GODORT (Government Documents Round Table)

FROM: Kristin Pekoll, Assistant Director Office for Intellectual Freedom

“In the News” is an email that I send out weeklyish as I am alerted to stories online about book challenges, privacy, internet filtering and censorship in libraries and schools. 

August 11 – September 9, 2015

 Censorship

• Florida; City of Thieves; http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/09/08/school-board-member-chides-charter--book-choice/71876632/


• Tennessee; The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mom-cells-book-pornographic_55ef1340e4b002d5c076c412  http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/2015/09/07/local-mom-objects--controversial-book--summer-reading-list/71843596/


• New Zealand; Into the River; http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/108736-banned-book-removed-from-library.html


• Florida; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-nighttime-pulled-from-school-reading-list-for-too-many-fbombs-10452083.html ; http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2015/08/13/book-controversy-lcs-reviews-policies/31578321/ ; Editorial http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/08/13/opinion-wrong-lesson-learned/31651837/ (My favorite quote: “What the kids learned was that, if you get a few friends to join you in applying a little pressure, your school will sell out academic freedom just to keep the peace.”); http://ncac.org/incident/curious-censorship-in-tallahassee-high-school/ http://cbldf.org/2015/08/school-board-stands-by-curious-censorship-in-florida/ http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2015/08/24/curious-incident-censorship/32283983/


• Connecticut; The Perks of Being a Wallflower; http://www.myrecordjournal.com/wallingford/wallingfordnews/7653094-129/wallingford-school-board-offer-mixed-views-on-proposed-books-list.html


• Illinois; Library Board; http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2015/08/19/downers-grove-village-council-approves-library-trustee-despite-book-ban-concerns/auhns9s/?page=1 http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/downers-grove/news/ct-dgr-book-banner-appointed-tl-0827-20150819-story.html


• Florida; http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2015/08/17/reading-lists-who-decides-what-your-child-reads/31835651/


• Tennessee; Art History: Eighteenth to Twenty-first Century Art; http://www.brentwoodhomepage.com/county-school-board-adopts-art-history-book-despite-some-concerns-cms-22491#.VdXeUflVhBc


• Arizona: Biology Textbook; http://www.thefrisky.com/2015-08-20/arizona-schools-decorate-science-books-with-anti-abortion-stickers/

 Privacy

• New Privacy Guidelines Encourage Libraries and Vendors to Work Together to Protect Reader Privacy; http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=5522 http://www.ala.org/advocacy/library-privacy-guidelines-e-book-lending-and-digital-content-vendors


• Florida; http://makingthegrade.blogs.naplesnews.com/2015/08/19/collier-schools-portal-now-allows-parents-to-see-what-books-students-check-out/

 Internet Filtering

• http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/latest-internet-filtering-ala/

 Trigger Warnings

• http://www.michiganstandard.com/31399/trigger-warning-advocates-say-theyre-not-for-censorship/

 Opt Out

• North Carolina, Duke University; Fun Home; http://news.yahoo.com/duke-freshman-s-moral-stance-against--fun-home--part-of-larger-movement-against-uncomfortable-education-224428685.html; http://flavorwire.com/534879/students-denounce-fun-home-why-is-no-one-calling-them-coddled

 Blogs/Articles

• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE); http://blogs.ncte.org/index.php/2015/08/penny-kittle-wont-censor-books/


• AL.com; http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/08/protect_your_reading_enjoyment.html


• Libraries and Privacy; https://blogs.fit.edu/blog/campus/library/your-privacy-matters-to-us/


• Huffington Post; http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/08/27/controversial-books_n_8050780.html

Welcome New State Chairs! A warm ALA welcome to

• Joanna Breen is chair of the New England Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee


• Alex Simons is chair of the Texas Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee

Volunteer to Serve on ALA and Council Committees for 2016-2017

Banned Books Week September 27-October 3, 2015 http://www.alastore.ala.org/bbw

If you see a news article about book challenges in a library or school, please email it to me.

Kristin

 Kristin Pekoll, Assistant Director

Office for Intellectual Freedom

www.ala.org/oif

ALAAmericanLibraryAssociation

50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL  60611

312.280.4221

800.545.2433 x4221