Every day, library workers provide a vital public function. We are entrusted to serve our communities, and we know that the best way to serve the public good is to welcome everyone into libraries to access accurate information. To answer the call to join public service is to step into the rank of noble professionals … Continue reading Calling All Nations
DuVernay’s credits in film and television include Selma, 13th, Queen Sugar, and When They See Us. Two of her films have been inspired by frequently challenged books: 2018’s A Wrinkle in Time, based on the Newbery Medal–winning title by Madeleine L’Engle, and 2023’s Origin, centering on the life of Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste: The … Continue reading ‘We Have to Work Together’: Action Beyond Banned Books Week
Between January 1 and August 31, 2024, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 414 attempts to censor library materials and services. In those cases, 1,128 unique titles were challenged. In the same reporting period last year, ALA tracked 695 attempts with 1,915 unique titles challenged. Though the number of reports to date has declined … Continue reading ALA Releases Preliminary Data on 2024 Book Challenges
Publishers, authors, librarians, booksellers, national organizations, and other library supporters were among those attending the summit, the third of its kind in ALA’s nearly 150-year history. The last ALA Intellectual Freedom Summit was held in 1953. That summit produced the Freedom to Read Statement, a response to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s attempts to remove reading materials … Continue reading ‘We Are the Majority’
OIF, which began collecting data about censorship attempts in US libraries in 1990—and started observing Banned Books Week in 1982—was formed in 1967 to provide tangible support to library workers as they sought to uphold the intellectual freedom tenets of the Library Bill of Rights and ALA’s Freedom to Read Statement. As high-profile battles with … Continue reading Censorship Throughout the Centuries
September is an exciting time to welcome people into the library as we celebrate Library Card Sign-Up Month and observe Banned Books Week, this year scheduled September 22–28. Since 1982, Banned Books Week has been a critical national program aimed at helping everyone see that all stories belong in libraries. October brings TeenTober literacy and … Continue reading We All Belong
When people asked about the caution tape, she and the other campaign participants had a flier handy with information about their cause. “By the end of the week, there were at least 100 kids at my school who had participated in the caution tape campaign,” she shared. “That’s what allowed us to expand.” Goodman-Bhyat, co-president … Continue reading Leading the Change
Sarah, what made you want to turn your academic research into a comic? Peitzmeier: I do a lot of different types of research on topics like cancer prevention and gender-based violence prevention. But this work on binding has received the most public interest. I’m often getting emails from trans teens who, for example, want to … Continue reading Newsmakers: Maia Kobabe and Sarah Peitzmeier
But here’s one that’s hard to answer: “What’s your favorite library?” When you’ve seen as many amazing libraries as I have, it’s impossible to choose. For example, I’ve met with Jennifer DeCarlo, director of Easton Library in Greenwich, New York, who maintains an onsite fridge with fresh food for those in need. And Chulin Meng, … Continue reading At Our Core
“I have a copy of the Magic School Bus that I might have checked out in 1991 from the library in Sandy Springs,” Sloan said. “It’s somewhere in my mom’s house. If you want to go to Stone Mountain, maybe you can find it. I think I have the fine in my purse if you … Continue reading Protect Yourself
Censorship attempts took center stage again in the 2024 report. The number of unique titles targeted for censorship surged by 65% from 2022 to 2023, reaching the highest levels ever documented by ALA, according to the report. ALA recorded 1,247 attempts to censor materials and services at libraries, schools, and universities in 2023. Of the 4,240 … Continue reading ALA Releases State of America’s Libraries 2024 Report
Growing up in Rajkot, India, I regularly walked nearly an hour to the closest library to check out a book. It was there that I discovered new perspectives and places. My whole world expanded, and my imagination flourished. It didn’t take me long to read the entire children’s section! When my family moved to the … Continue reading Protecting the Equalizers
