Theresa Chmara, general counsel for ALA’s Freedom to Read Foundation, and Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, dove into some of these cases and the legal arguments underlying them at “Censorship in the Courts: Current Litigation throughout the United States,” a session of ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia. “One … Continue reading The Case for Intellectual Freedom
“We’re trying to uphold the tenets of intellectual freedom, we’re trying to have diverse collections, we’re trying to make sure people see themselves in the library,” said Kimberly B. Knight, director of Virginia Beach (Va.) Public Library. “[Staffers] want us to fight, they want us to stand up.… But we also want to speak strategically, … Continue reading A Delicate Dance
That relief has been a long time coming for Hickson, who retired late last year from her job as media specialist at North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, New Jersey. Just three years earlier, she had been called a pedophile and a pornographer at a public school-board meeting by a group of parents demanding to … Continue reading Banning the Book Bans
The removal was done in transgression of the library board’s book reconsideration policy. The book’s catalog record also vanished. Local media outlets reported that the book was removed by our then-director who, a few weeks into the role, was called into our town first selectman’s office along with the head of the library board and … Continue reading Into the Fray
In response, the American Library Association (ALA), along with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. On April 30, a federal court hearing will rule on ALA’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the further dismantling of IMLS. Meanwhile, censorship attempts persist, IMLS staffers … Continue reading 100 Days into the Trump Administration
While the legality of many of these actions is still being decided by the courts, librarians, archivists, and other information professionals have been working through the confusion to preserve access to information. Below are several examples of the challenges libraries have faced over the past two months and the ways in which librarians and advocates have … Continue reading Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Libraries
New values for challenging times On January 21, ALA Council approved five new Core Values • access • equity • intellectual freedom and privacy • the public good • sustainability Council cochairs Erin Berman and Sara Dallas explained the reasons for the changes: “This is a crucial moment for our profession, as our library community … Continue reading 2024 Year in Review
“I don’t know of another institution that has the capability to make such a diverse set of people feel dignified and welcome when they walk in the door,” Klinenberg told attendees at the outset of United for Libraries Virtual, a three-day virtual conference hosted by United for Libraries (UFL) July 30–August 1, 2024. Klinenberg’s latest … Continue reading Into the Future
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
Texas House Bill 900, which would have restricted materials in school libraries and required vendors to assign book ratings based on so-called appropriateness before selling them to schools, had just been signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June and was set to go into effect September 1, 2023. (On September 19, the bill was temporarily blocked … Continue reading Seeking Sanctuary
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) documented attempts to censor 4,240 unique book titles in schools and libraries in 2023. The previous record was set in 2022, when 2,571 unique titles were targeted. OIF reported 1,247 demands to censor library books and other materials in 2023, many of which targeted dozens or hundreds of titles … Continue reading Book Challenges Set New Record in 2023
Adlesic is codirector and producer of The ABCs of Book Banning, a 2023 film that has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Short category. Sheila Nevins, famed documentarian and current head of MTV Documentary Films, led the project, and journalist-turned-filmmaker Nazenet Habtezghi also codirected. American Libraries spoke with Adlesic and Habtezghi … Continue reading Newsmakers: Trish Adlesic and Nazenet Habtezghi
