Cass Balzer writes: “Libraries have been experiencing First Amendment audits for several years, but there was an uptick in reported cases in 2021, according to the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). And while the format of these audits is familiar, libraries are reporting more aggressive, targeted, and organized operations than in years past. There is now a clearer mechanism for First Amendment auditors to profit from their videos, either through monetizing YouTube channels or using crowdfunding tools like Patreon and GoFundMe. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of OIF, also notes the potential impact of pandemic-induced shutdowns. ‘We’re living in a time where there is a little more contention over politics, and some of it may be coming from that,’ she says. ‘But there may also be a relationship to the fact that libraries are open again.'”