ALA Council

 
May 20, 2022 - Collated by OIF Staff and News Editor on the Intellectual Freedom Blog

Highlights

• Introducing the Library Privacy Field Guides!

Censorship

• Conservative parents take aim at library apps meant to expand access to books | NBC News
• In Canaan, 3 books with LGBTQ+ themes at center of controversy | VTDigger (VT)
• Only 3 reviewers said Florida math textbooks violated CRT rules. Yet state rejected dozens | Miami Herald
• RSU 40 reviews challenged books again | Courier-Gazette (ME)
• Next on Moms for Liberty library challenge list: The Kite Runner, Slaughterhouse-Five | Florida Today
• Polk Schools to return 16 books in question to libraries, opposing group threatens to sue | Ledger
• Nixa school board bans queer memoirs 'Fun Home' and 'All Boys Aren't Blue,' restricts others | Springfield News-Leader (MO)
  • ACLU tells Nixa schools to preserve evidence, warns of possible lawsuit over book bannings | Springfield News-Leader
• A lawsuit has been filed against the banning of books in Llano County | CW39 (TX)
• Student protesters threatened, while a new policy to censor library books looms in Central Bucks School District | WHYY
  • Proposed Central Bucks library policy targeting 'sexualized content' spurs worries about sweeping book removal | Philadelphia Inquirer
• Virginia Beach School Board group removes 'Gender Queer' book from libraries, calls it 'pervasively vulgar' | Virginia-Pilot
  • Battle over books in Virginia Beach now targets Barnes & Noble, Amazon. And it's making its way through circuit court. | Virginia-Pilot
• Book ban: More people challenging titles in Eanes ISD | KXAN
• Harlem school board bans 'Gender Queer' book | WIFR
• Texas librarians face harassment as they navigate book bans | Texas Tribune
• College student finds possible 'critical race theory' in Florida math book, report finds | Orlando Sentinel
• Keokuk school board removes book from elementary school library | TSPR (IA)
• Shawnee Heights school board votes against banning five challenged books | Kansas Reflector
  • After months of review, Shawnee Heights Board of Education votes to keep controversial books in schools | Topeka Capital-Journal
• Book by 'Queer Eye' star among 56 parents want removed from St. Johns County Schools | News4Jax (FL)
• 'Should I play it safe or push the envelope?' Texas librarian struggles ordering books for school | ABC13
• 'Remove it! Send it back!' A sample of books challenged at Kentucky public libraries | Lexington Herald Leader
• Glenview Library trustees to discuss creating flag policy | Journal & Topics (IL)
• Wentzville School Board to vote on banning another book for sexual content | St. Louis Dispatch (MO)
• Book banning fears intensify after assistant principal fired over book | WAPT (MS)
• Des Moines non-profit caught in book censorship controversy | WHO13 (IA)
• Here are top 10 most challenged books last year. An Idaho school board already banned some | Idaho Statesman
• Rediscovered Books to offer free books, oppose Nampa school board book ban | Idaho News 6
• Book-banning Proposal Sparks Outrage at Council Rock School Board Meeting | The Centurion (PA)
• After Parents Read Rape Scenes At Board Meeting Schools Remove Books | Sarasota FL Patch
• School Library Books: Removal Campaign Continues | The Pilot (NC)
• Elizabethtown Area School District parent challenges best-selling novel 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' | Lancaster Online (PA)

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• FTC to vote on COPPA policy statement May 19 | IAPP
• FTC to Crack Down on Companies that Illegally Surveil Children Learning Online | FTC
• California lawmakers push ahead with sweeping children's online privacy bill | CBS News

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

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• Court deals setback to First Amendment suit against Elizabeth Warren | Publishers Weekly
• Disputes over school anti-racism policies, 'critical race theory' move to courts | UPI
• Right to film cops weighed by US court overseeing 6 states | Star-Tribune / Associated Press
• Florida student suing over 'Don't Say Gay' law says school is trying to censor his graduation speech | CBS42
• Free speech under attack (part II): Curriculum sabotage and classroom censorship | House Committee on Oversight and Reform
  • Congress to hold second hearing on censorship issues | Publishers Weekly
• Florida bans protests outside homes | Washington Post
• Supreme Court strikes down limit on repaying campaign loans in win for Ted Cruz | CBS News
• Chuck Todd: GOP using First Amendment to 'appease the white supremacist movement' | The Hill
• Supreme Court should address prior restraints on former gov't employees | Just Security
• Gay student says school stopping run for student leadership | Herald Bulletin (FL)

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• Monitoring Free Speech on Oklahoma's Campuses | Inside Higher Ed

Legislation

• Lawmakers letting CRT rule for OK schools stand after proposal to disapprove | KTUL 
  • Sec. Walters tells textbook companies to obey CRT ban | OCPA
• SC critical race theory ban fails to pass legislature before session ends. What to know | Charlotte Observer
• Berea school board opposes 3 'divisive concepts' state bills | Cleveland.com (OH)
• Cleveland council condemns bill that would censor topics of diversity, sexual orientation in schools | WOIO (OH)
• Louisiana House panel shuts down bills related to critical race theory | WWL-TV
  • Critical race theory bills killed by Louisiana Legislature | Louisiana Illuminator
• What's the Tennessee textbook commission? A new law could empower the board to ban books statewide | WPLN

