Intellectual Freedom News 4/12/2024
Highlights
- ALA kicks off National Library Week revealing the annual list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books and the State of America’s Libraries Report | ALA
- On National Right to Read Day, “Banned Books, Banned Beliefs” Now Available | Interfaith Alliance
- “The First Amendment and the Freedom to Read” receives AASL Roald Dahl’s Miss Honey Social Justice Award | ALA
- State Intellectual Freedom Helpline Grants | Intellectual Freedom Blog
- Pun wins 2025-2026 ALA presidency | ALA
- International organisations for authors, publishers, booksellers and libraries call for key freedoms to be respected | IFLA
- Unite Against Book Bans expands book résumé collection for National Library Week | ALA
- In Their Own Words: Youth Voices on Books Unbanned | Brooklyn Public Library & The Seattle Public Library
Censorship
- East Hempfield Twp. to withhold funds from Lancaster Public Library in response to canceled Drag Queen Story Hour | Lancaster Online (PA)
- Drag Queen Story Hour puts funding on the line for Lancaster Public Library | Local21 News (PA)
- Mountville Council defers 2024 donation to Lancaster Public Library amid controversy | Local21 News (PA)
- More funding withheld from library in Lancaster County | WGAL (PA)
- Readers respond to Drag Queen Story Hour bomb threat, East Hempfield Township’s library funding decision [letters] | Lancaster Online (PA)
- Community pushes back against proposed UASD book restrictions | Gettysburg Connection (PA)
- Rutherford Co. Schools, board member criticized for lack of transparency after 18 books pulled from school libraries | WSMV (TN)
- Controversial book removed after Board of Trustees meeting in Rathdrum | FOX 28 (ID)
- St. Tammany overhauls library board as controversy swirls over censoring ‘explicit’ books | NOLA (LA)
- Former Prattville library director sues governing board over termination | Alabama Reflector (AL)
- Bridgewater College student holds ‘Banned Book Fair’ in response to Rockingham County Public Schools | WHSV (VA)
- Community members divided over book appeals for Newport Beach libraries | Daily Pilot (CA)
- Book review board approved | Tribune (CA)
- Fremont County Threatens Takeover Of Library Board Amid Sex Books Controversy | Cowboy State Daily (WY)
- School Board approves removal of 2 books from libraries | Main St. Daily News (FL)
- Fighting Book Bans in Pennsylvania | Humanist (PA)
- Mat-Su creates new challenged-book committee nominated by borough mayor | Anchorage Daily News (AK)
- Mat-Su schools book ban goes to federal judge for oral arguments | Alaska Public Media (AK)
- Name-Calling and Calling the Police: How N.Y.C. Parent Meetings Got Mean | New York Times (NY)
- SC school district drops books on race, gender topics from library shelves after complaint | Yahoo! (SC)
- Nazareth school board votes 5-4 to keep controversial book in high school library | Lehigh Valley Live (PA)
- The impact of censorship in New Jersey school libraries | New Jersey Education Association (NJ)
- Elmhurst Mayor Backs Library In Controversy | Patch (IL)
- Oak Park Library and its public firing: What really happened? | Wednesday Journal (IL)
- Metropolis Public Library accused of censorship | Illinois Public Media (IL)
- Librarians fear new penalties, even prison, as activists challenge books | AP
- Books will remain at Pine-Richland school libraries after being targeted for removal | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
- Fort Bend ISD debates giving superintendent authority to ban books that ‘stimulate sexual desire’ | Houston Chronicle (TX)
- 10-year-old reads explicit content to Fairhope City Council over book availability debate | NBC15 (AK)
- School board introduces 45-day review for new ‘selection/procurement of library materials’ rules; policy draws ire, praise from public | Cap City News (WY)
- Augusta County School Board approves revised library book policy | News Leader (VA)
- South Middleton School District continues review of books as students, residents argue process | Sentinel (PA)
- Hanover County School Board says content in the Bible does not violate its library materials criteria | WRIC (VA)
- What’s In Rockingham County’s Proposed Library Policies? | Daily News-Record (VA)
- Hanover County supervisors censor commendation for Girl Scout who fought censorship | WVTF (VA)
Privacy & Cybersecurity
- New draft bipartisan US federal privacy bill unveiled | IAPP
- Rep. Turner confident FISA bill will pass: ‘This is not a warrantless surveillance of Americans’ | Hill
- It’s Time to Face the Music: FTC Says ‘No’ to Facial Recognition-Based Consent Under COPPA | JDSupra
- In California and Elsewhere, Fear of Crime Drives the Surveillance State | Reason
- How fast food is becoming a new surveillance ground | Fast Company
First Amendment & Civil Rights
- Parents group defends right to challenge school district’s book banning at Eighth Circuit | Courthouse News Service (MO)
- Toolkit to Defend K-12 Educators and Librarians Against False Accusations of Antisemitism | Ida in the Middle
- Marion County Record newspaper files lawsuit after police raid | WBUR (KS)
- Federal judge blocks Florida teacher’s pronoun restriction | CBS News (FL)
- Florida city creates recording policy against ‘First Amendment auditors.’ Here’s why | Click Orlando (FL)
Academic Freedom & Student Speech
- Stony Brook University Arrests Trigger Campus Controversy | University Herald (NY)
- Government-Mandated Neutrality is Anything but Neutral | PEN America
