Author: Kristin Pekoll
When the Censors go to Court
By Guest Contributor Richard Price – On 2 May 2019, a group led by a Watchung Hills High School student and his father sued the school (and various administrators and educators). The student asserted that he “suffered damages as a result of being required to read Fun Home including emotional, psychological and other damages.”
Lynda’s Privacy Problem
By: guest contributor Samantha Lee – LyndaLibrary, soon to be LinkedIn Learning, is planning a platform update that would require library patrons to create LinkedIn accounts to access the resources, rightly prompting privacy concerns amongst Connecticut librarians. By calling attention to the privacy concerns on Lynda/LinkedIn, librarians can help to create a safer environment for patrons and their privacy.
Intellectual Freedom & Privacy Events in our Nation’s Capitol
So many great intellectual freedom and privacy events during ALA Annual Conference in Washington D.C. You won’t want to miss a single minute.
Academe, Heal Thyself: Reflections on the Free Speech Executive Order Discussion at ACRL
By: guest contributor Sarah Hartman-Caverly – The true threats to intellectual freedom on college and university campuses cannot be solved by outside intervention – most especially not by state intervention. In this post, Hartman-Caverly extends criticism of the recent Executive Order on free inquiry by challenging its emphasis on learner data tracking, and questions whether intellectual freedom can meaningfully exist without intellectual privacy.
Burning Books for Children
By: guest contributor and author M. Earl Smith – In the United States, there is a group that, sadly, ties patriotism into a fervent, almost cult-like devotion to certain figures, ideas, and symbols…Yet the second that someone presents the work of someone who views the world differently than the American Dream myth, they are either shouted down or they are, ironically, twisted, contorted, and used to continue that ethos.
Why are there 11 most challenged books this year?
The State of America’s Libraries 2019 report includes a snapshot of censorship in libraries, schools and universities; who initiates challenges, where are they taking place, and what are the reasons?
OIF, ODLOS, and VLA Respond to Hollins University’s Removal of Yearbooks
We extend our full support to the staff of Wyndham Robertson Library and the Working Group on Slavery and its Contemporary Legacies at Hollins University, who have demonstrated their commitment to preserving full access to the library’s collections and upholding their professional ethics and values.
Why I am Keeping Seuss Books
By: guest contributor Carole Soden; “I fully understand why some libraries feel more comfortable not using Dr. Seuss books but I feel there is also another approach.”
A Censor Sits in a Library
By: guest contributor Emily M. Schneider, Ph.D. – I am not writing to defend Gantos and McKean’s novel. I empathize with those critics who have expressed fears that it will only stoke the fires of xenophobia and normalize suspicion of Muslims, and that children may find in the book an excuse to bully their peers who seem to conform to the exaggerated images in the book. But, like Fitzgerald, I can also hold opposing ideas, specifically, fears of censorship, and the idea that allowing a book to be published does not imply endorsement of its message.
Meet the 2019 Intellectual Freedom Bloggers!
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) is pleased to introduce ten new bloggers in addition to five strong voices who continue to share thought provoking original content about a core value of the librarian profession.