freedom Symposium: Law Librarians Collaborate with the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom to Protect First Amendment Rights | RIPS Law Librarian Blog
- ALA Nominating Committee seeks ALA President elect, ALA Executive Board, & ALA Councilor at Large candidates | ALA
Censorship
- More than 600 books were removed or discontinued from Florida schools last year | WUSF (FL)
- Florida releases latest school book ban list. Does it tell the whole story? | Tampa Bay Times (FL)
- Hollidaysburg Area School Board approves contested textbook for AP course | Altoona Mirror (PA)
- Florida School District Criticized for Canceling Appearance by Children’s Author Over Gaza Ceasefire Post | PEN America (FL)
- Dallas County Sued Over Jail Ban On Mailed Books | Dallas Express (TX)
- OPINION | NATE COULTER: Censoring our libraries | Arkansas Democrat Gazette (AR)
- Peoria Unified board president proposes changes to ‘No DEI’ policy following book debate | KJZZ (AZ)
- Report: Florida schools pulled almost 600 books from shelves last year | Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
- Book removals in Escambia schools again among most in Florida in 2025/26 | Pensacola News Journal (FL)
- Cops now required at this N.J. school board’s meetings after controversial book sparks firestorm | NJ.com (NJ)
- WCPSS passes policies on religious instruction and book challenges to comply with NC law | WUNC (NC)
- Suffield Schools Adopt New Rules For Book Challenges | Patch (CT)
- Hillsborough School Board faces fresh demands to remove explicit books from student libraries | Florida’s Voice (FL)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- 25 Years of Mass Surveillance Is Enough | Schneier on Security
- Hackers rip down Flock camera, steal its data, share findings with media | Hill
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- The ‘war on terror’ weakened the first amendment. Now we desperately need it | Guardian
- LGBTQ+ middle schoolers took a conservative Virginia school board to court to protect their rights — and won | Advocate (VA)
- Trump’s Effort to Assert Control Over Elections Continues, Despite Court Loss | New York Times
- DOJ Went After Protesters for Felony Assault, but Juries, Judges Were Unconvinced, AP Analysis Finds | First Amendment Watch
- New lawsuit accuses Trump administration of blocking NIH grants as form of censorship | Guardian
- Trump’s Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns | New York Times
- Utah School Book Ban Challenge Can Move Forward, Court Decides | Bloomberg Law (UT)
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Reflections from New Voices institute alumni: Myesha Phukan | SPLC
- AAUP and AFT Call on Linda McMahon to Halt Unlawful Political Interference and Protect Academic Freedom | AFT
- A report exposed a crisis in academia. The response was telling. | Washington Post
- More professors want to leave Texas this year, citing political climate, censorship, survey says | Dallas Morning News (TX)
- No Texas university earns passing grade for campus free speech. See list | Fresno Bee (TX)
- Global commission launches to rebuild trust in science and protect academic freedom | Phys.org
- Faculty, Staff, Students, and Administrators Must “Refuse to Comply” with Latest Trump Administration Demands | AAUP
- Texas Professor Suspended for 16 Months Without Recourse | Insider Higher Ed (TX)
State & Local Governance
- Alamance commissioners face criticism over library committee picks | WFAE (NC)
- Florida property tax vote could shutter local libraries, advocates say | Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Social Media & A.I.
- OpenAI Discloses Six New Incidents of ‘Concerning’ A.I. Behavior | New York Times
- Microsoft and OpenAI Workers Worry About ‘Largest Theft of Labor’ in History | New York Times
Media & Digital Literacy
- KSUT’s Tami Graham among recipients of a First Amendment award | KSUT
- Library Futures’ Halperin joins 404 Media on libraries’ future | AI Weekly
- DOJ seeking reporter’s LinkedIn records in secretive First Amendment court fight | Politico
International
- Europe is not safe from erosion of academic freedom, says monitoring group | Science Business
- A court has banned online publication of a book about the love between a Russian and a Canadian ice hockey player. | OVD.info (Russia)
Around the Web
- Librarians won big at the 2026 Emmys. | LitHub
- Guest Commentary: If the answer is ‘buy the book,’ what happens to the library? | Orlando Sentinel
- A Call to Conversation: Use Banned Books Week To Start Honest Discussions | School Library Journal
- Authors Against Book Bans Fights Censorship | Information Today
- Back to School: Protecting Academic Freedom in the Classroom | ACLU
- Documentary Review: “The Librarians” puts the human cost of book banning on screen | Cascadia Advocate
- How libraries in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania communities evolved from subscription clubs to vital public institutions | KDH News
ALA News
- AASL Commends Washington State Library and the Northwest Council for Computer Education
- Wendy Redfern Selected as the 2026 Tony B. Leisner Scholarship Recipient
- Sage Hickok Selected as the 2026 Miriam L. Hornback Scholarship Recipient
- Garvey Blackwell Selected as the 2026 Tom and Roberta Drewes Scholarship Recipient
- Candace Aaliyah Russell Selected as the 2026 Christopher Hoy/ERT Scholarship Recipient
- Carnegie-Whitney awards up to $5,000 for guides to library resources
- Take the Next Step in Your Leadership Journey
- Rebecca Schlosser Selected as the 2026 David H. Clift Scholarship Recipient
- Isabella Lynch Selected as the 2026 Peter Lyman Memorial/SAGE Scholarship Recipient
- Lane Francis DuBois Selected as the 2026 Mary V. Gaver Scholarship Recipient
- Drey Diggs Selected as the 2026 Julia J. Brody Public Librarian Scholarship Recipient
- Wendy Rein Selected as the 2026 ALA Century Scholarship Recipient
- Call for Volunteers: Join ALA’s International Relations Committee!
- Call for Nominations: ALA Representative to the Board of Trustees of the American Library in Paris
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