August 26, 2022 - Collated by Eric Stroshane, OIF News Editor for the Intellectual Freedom Blog

After a brief hiatus for sojourns and vacations, the IF News returns with a round-up of August news and updates.

Highlights

• ALA responds as legislation threatens librarians for offering information on abortion services | Publishers Weekly
• Penn State Berks reference librarian to chair American Library Association committee | BCTV

Censorship

• Smut allegations lead to contentious debate at overflowing library board meeting in Idaho | Union-Bulletin (ID)
• 'It's not about the books': Boundary County library director resigns over intimidation and 'political atmosphere of extremism' | Spokesman-Review (ID)
  • Boundary County Library's future in question | Bonners Ferry Herald (ID)
  • Conservative activists want to ban 400 books from a library -- but they aren't even on shelves | NBC News (ID)
• Livingston Parish Council passes resolution to ask libraries to restrict access to some books | The Advocate
• Anne Frank adaptation, 40 more books pulled form Texas school district | Washington Post (TX)
  • North Texas ISD responds to criticism after pulling and reviewing books community says are inappropriate | CBS DFW (TX)
  • Keller school board to vote on guidelines on library books, instructional materials | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  • Order to remove dozens of challenged books in Texas, including The Bible, is an appalling violation of students' rights | PEN America
  • Texas Superintendent says Anne Frank adaptation will be back on shelves 'very soon' | Philadelphia Jewish Exponent
• Seven of the eight banned library books approved for return to Forsyth school libraries | Forsyth County News (GA)
• Book disputes land suburban Atlanta school district in court | Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
• Louisiana teacher sues conservative group after she was called a 'pedo' and a 'groomer' for opposing censorship in her local library | Insider
• Mead School District to consider banning critical race theory, gender identity books | Spokane Public Radio (WA)
• Listen online: "How efforts to ban books impact public libraries" discussed on WNYC's "The Takeaway" | Library Journal
• 115 books in Collier Schools on LGBTQ+, race, and sex get advisory | Naples Daily News (FL)
• Policies that notify Virginia parents of 'sexually explicit content' in school materials are on the way | Virginian-Pilot
• Florida teacher quits after posters of Black leaders were seized by school district employee | BET
• School librarians in Missouri pull books as new law allows charges for 'explicit' material | St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Battle over LGBTQ books at rural Iowa town's public library | KETV (IA)
• Alamance-Burlington Schools latest district to hear complaints about LGBTQ-themed books | Times-News (NC)
• Parents speak out against 'explicit' school library books on sex, race, 'giant penises' | KOMO News (OK)
• Most efforts to ban books in Texas schools came from 1 politician and GOP pressure, not parents | Houston Chronicle
• Virginia Republicans are testing a new way to ban books and restrict their sales. In the long run, it might just work. | Slate
• Humble ISD parents form group to remove 'dirty books' from school libraries | KTRK (TX)
• CY-Fair ISD students must now get parents' permission to borrow books at school library | Houston Chronicle (TX)
• Dixon Library Board bolsters policy against censorship following call to remove LGBTQ comic books | Sauk Valley (IL)
• Book bans are threatening American democracy. Here's how to fight back. | Washington Post
• Grapevine-Colleyville passes limits on CRT, books, and bathrooms | Dallas Morning News (TX)
  • A North Texas school district now lets teachers reject children's pronouns -- even if parents approve of them | Texas Tribune
  • Texas school district approves policy banning classroom discussions of race and gender, restricts books and pronoun use | Hill
  • 'Don't say trans': Texas school board's new policies spark an outcry | Washington Post
• Book battle burning over sexually explicit items in Abilene's public library system | Abilene Reporter News (TX)
  • Tumult over sexually-explicit library materials spills over to council | Abilene Reporter News (TX)
• 'I am not upset. I'm enraged': Administration asked school librarian to take down banned books display after one parent complained | Daily Dot (TX)
  • Belton Middle School students support viral librarians' banned book display while parents protest | KCEN (TX)
• Controversial book is staying in Iowa high school library | K92.3 (IA)
• Pennridge school board could limit student expression, employee 'advocacy,' books | Bucks County Courier-Times (PA)
