February 25, 2022 - Collated by OIF Staff and News Editor on the Intellectual Freedom Blog

Highlights

Big majorities reject book bans | CBS News poll; "Americans overwhelmingly reject the idea of banning books about history or race. One reason for that: a big majority also say teaching about the history of race in America makes students understand what others went through. Large majorities — more than eight in 10 — don't think books should be banned from schools for discussing race and criticizing U.S. history, for depicting slavery in the past or more broadly for political ideas they disagree with." 

Upcoming Events

• PLA Webinar "Facing the Challenge: Intellectual Freedom in Libraries" on Friday, March 4, 2022 at 1pm CT / 11:00am PT
• ALA Virtual Membership Meeting on Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 1pm CT / 11:00am PT

Censorship

• 'Critical race theory' bans frustrate teachers during Black History Month | NPR
• Some US school systems pause diversity programs amid pushback | FOX2 Detroit
• Texas now requires new charter schools to ensure they won't teach critical race theory | Houston Chronicle
• Nebraska ed board member says books are 'hyper-sexualizing' kids; others say it's a local issue | Omaha World-Herald
• Virginia school forced to apologize for library sign protesting book bans | WRIC ABC 8 News
• NAACP branch pledges to help Haywood chapter in fight against book censorship in schools | MY40
• Amid fear and censorship, Florida school districts are pulling books off shelves in public schools | The 74
• Bixby school board votes to keep 2 controversial books in the libraries | KTUL (OK)
• Bentonville parents complain of explicit material in high school library | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
  • A book-banning flare-up in Bentonville raises a queston: Was it a stand, or a stunt? | Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette
• Parent appeals to ban To Kill A Mockingbird in Columbia County schools | WJBF (GA)
  • 'We do not provide pornography': Columbia County addresses book ban request, rumors | Augusta Chronicle (GA)
• Silver Lake parent: Seventh grade book is 'not appropriate' for middle school | Patriot Ledger (MA)
• Rally for academic freedom: Denton ISD students petition district to keep diverse book titles | Dallas Observer
• Conway School District responds to social media backlash | KATV (AR)
• North Kansas City students stand up against proposed book ban | KHSB (KS)
• Yorktown Schools: 'No determination' made on challenged books | Tap Into Yorktown (NY)
• Proposal to move LGBTQ kids' book sparks censorship fears | Public News Service (AR)
• WCS school board votes to endorse committee's decision on challenged books in elementary schools | Williamson Home Page
• Lafayette library board cuts input from librarians in book banning review | Acadiana Advocate (LA)
  • Attempts to ban some library books failed. Now a rule change could make it easier | Daily Advertiser (LA)
  • Residents concerned library board change could suppress knowledge | KATC (LA)
  • Commentary: We've got to stop trying to ban books | KLPEL (LA)
• Oklahoma's Attorney General is investigating whether 51 books violate state obscenity law | The Frontier (OK)
  • Oklahoma attorney general's office reviewing 54 school library books for alleged obscenity | Oklahoman
  • Oklahoma Attorney General drops obscenity investigation of school books | The Frontier
• Group carrying Nazi flag interrupts reading in Rhode Island | New York Times
• McKinney ISD couple challenges 282 books for removal within district; parents sound off at fiery board meeting | WFAA (TX)
• Granbury, Texas, school district removes 130 books while rewriting book review process | National Coalition Against Censorship
• Statewide debate over what books are in school libraries arrives in Westlake | Austin American-Statesman (TX)
• Library district draws crowd over censorship | Crested Butte News (CO)
• WPS elects to keep challenged LGBTQ+ books on school library shelves | Wicked Local (MA)
• Parents in North Smithfield question presence of 'inappropriate' books in public school libraries | Northern Rhode Island News on the Web
• 'Inappropriate, not suitable:' Duval County schools gives reasons why these books have been banned | First Coast News (FL)
• Hadley’s Crusade – A Manhattan Beach Councilperson takes aim at two books | Easy Reader & Peninsula (CA)
• Hastings school board debates censorship after board members remove books from sale | KMSP (MN)

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• California State Senator Bob Wieckowski introduces Biometric Information Privacy Act to Increase Consumer Protection | Sierra Sun Times
• Forget state surveillance. Our tracking devices are now doing the same job | Guardian
• Meet the secretive surveillance wizards helping the FBI and ICE wiretap Facebook and Google users | Forbes

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

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• Texas Governor Greg Abbott orders state agencies to investigate gender-transitioning procedures as child abuse | CBS News
• NJ appeals court sides with transgender man | Out In Jersey
• Trump can be sued for role in January 6 attack on Capitol, federal judge rules | CBS News
• Sarah Palin v. New York Times case highlights First Amendment rights for journalists | News @ The U
• Red states are remaking the civil liberties landscape | CNN
• SCOTUS to assess the scope of public employers' First Amendment obligations | Husch Blackwell

Academic Freedom & Campus Speech

• 'A new low' in attacks on academic freedom | Inside Higher Ed
• College faculty are fighting back against state bills on critical race theory | Washington Post
• South Carolina's effort to cancel professor tenure echoes the 1950s | Washington Post
• 'A naked attack': Texas lieutenant governor pledges to end tenure for all new hires | Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Texas A&M faculty senate fights back against Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick attacks on tenure, critical race theory | Houston Chronicle