Net Neutrality & Broadband Access

• How the Republican plot to stall Gigi Sohn's FCC nomination is about to cripple the future of internet rights | Daily Dot
• Public Knowledge urges FCC to adopt policies ending digital discrimination | Public Knowledge
• How the GOP assault on social media flipped net neutrality on its head | Washington Post

Journalism & Media

• SPLC commends the reversal of censorship at Lyman High School in Florida | SPLC
• Lyman High School students receive yearbooks with added disclaimer after photo controversy delay | WESH 2 (FL)

Social Media

• Two GOP judges just stripped social media companies of basic First Amendment rights | Vox
  • Opinion: An appeals court ruling just threw online speech into disarray | Washington Post
  • Tech groups ask Supreme Court to put Texas social media censorship law on hold | CNN
  • Texas asks Supreme Court to keep state social media censorship law in effect | ABC12
• Inside the secret chat rooms censoring critics on a pro-Trump 'free speech' social media app | ABC
• ACLU of Indiana lawsuit says Boone County blocked resident from Facebook page | Indiana Lawyer

Information Literacy & Disinformation

• A fringe conspiracy theory, fostered online, is refashioned by the G.O.P. | New York Times
• How the Biden administration let right-wing attacks derail its disinformation efforts | Washington Post

Copyright

• The Dumb Reason a Book-Banning Republican Senator Got a Major Publishing Award | The New Republic

International News

• 'Dozen' created 73% of disinformation during Parliament protest | 1News
• China's internet censors try a new trick: Revealing users' locations | New York Times

Around the Web

• Anti-CRT school board candidates look for wins across NY state | CBS4
  • School elections: Fiery rhetoric against equity initiatives mostly fizzles at polls | lohud.com
  • Majority of 'parents rights' candidates lose in Capital Region school elections | Times-Union
• When Right-Wing Attacks on School Textbooks Fell Short | The Nation
• Texas librarian fired for 'insubordination' was just trying to do right by readers | Daily Kos
• Authors respond: Four writers discuss effort to ban their books in Polk County schools | Ledger
• City of El Paso Public Library highlights banned books in new section | KVIA.com
• Author of "to be destroyed" book visits Rapid City | KEVN (SD)
• Lesbian couple says vandalism of their 'Little Queer Library' feels like 'censorship' and hatred | Blaze
• Drag queens sue state rep. for defaming them | Concord Monitor
• Culture wars attract big money to Texas school board races | Texas Standard
• The purpose of book bans is to make queer kids scared | Literary Hub
• School censorship mars end of Florida school year, LGBTQ advocates say | Orlando Sentinel
• All 200+ books banned in Florida and what Miami booksellers have to say about it | Miami New Times
• District 7 Councilmember's remarks on the freedom to read resolution | City of San Antonio
• Fights over school boards share ballot with North Carolina's Senate primary | KESQ
• Opinion: Critical race theory at issue in Cherokee school board races | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Buffalo shooting reignites debate over critical race theory, US history education | USA Today
• When right-wing attacks on school textbooks fell short: Some essential lessons from an earlier culture war | The Nation
• Banned books battle: Author of book on 'to be destroyed' list visits Rapid City | News Center 1 (SD)
• Rediscovered Books to offer free books oppose Nampa school board book ban | KIVI (ID)
• Carolyn Hax: When kids ask for books they're 'too young' to read | Washington Post
• A photo of Florida students spelling out a racial slur is under investigation | NPR
• Children's book authors condemn recent bans | The Hill

ALA News

• ALA Executive Board endorses Loida Garcia-Febo as 2022-2023 IFLA President-Elect
• Idina Menzel and Cara Mentzel get loud for libraries as honorary chairs of Library Card Sign-up Month 2022
• Authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan to present at the virtual Digital Experience at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition
• Melanie Welch named director of ALA's Public Programs Office
• Author, storyteller, and screenwriter R.L. Stine will present at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition
• Kimery elected 2023-2024 AASL Supervisors Section ChairLucas elected 2022-2024 AASL Independent Schools Section Secretary
• Thakkar elected 2023-2024 AASL Independent Schools Section Chair
• Morris elected 2023-2024 AASL Educators of School Librarians Section Chair
• Fuhrman elected 2022-2024 AASL Director-At-Large, Chapters
• Kordeliski elected 2022-2024 AASL Director-At-Large
• Rivera elected 2022-2024 AASL Secretary/Treasurer

eLearning

• Informing Parents and Families About Recommended COVID-19 Vaccines for Children
• Public Library Director Crash Course: Getting the Skills You Need
• A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services
• Effective Library Signage: Tips, Tricks, & Best Practices
• Design and Marketing for Library Course
• Protected: Closing the Digital Divide: Elevating Librarian Expertise and Curation at the Point of Need
• Granular Usage Reporting and its Implications for Libraries
• 13 Things in Instructional Design for Library Instructors
• Cognitive Load and Instructional Design
• Unlocking Value: Keys to Incorporating Open Access in Library Collections
• More eLearning opportunites

Publishing

• AASL's guide to project-based learning for elementary grades

Awards & Grants

• Five projects receive 2022 AIA/ALA Library Building Award
• Apply now for PLA Digital Literacy Workshop Incentive, supported by AT&T

More ALA News

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

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