• Virginia Beach schools to remove some library books, keep others after complaints | Virginian-Pilot
• Parents can now challenge Virginia Beach school library books, but one board member says that's not enough | Virginian-Pilot
• LGBTQ+ back-to-school event canceled due to safety concerns | KNWA (AR)
• State board rejects appeal that sought to pull 'Gender Queer' from school library | Iowa Capitol Dispatch
• Michigan library faces closure after voters reject funding to protest LGBTQ literature | Just the News
  • US library defunded after refusing to sensor LGBTQ authors: 'We will not ban the books' | Guardian
  • National attention as Jamestown Township library millage fails over LGBTQ books | Holland Sentinel (MI)
  • Library OKs language for second millage attempt after first try fails amid LGBTQ book controversy | MLive.com
• Parents protesting more books at Prince William school libraries | Inside Nova (VA)
• Book chronicling transgender teens to remain on Chesterfield school shelves | Virginia Public Media
• Madison County Schools removes 10 books from general library circulation. Here's why | Clarion-Ledger (MS)
• As efforts to ban books escalate, a new petition is filed against Sarasota's school board | WUSF Public Radio
• Researchers did a deep dive into efforts to restrict critical race theory. Here's what they found. | Chronicle of Higher Education
• ACLU demands excluded documents surrounding Nampa School District book ban | Idaho News 6
• Policy would give NP school superintendent last word on pulling library items | North Platte Telegraph (NE)
• Amid protest at Spartanburg library, SC senator says 'sexual identity' books should be removed | Herald-Journal (SC)
• Central Bucks passes another policy targeting inappropriate content | TAP into Doylestown
  • CBSD policy prohibits class materials with 'sexualized content' | WHYY (PA)
• Board votes to remove books from media centers | Davison Index (MI)
• Stillwater parents speak out against explicit library books in schools | KOKH (OK)
• LGBTQ+ books at the center of library controversies in Michigan & Iowa | Advocate
• Banned books are reinstated to Cadott School Library | Central Wisconsin Broadcasting
• Dixfield-based school board bans gender book from Dirigo library | Portland Press Herald (ME)
• Ashland Public Library debate surrounding books continues at larger venue | Ashland Source (OH)
  • Book brouhaha brings another big crowd to Ashland library meeting | Times Gazette (OH)
• Florida atheist petitions to ban The Bible in Miami-Dade and Broward Schools | Miami New Times (FL)
• Neo-Nazi gathering causes drag queen to cancel story hour in the Seaport | Boston.com (MA)
• Pearland ISD trustee raises concerns about district's policy for inappropriate books | Community Impact (TX)
• State senator threatens to defund libraries over certain books | WMBF (SC)
• School district slaps warning labels on books with LGBTQ characters | LGBTQ Nation (FL)
• As the school year begins, calls for book bans begin to accelerate in Ohio | News5 (OH)
• Polk County schools change policy for library book restrictions | Ledger (FL)
• Alpine School District restricts 52 library books | KSL News (UT)
• With book bans surging nationwide, Eagle County is not untouched | VailDaily.com (CO)
• Virtual LGBTQ+ lecture rescheduled at UL after cyber attack of racial, homophobic slurs | Acadiana Advocate (LA)
• Conroe, Texas, school district to remove 'obscene' books from libraries | National Coalition Against Censorship
• Library purchases paused by Florida Superintendent--to keep media specialists 'safe' | School Library Journal
  • A Florida district declines dictionary donations as it navigates a new book law | NPR
• Horry County board bans CRT despite it not being taught in classrooms | Newsweek
• An Oklahoma school district put a teacher on leave after she shared a link to Brooklyn library's banned book site | Insider
  • An Oklahoma teacher says she resigned over a state law requiring teachers to censor books in classroom libraries | CNN
• Omaha radio interview sets off firestorm for Kearney Public Schools | Kearney Hub (NE)
  • Kearney superintendent pushes back against Innis comments on controversial books | Lincoln Journal Star
• A librarian is being threatened for creating LGBTQ book displays | VICE (LA)
• Buxton-based school board considers removing books about sexuality and gender identity from school libraries | Portland Press Herald (ME)
• The Brooklyn Public Library gives every teenager in the U.S. free access to books getting censored by American schools | Open Culture
• Katy ISD police 'investigated' a library book after complaint alleged it was 'harmful to minors' | Houston Chronicle
• Some Katy ISD parents think more should be done to restrict what books are available to students | Houston Chronicle