- Harvard Students Form Academic Freedom Group Amid Debates Over Speech, Neutrality | Harvard Crimson (MA)
- Academic Freedom Declining Globally, Index Finds | Barron’s
- Resource Center Staff Protest Israel/Palestine Censorship | Amherst Student (MA)
- “They Don’t Want to Teach Black History” | Mother Jones
- Conservatives hope for major education changes if Trump wins | Hill
- Amid Gaza war, college campuses become free speech ‘testing ground’ | Intercept
- As free speech controversies mount, Indiana University faculty pitch vote of no confidence in university leadership | FIRE (IN)
Legislation
- Gov. Inslee signs bill making it harder to dissolve library districts | Daily Record (WA)
- Georgia House and Senate showcase contrasting priorities as 2024 session ends | FOX22 (GA)
- Measure enhancing penalties against individuals who threaten libraries advances | Center Square (IL)
- Analysis: A Statehouse rite of spring — a showdown over libraries | Idaho Ed News (ID)
- No veto this year: Little signs Idaho library bill to allow lawsuits over ‘harmful’ books | Idaho Statesman (ID)
- Idaho libraries must move materials deemed harmful to children, or face lawsuits, under new law | Idaho Capital Sun (ID)
- Idaho Legislature passes bill requiring Idaho libraries move ‘harmful materials’ | Idaho State Journal (ID)
- Tennessee lawmakers pass bill requiring public schools to show controversial computer-generated video on fetus development | KAKE (TN)
- NH book banning bill passes Senate with all-Republican support | Seacoastonline (NH)
- Legislation intended to prevent book banning passes Md. General Assembly | MoCo360 (MD)
- Louisiana Bill Would Sentence Librarians to Hard Labor for Joining ALA | Mary Sue (LA)
- Alabama Republicans Try to ‘Criminalize Librarians Simply for Doing Their Jobs’ | Common Dreams (AL)
- Advocates fear Alabama House bills could lead to prosecutions of librarians | Alabama Reflector (AL)
- GOP Louisiana lawmakers target diversity, equity, inclusion on university campuses | Louisiana Illuminator (LA)
- America has legislated itself into competing red, blue versions of education | Washington Post
- Assembly Democrats Introduce Bill to Prohibit Book Banning in Public and School Libraries | Insider NJ (NJ)
- NJASL Statement on Supporting NJ S2421/A3446, The Freedom to Read Bill | Insider NJ (NJ)
- California bill would stop book banning by public libraries | Courthouse News Service (CA)
State & Local Governance
- House education budget chair says $750K being “redirected” from Library Service | Alabama Political Reporter (AL)
- Proposal to give SC Board of Education final say over book challenges opposed | News from the States (SC)
- The race for NC superintendent of public instruction is heating up. Meet the candidates. | Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Net Neutrality & Broadband Access
- FCC April 25 Open Meeting to Consider Restoring Net Neutrality | FCC
- FCC won’t block California net neutrality law, says states can “experiment” | Ars Technica
- AI makes the fight for net neutrality even more important | Brookings
- FCC Chair: U.S. Needs National Net Neutrality Policy | Government Technology
Social Media
Disinformation & Media Literacy
- Anonymous users dominate right-wing discussions online and spread false information | Los Angeles Times
- Inside Pentagon’s Shaky Efforts to Combat Russian Disinformation | Bloomberg
- China Is Targeting U.S. Voters and Taiwan With AI-Powered Disinformation | Wall Street Journal
International
- Russia Will Restrict Access to Facebook, Claiming Social Giant Violated ‘Human Rights’ in Restricting Kremlin-Backed Media | AOL (Russia)
- Nigeria’s Kannywood filmmakers face jail if they show violence | BBC (Nigeria)
- Little Cash, Lots of Censorship: Bothayna Al-Essa on Opening a Bookstore in Kuwait | LitHub (Kuwait)
Around the Web
- ‘It’s Been Devastating’: A Q&A With The Top Librarian Fighting The GOP’s Book Bans | HuffPost
- Student Voice: What young people can do about book bans | PBS
- ‘The Right to Read’: Local libraries consider the impacts of censorship legislation | Magic Valley
- Here are the Top 5 reasons Idaho Gov. Little should veto the library book ban bill | Opinion | Yahoo! News (ID)
- Alabama Planet Fitness locations receive bomb threats, evacuated by FBI | AL.com
- Affirm the right to read in NJ, the fastest growing book sanctuary state in the nation | Opinion | NJ.com
- OPINION: Book bans are unconstitutional — and inherently undemocratic | Indiana Daily Student
- Jane Elliott, anti-racism teacher, slams efforts to limit how race is taught in classrooms | CNN
- Book ban attempts soared 65% in 2023 | K-12 Dive
- Somewhere Between Stacks and Algorithms: Libraries Remain the Last Strongholds of Unbiased Information | Northeastern Illinois University’s Independent
- Teachers Are Fighting Book Bans and Unjust Firings in Courts and State Houses | Truthout
- As book challenges skyrocket, these are the books Hoosiers tried to ban last year | IndyStar
- Defending the Canon: SLJ & NCTE Review 15 Banned Classics | School Library Journal
- Ethical concerns prompt action on Harvard’s skin-bound book | News Advocate
- Harvard Library removes human skin from binding of French book | Boston Herald
- Commentary: Book-Banners Who Preach a War Between Good and Evil | Frenandina Observer
- Illegal Surveillance In Americans Homes & Devices Immediate Oversight Of Clearview AI & Similar Technologies Demanded By The McWhorter Foundation | Yahoo!
