ALA Council

 
December 3, 2021 - Collated by OIF Staff and News Editor on the Intellectual Freedom Blog

Highlights

• American Library Association condemns broad censorship of books on race and LGBTQ in schools and libraries | Flagler Live
• ALA Statement on Book Censorship: In recent months, a few organizations have advanced the proposition that the voices of the marginalized have no place on library shelves. To this end they have launched campaigns demanding the censorship of books and resources that mirror the lives of those who are gay, queer, or transgender, or that tell the stories of persons who are Black, Indigenous or persons of color. Falsely claiming that these works are subversive, immoral, or worse, these groups induce elected and non-elected officials to abandon constitutional principles, ignore the rule of law, and disregard individual rights to promote government censorship of library collections. Some of these groups even resort to intimidation and threats to achieve their ends, targeting the safety and livelihoods of library workers, educators, and board members who have dedicated themselves to public service, to informing our communities, and educating our youth. ALA strongly condemns these acts of censorship and intimidation.
• Fight Censorship - With the severe uptick in local and statewide book challenges, ALA offers this clearinghouse of resources to assist library workers and library advocates in responding to and supporting others facing those challenges. Remember to report challenges to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, and let ALA know if you need assistance. 

Censorship

• There were 155 efforts to censor books in US schools and libraries [since June 1], group says | CNN
• Calls for school book burnings and bans on the rise, researchers say. The push to ban books has been largely driven by conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation | Independent
• Georgia schools targeted in battle over library books, online content | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Michigan Civil Rights Commission says Critical Race Theory ban would censor teachers | Michigan Live
• School board asked to ban books | Waupaca County News
• Request to remove 'Changing Bodies' book from York Middle School library to draw protest | Seacoast Online
• School districts in Harrisonburg, Virginia, reviewing Gender Queer in school libraries - Updated | National Coalition Against Censorship
• Fairfax County Public Schools adding 2 books back to library after parents called them 'pornography' | WUSA9
  • Fairfax County parents call for removal of library books they claim are pornography | WUSA9
  • Fairfax County parents demand school board resign after 'doubling down' on 'porn in schools' | Fox News
• Previously banned books returned to several North Kansas City high school libraries | News One
• 'It's extremely inappropriate': Phoenix high school removes controversial book from reading list | 12 News
• Georgia schools targeted in battle over library books, online content | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Civil rights groups denounce 'unlawful' book-banning effort by Texas GOP | Common Dreams
• Wrenching struggle to define critical race theory divides an Orange County school district | Los Angeles Times
• The right's throwback 'cancel culture' tactic: Smear schoolbooks as porn | Daily Beast
• How 9 books started a fight over censorship and pornography in this Utah school district [Canyons] | Salt Lake Tribune
  • Removing books limits our growth, students tell Canyons School Board | KSL
• In New Hampshire, conservative moms group offers a bounty to report teachers | Baptists News
• 'Moms for Liberty' seeks to ban MLK Jr. book -- Tennessee Ed. Dept refuses | Los Angeles Blade
  • Tennessee Department of Education rejects complaint filed under anti-critical race theory law | Tennessean
  • Tennessee Education Department Rejects Right-Wing Moms Group Complaint Under State's Anti-Critical Race Theory Law | BET
• Move to ban 'pornographic' books in TX schools targets LGBTQ+ memoirs, novels on race | Austin American Statesman
• Against 'repressive regimes': Yingling defends explicit book's place in Illinois school libraries | Lake County Gazette
• Fight to teach critical race theory in North Carolina schools continues following veto of House Bill 324 | Duke Chronicle
• Zaun also supports prosecuting teachers over books in school | Iowa Starting Line
  • The problem with Jake Chapman's 'obscenity' claim | Iowa Starting Line
• Campbell County library board listens to, rejects three more book appeals | Casper Star Tribune
• Children's books on gender identity ignite discussion in Solana Beach School District | Rancho Santa Fe Review
• Request to remove 'Changing Bodies' book from York Middle School library to draw protest | Portsmouth Herald
• North Hunterdon book ban controversy enters another chapter | My Central Jersey
• Legislators slam diversity efforts in Kansas schools, label them as critical race theory | Topeka Capital-Journal
  • Hearing on critical race theory in Kansas schools veers into sex, religion and supposition | Kansas Reflector
• Protesters target teen library patrons | Coeur d'Alene / Post Falls Press
• Muncie, Indiana, students protest censorship of BLM in school | Liberation
• Moms for Liberty tally over 80 books in schools containing pornography, critical race theory | Sebastian Daily
• Kenai council to consider library grant again | Peninsula Clarion
• A Texas school district banned my book. Then things got really ugly. | Texas Monthly

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• Twitter bans posting pictures of 'private individuals' against their wishes | The Verge
• Could the Facebook papers close the deal on privacy legislation? | Brookings
• US government agencies bought Chinese surveillance tech despite federal ban | TechCrunch
• Dragnet warrants are trapping innocent people | NYCLU

More privacy news is available at the Voices for Privacy blog.