Privacy & Cybersecurity

• Kansas schools to parents: You can keep tabs on what your kids check out from our libraries | NPR
• Facebook Gave Nebraska Cops A Teen's DMs So They Could Prosecute Her For Having An Abortion | Forbes
• The vulnerability of student reproductive health data | Inside Higher Ed
• FTC announces advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on commercial surveillance and data security | JD Supra
• Hiding OUT: A case for queer experiences informing data privacy laws | Public Knowledge
• San Diego joins other cities in restricting cops' use of surveillance technology | Engadget
• Phones know who went to an abortion clinic. Whom will they tell? | Wall Street Journal
• The Unintended Consequences of Self-Harm Monitoring Software | Regulatory Review
• Lawmakers demand FBI, DHS, and others reveal purchases of personal data that circumvent warrants | Gizmodo
• Oracle's 'surveillance machine' targeted in US privacy class action | TechCrunch

First Amendment, Free Speech, & Civil Liberties

• DeSantis loses another First Amendment fight, this one over 'Stop Woke Act' | Florida Phoenix
  • Judge blocks DeSantis's 'Stop Woke Act,' says Florida feels like a 'First Amendment upside down | Hill
• Court: Arkansas can’t ban treatment of transgender kids | Associatied Press
• America's censored classrooms | Pen America
• Mothers behind book-banning campaign claim their First Amendment rights are being violated | Flagler Live (FL)
• Defamation suit about election falsehoods puts Fox on its heels | New York Times
• Alabama political group gathering evidence of alleged violations of school gender identity, CRT rules | Alabama.com
• Tulsa Public Schools punishment for alleged CRT violation being used to challenge law | KTUL (OK)
• Schools' policy for checking out controversial library books switches to opt-out only | Lakeland Now (FL)
• 'Is this how we want to be known?' Wellington residents discuss possible book ban | Coloradoan
• Newly elected DA suggested prosecuting librarians for "inappropriate" books | LGBTQ Nation (TN)
• Faced with a rise of extremism within its ranks, the US military has clamped down on racist speech, including retweets and likes | Conversation
• Florida's 15-week abortion ban heads to state supreme court | ACLU
• Idaho supreme court rules that strict abortion ban can take effect | New York Times
• 'I won't be silenced': North Texans testify in Congress about censorship in education | Dallas Observer
• Civil rights groups call for probe into fake ICE university that detained students, seized millions of dollars | Hill
• In Texas, resentment builds as border crackdown ensnares local drivers | NBC News
• Victory! Federal court upholds First Amendment protections for student's off-campus social media post | EFF
• The stabbing of Salman Rushdie renews free speech debates | New York Times
• After Roe, Republicans sharpen attacks on gay and transgender rights | New York Times
• Parents sue Linn-Mar school district over policy supporting trans, non-binary students | Iowa Starting Line
• From critical race theory bans to anti-LGBTQ rules: Will conservatives transform California schools? | San Francisco Chronicle
• ACLU sues over Arizona law limiting filming of police | AP
• Judge throws out parents' lawsuit over school policy to not out trans kids to their parents | LGBTQ Nation

ALA News

• Jim Rettig, 2008-2009 ALA President, Has Died
• PLA awards $1.1 million to 160 public libraries to conduct digital literacy workshops  | ALA News
• ALA Editions Special Report explores Black and African American students’ experiences in libraries
• PLA releases first Staff and Diversity Survey report
• ALA/ARL approve Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity: A Framework
• American Library Association Congratulates Two Past Presidents on Appointment to National Museum and Library Services Board
• ALA Announces the New Jason Reynolds/Simon & Schuster Travel Grant
• ALA Editions Special Report explores cultural humility as a component of DEI efforts
• Roselle Public Library District (IL) awarded 2022 Maureen Hayes Award

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