September 7, 2018 – Collated by OIF Staff and News Editors

Intellectual Freedom Highlights

• Dear Banned Author | What would you say to your favorite banned and challenged author? This Banned Books Week (September 23-29), we’re hosting a Dear Banned Author letter-writing campaign, and we hope you’ll join us! Visit the website to find author addresses, programming tools and printable postcards.
• Seeking feedback from library community on meeting rooms document | OIF Blog; “The Intellectual Freedom Committee would appreciate feedback from the library community on this draft. ALA members and non-members alike are invited to provide feedback on the draft interpretation by September 14, 2018.”
• Why We Still Need Banned Books Week | OIF Blog; “What critics of Banned Books Week may not realize is that oftentimes, removing a book from a library collection is, for some, tantamount to a straight-out ban. The library serves as a community information center, providing free books and resources for all citizens to utilize. Yes, patrons could still go buy the book, but what if their only way of reading new books is at the library?”
• Data Collection and Privacy: Balancing Information Needs with Patron Protection | American Libraries: “While the goals of learning analytics projects may be noble, the practice has raised alarms among privacy advocates.”

Censorship

• Lafayette’s drag queen story time: A timeline of events | The Advertiser (LA)
  • You can buy a yard sign to show support to the Lafayette Public Library | The Advertiser (LA)
• Drag queen story hour sparks protests in conservative towns | WSB Radio (GA)
• High schools ban ‘Dixie’ tune over ties to slavery | Education Week
• Back to school: A guide to preparing your library for book challenges | OIF Blog
• Watch: School librarians K.C. Boyd & Matthew Winner on Banned Books Week | School Library Journal
• Parent saw material as porn | Smithfield Times (VA)

Banned Books Week

• Libraries invited to join Dear Banned Author letter-writing campaign this Banned Books Week | ALA
• Banned Books Week is Almost Here… Order Your Materials Today! | OIF Blog
• Dear Banned Author | Letter Writers Alliance
• Omaha Public Library: Banned Books Week reminds us that the freedom to read is worth celebrating

Privacy

• Facial recognition surveillance at the library? | OIF Blog
• IBM Used NYPD Surveillance Footage to Develop Technology that Lets Police Search by Skin Color | The Intercept
• Privacy advocates are back in court fighting NSA surveillance. It’s an uphill battle. | The Washington Post
• The NSA Continues to Blame Technology for Breaking the Law | Electronic Frontier Foundation
• If privacy is dead, some argue people should sell their own data | Bloomberg
• These firms are monitoring students on social media to prevent school violence. Does it work? | New York Times
  • Do Children Have a Right to Privacy? | RightsInfo
• Chamber of Commerce calls for Congress to block state privacy laws | The Hill

See this week’s additional privacy news and updates on the Choose Privacy Everyday blog.

Net Neutrality and Broadband Access

• Libraries are filling the homework gap as students head back to school | Broadband USA
• Kavanaugh defends his net neutrality dissent in Senate hearing | CNet
• California lawmakers pass nation’s toughest net neutrality law | New York Times
• Net neutrality has always been a bipartisan issue | New America

Access

• How libraries can start and support academic-led journals to further the open access movement | Library Journal
• From Local to Global | American Libraries; “Bringing education and environmental tools to our communities”
• Is education a fundamental right? | The New Yorker
• Baltimore public housing residents given tablets, internet connection under initiative to connect more online | Baltimore Sun
• Penguin Random House changes library e-book lending terms | Publishers Weekly
• Using AASL’s New LGBTQ+ Resource Guide for Professional Development | Knowledge Quest

Copyright

• Google: Sorry professor, old Beethoven recordings on YouTube are copyrighted | Ars Technica
• Wikimedia warns EU copyright reform threatens the ‘vibrant free web’ | TechCrunch

Free Press, Social Media, and Fake News

• Americans are changing their relationship with Facebook | Pew Research Center
• Why technology favors tyranny | The Atlantic
• President Trump’s description of what’s ‘fake’ Is expanding | NPR
• Albemarle School Board fracas raises questions on free speech | Daily Progress
• Can You Spot the Deceptive Facebook Post? | The New York Times
• Twitter ‘censorship’ still an obsession for Congress as hearing gets political | CNet
• Twitter chief heads into free speech storm | Financial Times
• Trump vows to fight censorship of conservatives by social media firms | Reuters
• Facebook, Twitter come under U.S. pressure to make rules clearer | Bloomberg
• Twitter’s latest (and final) punishment for Alex Jones: A permanent ban | Ars Technica
• DOJ: We will examine social media firms that “may be hurting competition” | Ars Technica

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• There is no campus speech crisis | Chronicle of Higher Education
• Challenge to Ban on “Literature with Offensive Content” at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College | Volokh Conspiracy
• Rutgers revisits finding on professor | Inside Higher Education
• Fascism and the university | Chronicle of Higher Education
• Gender dysphoria study faces criticism | Brown Daily Herald

First Amendment and Free Speech

• Do Public School Students Have Constitutional Rights? | The New York Times
• Trump suggests that protesting should be illegal | Washington Post
• Trump, Angry Over Woodward Book, Renews Criticism of Libel Laws | New York Times
• Justice to convene meeting on whether social media companies are ‘intentionally stifling’ free speech | The Hill
• Sessions talking to state AGs on tech’s alleged threats to free speech | Politico
• Why the First Amendment won’t save Google from Trump | Forbes

Around the Web

• Problematic classics: Four questions to ask when beloved books haven’t aged well | Tor.com
• Can the internet actually be a safe zone for your kids? | Aleteia
• How Well-Intentioned White Families Can Perpetuate Racism | The Atlantic
• Marvel is removing a reference to an anti-Mormon book from its latest Spider-Man comic | Business Insider
• The puberty book embraced by preteens, parents, and sex educators alike | The Atlantic

International Issues

• A new study shows the growing perils for academics researching China | Quartz
• Reuters journalists sentenced to 7 years for violating Myanmar state secret law | Jurist

ALA News

• Using positive stories about Muslims to foster multicultural understanding
• Volunteer to serve on ALA, Council, and joint committees for 2019 – 2021
• I Love My Librarian! 2018 Award nominations now open
• Libraries invited to apply for Great Stories Club grants on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation
• ALA’s new Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table is open for membership
• American Library Association to explore Chicago commercial real estate market
• ALSC announces new Equity Fellowships

 

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