- How treating immigrants with dignity starts in the classroom | San Francisco Chronicle
- Opinion | Let’s say it plainly: Fact-checking is not censorship | Poynter
- Ed Piskor, ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ Comic Book Artist, Dies at 41 | Wrap
- Arkansas school voucher program clearly supports religious instruction | Arkansas Advocate
- Bills Fighting Book Bans May Have Unintended Consequences—Library Penalties | Essence
- Janet Skeslien Charles Showed How Books Fight Wars. Now, She’s Back with “Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade.” | Teen Mag
- Bomb threat interrupts Drag Story Hour event at Arlington gay bar | Washington Blade
- More than half of 2023’s most challenged books have LGBTQ themes | NBC News
- The Luminosity of Reading: The Morningside Lights Parade Encourages Freedom to Read | Teen Vogue
- Here Are the Most Targeted Books of 2023 | New York Times
- How SPL’s Books Unbanned card is fighting censorship | Seattle Times
- Anti-LGBTQ+ Bigotry Behind Drag Show Bomb Threat Decried By Board | Patch
- Uncensored: Arab American History Month | Do Something
- Maia Kobabe’s ‘Gender Queer’ tops list of most criticized library books for third straight year | Washington Post
- ALA Releases Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023 | Publishers Weekly
- LGBTQ-themed books most targeted by bans, says American Library Association | Hill
- These Were the Most Challenged Books in America Last Year | Smithsonian Magazine
- Idaho legislators have villainized librarians for allowing freedom of speech to exist on shelves | Idaho Capital Sun
- Democratic-leaning states move to curb book bans | K-12 Dive
- Maia Kobabe’s ‘Gender Queer,’ about growing up in Sonoma County, tops library group’s list of challenged books for third year | Press Democrat
- OPINION: Book banning takes a fiscal and moral toll on our schools | Nevada Independent
- The Book Censor’s Library: An oppressive Orwellian nightmare | New Arab
- Our Opinion: Another record year for book challenges, another call to defend the freedom to read | Berkshire Eagle
- Tensions boil over in Niceville as residents try to stop a Drag Show Story Hour | Northwest Florida Daily News
- Californians across political parties oppose school board book bans, survey says | Sacramento Bee
ALA News
- Free Core Webinar: Perspectives on Working with International Vendors
- American Library Association Launches Reader. Voter. Ready. Campaign to Equip Libraries for 2024 Elections
- Newly updated handbook of library architecture
- Core Webinar – Best of Core Forum: Organizing for Open; Aligning Organizational Structures with Open Values
- Brad Warren elected vice-president/president-elect
- Dr. Brandy McNeil named PLA 2025-2026 president
- ALA/Information Today, Inc. announce 2024 Library of the Future Award
- Jennie Pu to receive Ernest A. DiMattia Award
- Loida Garcia-Febo to receive ALA Medal of Excellence Award
- Core Webinar – Best of Core Forum: What is “Cataloging”? An Analysis of Job Postings
- Announcing the 2024 Core Election Results
- Preservation Week® Webinar: Cultural Competencyʻs Role Toward Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Goals
- Preservation Week® Webinar: Building Better Models for Preservation
- Showcase Your Library’s Interior Design Work by Applying for the 2024 ALA/IIDA Library Interior Design Awards
- Core Webinar – Best of Core Forum: Onboarding with Cultural Humility and Appreciative Inquiry
- New e-book spotlights free and low-cost library programming
- World champion gymnast and author Maggie Nichols and award-winning journalist and author Ali Velshi to present at ALA 2024 Annual Conference & Exhibition in San Diego
- Core Webinar – Best of Core Forum: Python for Data Visualization
- New ALA tools guide libraries in applying for more than $1 billion in federal Digital Equity Act funding
- Core Webinar: Logic Models; Your Strategic Magic Wand
- American Library Association celebrates National Library Week 2024
- Core Webinar – Best of Core Forum: Evaluating Your Library Assessment Program
- Core Classroom: Your Supported Job Search
- Wendy Gassaway receives AASL Innovative Reading Grant
- ALA welcomes passage of FY 2024 federal budget, braces for FY 2025
- Hutchinson Memorial Library awarded 2024 Baker & Taylor Summer Reading Program Grant
- Rose Brock to receive Scholastic Library Publishing Award
- Susan Spicer to receive Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children
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