Library and Academic Institution Movements & the Law

We will continue to update this roundup as we learn of additional statements.  Latest Additions (Last Update: 9:00am; March 27, 2025) Most Recent Addition Bolded Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) iFederation Lyrasis Sen. Jack Reed Leads Bipartisan Effort to Preserve Support for Public Libraries & Museums ALA Applauds Bipartisan Opposition To Attempt To Eliminate […]

And then they came for the libraries. On March 14, the Trump Administration promulgated an executive order that, as the American Library Association (ALA) describes it, “calls for the el…

An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries.

We must face whatever threats come our way by showing up together—library workers and public supporters in our communities—to advocate for our patrons, our profession, and our core values.

ALA's success depends on the library community's collective efforts to advocate for policies that positively impact patrons and the ability of libraries to serve them effectively. We hope you will use these resources in your advocacy work at home.

Patty Hector lost job after being targeted by campaign urging restriction of books with race and LGBTQ+ themes

Libraries are now reporting more aggressive, targeted, and organized First Amendment audits than in years past.

Democrat Rhode Island lawmakers on Wednesday promoted a suite of bills motivated by the Freedom to Read movement — an assertion of libraries’ right to hold controversial books, amid an ongoing culture clash over the written word.

Both the Indiana and Iowa State Legislatures have introduced legislation regarding criminally charging libraries and librarians over “inappropriate” material. These bills are closely related to widespread book challenges occurring at schools and public libraries across the nation, with people trying to remove books that address certain topics relating to gender, sexuality, and race from library collections. In many cases there is already a clear process for reconsidering materials in a collection, so how do legal defenses play a role in this and what do the bills change?

The American Library Association and the Sustainable Libraries Initiative have announced the new National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and created an implementation guide to help libraries incorporate climate action locally into strategic and facility plans.

On the IFLA-L email list, Loida Garcia-Febo, chair of the IFLA Management of Library Associations, shared a link to the recording of a free webinar she moderated in March titled Bridging the Gap: In Support of Women in Librarianship—A Conversation With ALA Presidents.