Intellectual Freedom News 9/2/2022
Highlights
- Austin (TX) Council opposes book banning, adopts Freedom to Read resolution
- Conservatives join liberals in ‘quiet and polite’ Idaho protest to protect their library from book-banners | CNN
- E-Course on the First Amendment and Library Services Begins September 12 | OIF Blog
Censorship
- City closes library to remove ‘displays’ | Huntsville Item (TX)
- Court dismisses lawsuit against books said to be ‘obscene’ for minors in Virginia Beach | 13 News Now (VA)
- A Library Struck by Controversy That Began Over a Book It Didn’t Own | Route 50
- Carroll schools deem parts of book by grandson of slave inappropriate for some students | Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
- An Oklahoma teacher gave her students access to banned books. Now she’s under scrutiny | NPR
- A Des Moines metro book ban update | Axios Des Moines (IA)
- Book ban battle. Dist. 99 students honored for fight to keep ‘Gender Queer’ on library shelves | My Suburban Life (IL)
- Fairfax County Public Library board sticks by materials selection policy | FFX.Now (VA)
- Utah schools are adopting new book-banning procedures | Axios Salt Lake City (UT)
- These teachers’ book list was going to be restricted. Their students fought back | Education Week
- Area schools remove books under new law that is unlikely to be enforced | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
- Oklahoma state board affirms decision to downgrade accreditation for 2 school districts over violating law on race and gender teaching | CNN
- Norman Public Schools parent says former teacher ‘should have criminal charges | KOKH (OK)
- Grapevine HS students walkout over school’s new policy on CRT, books, and pronouns | WFAA (TX)
- Missouri schools are taking books off shelves due to ‘sexually explicit’ content ban | NPR
- How a book is challenged, reviewed, and potentially removed at Bryan ISD | KXXV (TX)
- Book debate: St. Johns County school district keeps 8 books, some with restrictions | St. Augustine Record (FL)
- Madison, Mississippi, school district restricts books on race and LGBTQ+ themes | National Coalition Against Censorship
- The Germantown Library’s Pride-themed exhibit sparked controversy. Now, the board is considering banning public use of the display case | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- Conservative Christian groups are targeting Louisiana libraries | NPR
- Ryan Walters calls to revoke former Norman teacher’s certification | Oklahoman
- Downers Grove library defends decision to host Drag Queen Bingo event | Shaw Local (IL)
- Leader of group targeting Polk school library books asks police agencies to take action | Lakeland Ledger (FL)
- Moms for Liberty want 14 more books removed from school libraries | Fauquier Times (VA)
- Library advisory board creates committee for contested book reconsiderations | Abilene Reporter-News (TX)
- English teachers rally against graphic novel bans in Texas school district | Pagelagi (TX)
- ‘I want to have a sound process’: Belton ISD superintendent weighs in on controversial, viral banned book display | KAGS (TX)
- Group Disrupts Drag Queen Story Hour Event in Campbell | NBC Bay Area
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- California poised to enact broad, new restrictions on online services with under-18 users | JD Supra
- Amazon’s empire of surveillance: Through recent billion-dollar acquisitions of health care services and smart home devices, the tech giant is leveraging its monopoly power to track ‘every aspect’ of our lives | Business Insider
- Tech tool offers police ‘ mass surveillance on a budget’ | AP
First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties
- Parents ask federal judge to block Florida schools from carrying out ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law | Politico
- Yeshiva University asks Supreme Court to let it block LGBTQ student club | CNN
- Kansas district settles lawsuit over student pronouns | AP
- Guidelines supporting trans students don’t violate parents’ rights, a Federal judge rules | Education Week
Legislation
- Missouri bans sexual images in school library books | Ozarks First/Associated Press
- Tennessee school library law’s expanded scope puts new burden on teachers | Tennessee Chalkbeat
Academic Freedom
Journalism
- Nebraska school officials close newspaper after LGBTQ issue | WRAL News / Associated Press
- Editorial: Student journalists’ press freedoms attacked by school officials | Omaha World-Herald
- Student Journalists Reveal a Changing World. Let Them. | New York Times
Access
- St. Louis Public Library adds thousands of hotspots, Chromebooks for long-term loans | St. Louis Today
- How Seattle Public Library’s Wi-Fi hot spot program has fared | Seattle Times
Social Media
- QAnon accounts found a home, and Trump’s support, on Truth Social | New York Times
- How LibsOfTikTok is helping the Kremlin boost anti-LGBTQ disinformation | Vice
- Truth Social Android app not approved on Google Play Store | Reuters
- Google, YouTube outline plans for the US midterm elections | TechCrunch
Information Literacy & Disinformation
- Misinformation played a deadly role in both the COVID and HIV/AIDS pandemics | Fast Company
- A journey into the misinformation fever swamps | New York Times
International News
- Serious concerns as almost a third of librarians asked to censor material (Great Britain) | The Bookseller
- The censorship machine erasing China’s feminist movement | New Yorker
Around the Web
- Local libraries have become a major political and cultural battleground | NPR
- The right has long tried to impose its vision on American education | Washington Post
- Morse Institute Library in Natick is a safe haven for banned books | Natick Report
- Texas YA, adult banned book clubs launched amid title challenges | KXAN (TX)
- Controversy over pride flag leads to surprising changes in southwestern Minnesota city | Minneapolis Star-Tribune
- Library sees resignations following bullet-riddled books | Flathead Beacon (MT)
- Michigan library defunded over LGBTQ books hits $245,000 on GoFundMe | Center Square
- A Texas school board rejects ‘In God we trust” signs in Arabic | NPR
- Americans don’t want books banned, but they’re divided over what schools teach | Five Thirty Eight
- Opinion: Back to school, back to fighting far-right attacks on education | North Dallas Gazette
- I don’t want to choose between job security and teaching the truth (opinion) | Education Week
- Libraries losing directors over controversies | Jonesboro Sun
ALA News
- Fall 2022 Online Learning with RUSA
- ALA Celebrates National Library Card Sign-up Month September 2022
- The 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Round Table gifts Book Donation Grants
- Connecting with teens in urban communities through media literacy
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