Library and Academic Institution Movements & the Law

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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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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...

The White House has ordered thousands of government web pages to be taken down over the past month, leaving virtually no trace of some federal agencies’ policies regarding critical topics such as sexual orientation, January 6 cases and discrimination.

The Wayback Machine is helping preserve the record of government websites before they were changed by the Trump administration. CBS News Confirmed's Rhona Tarrant reports.

The American Bar Association will temporarily suspend enforcement of its diversity and inclusion standard for law schools.

This is "The Lydia R. Otero Papers at Special Collections" by University of Arizona Libraries on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people…

A series of bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in state agencies, colleges and universities are circulating through the Legislature as Republican lawmakers look to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order ending DEI programs.

The AHA has sent a letter to President Trump regarding his dismissal of the Archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen J. Shogan.

The EveryLibrary Institute is collecting and analyzing polling and surveys about book bans, anti-access legislation, and the perception of libraries/librarians to help advocates quickly find and interpret results.

“Two is one, one is none.” This military adage, typically attributed to the US Navy Seals, advises that one should always have a backup plan, in the event that something inevitably fails or goes wr…

There is a lot of interest (with good reason) these days in data preservation and web archiving.  Two of the many projects getting some well-deserved attention are the End of Term Web Archive and the recently announced Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab Data.gov Archive. Another project that’s also been getting a lot of attention […]

NALP's annual Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms finds slow progress in the legal profession's 'fragile' pipeline of diverse talent.

"The debate over campus sexual violence is more heated than ever, but hardly anyone knows what actually happens inside Title IX offices. On the Wrong Side provides the first comprehensive account of the inner workings of the secretive Title IX system. Drawing on a yearlong study of survivors, perpetrators, and the administrators who oversaw their cases, sociologist Nicole Bedera exposes the structures that predictably punish survivors who come forward in the service of protecting-or even rewarding-their perpetrators. In doing so, she reveals that the system tasked with ending gender inequality on campus only intensifies it, upending survivors' lives and threatening the degrees that brought them to college in the first place. Equally heartbreaking and optimistic, On the Wrong Side makes it easy to imagine life-changing interventions for the next generation of students by proposing specific solutions to the structural problems of Title IX. Bedera proves that ending sexual violence is within our grasp-and dares us to be courageous enough to take action"--

Challenges to nonbook materials -- such as displays, social media posts, reading lists, and programs -- are on the rise. What should libraries do in the face of these attacks?

On July 17, 2024, we noticed a posting from Wisblawg which stated in part that “In recent months web developers and SEO experts have noted significant changes in Google’s Indexing practices ...

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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Library Association (ALA) applauds the Biden-Harris Administration’s steps announced today to address the rise in book bans and other attacks on LGBTQIA+ Americans. In a fact sheet released today, the White House announced that the Department of Education will appoint a new coordinator to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students, among other steps to protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ Americans.

As seems to be the new normal, there is a lot happening in the news (*gestures vaguely around*). It’s easy to focus on a few issues at the expense of others or to get overwhelmed and check out enti…

National Library Week is April 23-29, 2023. This national annual observance celebrates the contributions of libraries and their staff to their communities and greater society. This year's theme is "There's More to the Story" - a reminder that while libraries are full of stories on their shelves, they are more than their collections of books.

This week marks Banned Books Week, celebrated annually at the end of September to honor our freedom to read and the importance of free access to information, whether or not we personally agree with it. Join us as we explore the history of banned books.