Countering Censorship

Across the country, book bans and attempted bans have soared to the highest levels in decades. Public and school-based libraries have been inundated with complaints from community members and conservative activists.

The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has released new data documenting book challenges throughout the United States, finding that challenges of unique titles surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022 numbers, reaching the highest level ever documented by ALA. Read the full announcement. OIF documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship, more than the previous two years combined (2,571 in 2022; 1,651 in 2021), as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023.

This webinar discusses the harmful effects of book bans and curriculum limitations and what role the law can play in combating them.

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in around the world.

Court Ruling Affirms Preliminary Injunction Barring Unconstitutional Book Rating Requirements in Favor of the Coalition of Texas Bookstores, National Booksellers, Authors, and Publishers The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today affirmed the preliminary injunction of the “Reader Act” (formerly HB 900) granted by Judge Alan D. Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin

They care deeply and can't be fired. Retired librarians are bringing experience and passion to the cause of intellectual freedom. With advocacy skills training and opportunities to mentor, retirees could become even more powerful assets.

Librarians in at least three states are asking the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to intervene after they were fired for refusing to ban books.

Some librarians who've been fired as they take a stand against discrimination and banning books are turning to a federal civil-rights enforcement agency for help.

Using generative artificial intelligence to comply with book bans will further threaten free speech.

In the Past and Present, They’ve Fought Book Bans and Censorship.

The law goes into effect immediately.

What happens when large language models are asked to provide justifications for book bans? Do the same built-in guardrails that prevent them from generating ...

BookmarkED claims to help schools and parents navigate book bans. But where and how the app gets is information is a secret.

A library in rural Southeast Washington could be the first in the nation to close over a fight about removing books. The debate revolves around a group of books in the library’s kids and young adult sections that some residents say aren’t age-appropriate. Seattle Times reporter David Gutman is here to explain how things got to this point, with some help from life-long Dayton resident John Hutchens.

If supporters won't show up to that Tuesday night meeting, the censors win.

From the Des Moines Register: The small farming community of Alta in northwest Iowa barely has 2,000 residents. The elementary school that shares its name has fewer than 300 students. Neither is big enough to have a quality library on its own. So for the last 20 years, the two have operated a library together, […]

No longer are just books under fire, but also the library administrators, teachers and long-beloved librarians who are defending them.

In a new report,  Booklash: Literary Freedom, Online Outrage, and the Language of Harm, PEN America warns that social media blowback and societal outrage are imposing new moral litmus tests on books and authors, chilling literary expression and fueling a dangerous trend of self-censorship that is shrinking writers' creative freedom and imagination.

The campaign encourages people to get involved in efforts to protect libraries from book bans, and tools to help them do that. It comes as public libraries in Michigan and across the country are facing growing organized efforts to ban books some people object to, especially books that deal with themes like racism, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Discussion Dens are consistently among my favorite programs at the AALL Annual Meeting, and Leslie Street’s Book Bans, Academic Freedom, and the Academic Law Library discussion was truly a highligh…

Betsy Gomez moderated a panel of librarians in "Libraries and the Challenges They Face" post-pandemic in countering book bans.

A federal judge in Fayetteville on Saturday temporarily blocked enforcement of two provisions of Act 372, a new state law on library materials, days before the law was scheduled to take effect on Tuesday.

I wrote a letter thanking librarians across the country for everything they’re doing to protect our freedom to read.

Two Los Angeles County supervisors will propose Tuesday that the county library system make its eBooks available to all California teens and residents.

Originally issued in 1953, the Freedom to Read Statement is just as important 70 years later. We invite all to sign onto the newly affirmed statement.

Funding will expand ALA’s intellectual freedom initiatives amid record number of book challenges CHICAGO (June 22, 2023) — The American Library Association (ALA) will distribute $1 million to support and expand intellectual freedom initiatives as the nation grapples with rising censorship challenges and seeks a greater array of resources to protect the right to read. ALA will use the funds to provide a major boost for its current efforts to support its members, library workers and libraries everywhere, as well as the communities they serve.

Tina Castelan took over as head librarian at the Llano Library last December. This month, she said she submitted her resignation to Library Director Amber Milum. On Monday, Castelan said she was as…

City leaders have declined speaking with the media about these matters but documents said a move to privatize the library was decided in an effort to help save money.