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• Federal judge blocks social media censorship law passed by Texas GOP | Courthouse News Service
  • Judge tears apart Texas social media law for violating First Amendment | Ars Technica
• When courts gag news organizations, it takes away citizens' right to know | Chicago Sun-Times
• Biden administration to tackle link between big data and racial discrimination | Daily Dot
• Guest commentary: Livestreaming police is a critical First Amendment right | Davis Vanguard
• As death threats surge, First Amendment advocates struggle to say what's a crime and what's protected | USA Today
• The Supreme Court may elevate the Second Amendment above the First | Slate

Access

• Opinion: The staggeringly high price of a prison phone call | The Washington Post

Net Neutrality & Broadband Access

• Billions in federal funding coming to Michigan for high-speed internet access | Up North Live
• FCC nominee Gigi Sohn says she fully supports reinstating net neutrality | Daily Dot

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• Boise State professor criticized for controversial statements | KTVB
• Colleges cite FERPA to withhold NIL contract details | Inside Higher Ed
• A 'roadmap' for campus speech | Inside Higher Ed
  • Campus free expression: A new roadmap | Bipartisan Policy Center
• University of Florida professor files academic freedom grievance after critical race curriculum was barred | WCJB

Journalism & Media

• Project Censored Authors on media literacy, cancel culture, and hope | Queen City Nerve

Social Media

• Facebook's race-blind practices around hate speech came at the expense of Black users, new documents show | The Washington Post
• New Twitter CEO said company's 'role is not to be bound by the First Amendment' | WSET
• Federal judge blocks Texas social media 'censorship' law | CNET

Information Literacy & Disinformation

• Facebook reveals broad takedown of global disinformation networks, including some tied to anti-vaccine groups and state actors | The Washington Post
• Study shows how Russian, Chinese disinformation about COVID-19 evolved during the pandemic | Radio Free Europe
• Opinion: Alex Jones is facing a reckoning. Let it be a warning to other conspiracy theorists. | The Washington Post
• 'A bunch of kooks': Michael Flynn described QAnon as a 'disinformation campaign' in recorded call | Rolling Stone
• Combatting health misinformation and disinformation: building an evidence base | Health Affairs
• How disinformation corrodes democracy | Foreign Affairs
• 'The Wires of War' Review: How online lies become the truth | The Wall Street Journal
• Political misinformation, and a matter of scale | Columbia Journalism Review

International News

• UN Human Rights Committee criticizes Germany's NetzDG for letting social media platforms police online speech | EFF
• A 'Simpsons' episode lampooned Chinese censorship. In Hong Kong, it vanished. | The New York Times
• China surveillance of journalists to use 'traffic-light' system | BBC
  • Chinese province targets journalists and students in planned surveillance system | The Guardian

Around the Web

• Faith-based school retiree, constitutional conservative appointed to library, BVD boards | The Advocate
• Wrenching struggle to define critical race theory divides Orange County school district | Los Angeles Times
• Opinion: Take all books off the shelves. They're just too dangerous. | The Washington Post
• 'A low simmer': Vermont's critical race theory backlash isn't over | VTDigger
• The public library: gateway to knowledge or portal to porn? | Pride Source
• Parents shouldn't be allowed to censor good science in schools | Wyoming Tribune Eagle
• Surveillance, companionship, and entertainment: The ancient history of intelligent machines [book excerpt] | MIT Press
• The new white flight: banning books that reveal uncomfortable truths | Kansas Reflector
• Letter to the editor: Critical race theory's loudmouth critics are making teachers' jobs impossible | Los Angeles Times
• Opinion: Critical race theory debate an 'attempt to maintain systemic racism' | Columbus Dispatch
• What the public doesn't get: Anti-CRT lawmakers are passing pro-CRT laws | New Canaan Advertiser
• What 'my body, my choice' means to the Right | The New York Times
• When 'woke' is weaponized | School Library Journal
• Parent rights debate looms as Florida grapples with masks, books, race, and gender | Tampa Bay Times
• Local business owner launches banned book subscription series | Cleveland Scene
• Effort to make school boards partisan advances in [FL] Senate | Florida Politics
• Not all sexual content in books equals 'pornography' | Black Chronicle
• The Krause Banned Books List | Intellectual Freedom Blog

ALA News

• Registration open for 2022 ALSC National Institute
• ALA extends application for national Policy Corps to Dec. 15th
• ALA donates $12,000 to re-establish and restore public libraries in Haiti
• Choice announces the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2021

Awards & Grant

• Elizabeth Dawson Selected as a 2022 Core Emerging Leader
• Victoria Kowanetz Named a 2022 Core Emerging Leader
• Laurel Taylor selected as 2022 AASL Emerging Leader
• Stephanie Goh selected as 2022 AASL Emerging Leader
• Libraries invited to apply for programming support with the second annual Peggy Barber Tribute Grant
• ALA invites applications for third annual Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant

eLearning

• United for Libraries' Dec. 14 Learning Live session to educate on building strong library policies

More eLearning opportunites

Publishing

• New from ACRL - "Ethnic Studies in Academic and Research Libraries"

More ALA News

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)
225 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60601 1-800-545-2433 x4226

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