Social Movements & the Law

UW Magazine | University of Washington

American Libraries travels through time to outline our country’s history of censorship—and those who have defended the right to read.

After Amanda Jones got death threats for speaking out against censorship, she sued her attackers and wrote a memoir

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.

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

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.

The law goes into effect immediately.

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

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

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.

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.

With a lawsuit filed last week Pen America, Penguin Random House, authors, and parents began fighting book bans. Other publishers should help.

Local librarians face backlash, as the number of unique book challenges in Massachusetts quadrupled between 2021 and 2022.

EveryLibrary applauds the Office for Civil Rights at the UD DOE for issuing Title IX and Title VI Resolution Agreement and Finding Letter about the Forsyth County School District's book bans and school library censorship.

The publishing house, five of its authors, parents and an advocacy group allege that removing the books discussing race and LGBTQ people violates the First Amendment.

From colouring books to abolition newspapers and Reader’s Digest magazines, thousands of titles are banned in prisons and jails across the country, often with opaque reasons and with little oversight, Alex Woodward reports

Library boards, school boards and legislatures are becoming battlegrounds in a push to censor books. Communities are fighting back.

CHICAGO — Today, the American Library Association (ALA) kicked off National Library Week with the release of its highly anticipated list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2022 and the State of America’s Libraries Report, which tells the story of how libraries are innovating and adapting to improve the well-being of their communities in the midst of censorship challenges. This year, however, there were multiple books that received the same number of challenges – resulting in the expansion of the list to 13 titles.

Legal experts, librarians and some parents say House Bill 900’s language is so vague and broad that it could ensnare books that are not inappropriate.

A survey by Cilip shows members of the public using increasingly threatening behaviour about the removal of books on empire, race and LGBTQ+ themes