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 […]

Nearly 60 days into his second term in office, Trump followed through on his campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education. Now it’s up to Congress to decide if the agency will be abolished entirely.

Attacking colleges and universities has reverberations far beyond campuses.

A federal judge says Iowa for now cannot continue to enforce part of its book ban law. The decision Tuesday gives major publishers that sued the state their latest temporary reprieve.

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform

The AAUP is a nonprofit membership association of faculty and other academic professionals. Headquartered in Washington, DC, we have members and chapters based at colleges and universities across the country. Since our founding in 1915, the AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in this country's colleges and universities. We define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, advance the rights of academics, particularly as those rights pertain to academic freedom and shared governance, and promote the interests of higher education teaching and research. AAUP chapters at campuses across the country work to advance the mission of the AAUP through advocacy, organizing and, in some cases, collective bargaining. In some states, state conferences support chapters and work on state level issues. Our sister organization, the AAUP Foundation, is a public charity; it funds, through its grant-making process, the charitable and educational purposes of the AAUP, including support for academic freedom and quality higher education.

Americans of Conscience Checklist is an email checklist for democracy, voting access, equality for ALL and good news for the American people.

Earlier this month, the U of A removed references to DEI from its website. Now more than 1,500 students, faculty, and staff have signed a petition questioning the elimination of the DEI language.

Making decisions about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in today’s landscape is complex. Leaders face legal uncertainty, reputational concerns, financial risks, workforce tensions, and operational challenges—and without a structured way to assess these risks, fear and indecision take over. That’s why our Decision Scientists created the DEI Risk Assessment Tool—a data-driven, structured approach to help leaders separate real business threats from hypothetical fears and make informed, strategic decisions about their DEI efforts

"Creating a Seat at the Table is an edited collection that compiles the experiences of eighteen women as they navigate their way through the male-dominated spaces of law school and the legal profession. Hear from women from different generations and areas of the law--big and small law firms, legal aid, government and politics, the judiciary, in-house positions, administrative agencies. The authors discuss a multitude of issues they've faced in their careers, including the compound effects of discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, or disability as well as gender. The stories presented here are inspirational at times and discomforting at others. Creating a Seat at the Table shows that much has been done to advance women in law but also highlights that much remains to be done."--

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an order lifting the nationwide injunction on President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting (DEI) programs.

In one of his latest executive orders, President Trump ordered big cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is the only federal agency that provides funds to libraries.

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.

Feinberg Series Panel with Joe Berry and Diana Vallera moderated by Cedric de LeonIn recent decades campuses have relied more and more on contingent instruct...

A Feinberg Series Panel with Ellen Schrecker, Jesse Hagopian and Paul OrtizReactionary politicians, school boards, and well-funded private entities are wagin...

Feinberg Series Address by Dr. Timothy K. EatmanHow do the legacies of slavery and colonialism continue to constrict possibilities for Black and Indigenous c...

2024-25 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series Keynote Address by Dr. Davarian L. Baldwin, Distinguished Professor of American Studies, Trinity College...

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.

Columbia University had $400 million in federal grants canceled after the Trump administration said the school failed to protect Jewish students.

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There are currently more than 30 bills across the U.S. targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at public colleges.

Proponents point to historic highs in book ban attempts, largely targeting people of color, women and LGBTQ+ communities. Opponents argue it should be up to the parents.

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This document is the result of a year of work and collaboration by the Trans Metadata Collective (TMDC; https://transmetadatacollective.org/), a group of dozens of cataloguers, librarians, archivists, scholars, and information professionals with a concerted interest in improving the description and classification of trans and gender diverse people in GLAMS (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Special Collections). The Collective’s primary goal was to develop a set of best practices for the description, cataloguing, and classification of information resources as well as the creation of metadata about trans and gender diverse people, including authors and other creators

What has—and hasn’t—changed in the legal landscape.

Policies in academic libraries, whether formal or informal, external or internal, carry high levels of importance for the functioning of the library. …

Since the start of the new Trump administration, hundreds of federal data sets and government websites have gone offline without warning, sometimes returning...