Month: December 2019
Supporting Intellectual Freedom Year-round: An interview with Ellie Diaz
Censorship happens every day. The more we draw attention to how these texts are challenged, the more we can position libraries as community cornerstones where differing points of view can exist in one place.
Sharing my Censorship Story: Five Years Later
My goal is to share my story and shake off a little of that remaining fear, and to encourage others in my position to keep moving forward in support of the intellectual freedom rights of all members of a school community. I have a right to tell my story, and you have a right to tell yours.
Intellectual Freedom News 12/27/19
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is seeking information on any bans, challenges, or access issues that libraries, schools, and universities faced in 2019. Deadline is Dec. 31. Any assistance with helping get the word out is greatly appreciated!
Find a sample email that can easily be customized and shared on e-lists; graphics; sample social media posts; and more info on the importance of reporting censorship on this webpage: http://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/share. All personal and institutional information submitted is kept confidential.
Bah Humbug: a List of Censored Christmas Stories
There will always be silly reasons for attempting to ban a book, but I would have thought that there wasn’t anything to challenge about holiday books. I mean, Santa, reindeer, twinkly lights, Hallmark movies, present exchanges, good will towards men? What is there to object? However, as it turns out, I was wrong; there are attempts to challenge books about the most wonderful time of the year.
Intellectual Freedom News, 12/20/19
In this week’s IF NEWS: The Impeachment Papers; Reaction to Kalamazoo Public Schools saying no to LGBTQ books; and Privacy is a Human Right – It Can’t Be Bought or Sold.
Share Your Censorship Story
OIF’s end-of-year initiative encourages you to share your censorship story! Information from challenge reports helps spread awareness and support libraries across the nation.
Author Robin Stevenson Returns to Speak in Community Where She Was Uninvited for LGBTQ+ Content
By: guest contributor Julia A. Nephew. “To me this has been a reminder of how invisible LGBTQ people in history still are in many school curriculum,” author Robin Stevenson said of District 200 canceling her Oct. 2 talk. “And it does make me feel like it’s important that all kids are aware of the really significant contributions of LGBTQ people throughout history, and it’s important that LGBTQ kids and teens in particular see their own lives and identities reflected in the books they read.”
Walls That Withstand Whitewashing: The Murals of William F. Herron
The 1990s were a period in which graffiti abatement initiatives were surging and county maintenance crews armed with government paint rollers would roam neighborhoods with renewed alacrity. Murals were obliterated left and right during this tumultuous time and many culturally significant artworks went the way of the blank wall. Tragic to be told.
Omission or censorship? Meta-outrage overlooks legitimate controversy
Outrage tends to oversimplify. Outrage over outrage tends exacerbate this, and shift focus away from the situation at hand. In a recent emblematic example, the author of an editorial who is fatigued by “ban worries” over school library books strives to differentiate between omission and censorship. This side-debate, albeit valuable, misdirects from actual censorship occurring within the confines of the original controversy. Go figure.
Intellectual Freedom News 12/13/19
During the past week the FCC adopted ALA E-rate recommendations; meet the I Love My Librarian Award winners; and OIF pleas for libraries to report censorship. Check out all the news on censorship, privacy, net neutrality, academic freedom and the First Amendment.