Legislation

• California State Senator Bob Wieckowski introduces Biometric Information Privacy Act to Increase Consumer Protection | Sierra Sun Times
• Indiana Senate guts CRT-inspired bill, but finds little support for what's left | Indianapolis Star
• Senators propose the Kids Online Safety Act after five hearings with tech execs | TechCrunch
• Education committees clash over legitimacy of bill of rights legislation for Kansas parents | Kansas Reflector
• Lawmakers are pushing to muzzle teachers. Kansans who love unvarnished fact must push back. | Kansas Reflector
• Florida senate eyes changes on school books, board term limits | Orlando Sentinel
  • School boards bill put on hold | CW34
  • GOP lawmakers are creating an education system of censorship cloaked in "individual freedom" | Florida Phoenix
• Georgia Senate passes Parents' Bill of Rights, which prohibits teaching 'divisive concepts' | Savannah Morning News
• Arizona looks to protect cops from that pesky First Amendment | Above the Law
• Proposed bill aims to put some guardrails around the use of facial recognition technology | Denver Channel 7 (CO)
• Alabama educators oppose compromise CRT bill that would ban 'divisive' concepts from classrooms | AL.com

Social Media

• A far-right figure is already accusing Trump's Truth Social of censoring him | Daily Dot

Access

• A new push to censor Internet pornography could harm marginalized groups | Washington Post

Copyright

• U.S. figure skaters and NBC sued for copyright infringement over song used in Olympic routine | People
• The US Copyright Office says an AI can't copyright its art | Verge
• A new push to censor Internet pornography could harm marginalized groups | Washington Post

Information Literacy & Disinformation

• Disinformation for profit: scammers cash in on conspiracy theories | Guardian
• These 5 disinformation studies changed the way we think about fake news | CODA

International News

• Canadian Civil Liberties Association to sue federal government over Emergencies Act | CBC
• Over two thirds of UK social scientists warn their academic freedom is under threat, new study shows | FE News
• Sweden battles disinformation on 'kidnappings' of Muslim children | France 24
• A Chinese news outlet accidentally leaked its own censorship instructions on Russia-Ukraine coverage: Report | Business Insider
• The Russian disinformation war is underway | NPR

Around the Web

• From book bans to 'Don't Say Gay' bill, LGBTQ kids feel 'erased' in the classroom | NBC News
• Opinion - The GOP is using 'parental rights' to end public education as we know it | Flagler Live
• Op-Ed: The recent onslaught of book bans is a strategic part of wider attacks on our democracy | Los Angeles Times
• Patrick W. O'Neil: Book-banning surge in America has authoritarian underpinning | Fayetteville Observer
• John Oliver addresses debate over teaching critical race theory in schools: "Very loud and very, very dumb" | Hollywood Reporter
• What is critical race theory & how is the fight to ban it impacting Black authors? | Okayplayer
• How the new banned books panic fits into America's history of school censorship | Vox
• Everything you need to know about the rise in efforts to ban books from libraries | Baptist News Global
  • Faithful discomfort: Why white Americans need to be offended | Baptist News Global
• African Americans say the teaching of Black history is under threat | Washington Post
• Painting Black history in the time of censorship for young readers: A conversation with Nikkolas Smith, illustrator of 1619 Project's Born on the Water children's book | The 74
• Every time we ban a book, we diminish ourselves | Toronto Star
• As self-appointed censors ban books, let's praise librarians, defenders of the written word | Globe and Mail
• Best-selling author from Chesapeake Kwame Alexander talks book ban challenges, project with Lebron James | WAVY
• What students are saying about banning books from school libraries | New York Times
• No holds barred: Comment periods at public meetings give platform to outright falsehoods | Las Vegas Sun News
• Jeffersonville Library adds an LGBTQ+ section | LEO Weekly
• Frenzy won't stop kids from reading 'contraband.' They will just get creative. | Coulumbus Dispatch
• To those who want to ban books: Why are you so afraid of ideas? | Boston Globe
• Book bans and 'gag orders': the US schools crackdown no one asked for | Guardian
• Minecraft has a library of texts censored by governments | Medical Market News
• Misused words surround book banning issue | The Ledger
• American Self-Censorship | New York Times
• I'm offended my book isn't considered offensive enough to be banned too | Washington Post Magazine
• W-L students give away books they say could be 'banned' under new bill | ARL now
• Pikes Peak Library CEO resigns after City Council appoints conservative board members | KRDO
• Racist, anti-Semitic flyers found in books at campus library | The Derrick (MA)

ALA News

• American Library Association (ALA) opens registration for the 2022 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C.
• 2022 ALA/Core Elections Open in March
• AASL signs letter calling a halt to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation
• ALA, Leading Digital Inclusion Advocates Launch Airwaves for Equity Coalition
• AASL School Leader Collaborative Call For Nominations

eLearning

• Ageism and the Library Workplace webinar to be held March 11
• PLA responds to growing intellectual freedom challenges with virtual townhall
• United for Libraries Learning Live to host roundtable discussions for Boards/Trustees (March 8) and Friends/Foundations (March 15)
• More eLearning opportunites

Publishing

• Academic libraries supporting students academically, socially, and financially
• Rachel Scott Chosen as New LRTS Editor
• Michael Fernandez Appointed as New LRTS Assistant Editor
• New from ACRL - “Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”

Awards & Grants

• Prince receives 2022 ALSC Bechtel Fellowship
• Montrose Regional Library awarded Baker & Taylor/YALSA Collection Development Grant

More ALA News

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

To sign up to receive future issues of Intellectual Freedom News, click here.
To opt out of receiving future issues of Intellectual Freedom News, click here.
To unsubscribe from all ALA emails, click here.
To review ALA's privacy policy, click here.