I am sure that you've seen this news in other channels, but I wanted everyone to have the links to the announcement and the supporting resources:
President Barack Obama published an open letter to librarians this morning, expressing his support for libraries and library workers amidst rising book challenges and subsequent attacks on those defending the right to read. His letter was shared online and across his social media pages (in addition to the social media accounts for Michelle Obama and the Obama Foundation), with a note directing followers to the Unite Against Book Bans website and encouraging support for the campaign.
See links to the social posts below.
President Obama:
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
The Obama Foundation:
Instagram
Twitter
To ensure that the letter would reach its intended recipients, President Obama's team requested that we share the letter with the ALA community. You'll notice that the letter has been amplified across ALA's social media pages and shared via American Libraries: Open Letter from Former President Obama Supports Librarians | American Libraries Magazine
Also, ALA contributed to this exclusive story in the Washington Post this morning, which highlights the recent increase in book bans/challenges and President Obama's efforts on social media (particularly, TikTok and Instagram) to bring awareness to the issue in hopes of rallying support for libraries and library workers.
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Deborah Caldwell-Stone
Director, Office for Intellectual Freedom
American Library Association
dstone@ala.org------------------------------