Illustration of an incarcerated individual reading, with a colorful vision of home emerging from the book.

Lighting the Way

November 1, 2023

Betts founded Freedom Reads, an organization that installs 500-book Freedom Libraries in prisons and juvenile detention centers. Horton cofounded Radical Reversal, a program that creates performance and recording spaces in detention centers and correctional facilities, and conducts workshops that provide creative outlets for incarcerated people. American Library Association (ALA) Executive Director Tracie D. Hall interviewed … Continue reading Lighting the Way


A cartoon depiction of a librarian holding a stack of books with a group of protestors behind her.

How We Fight Back

September 1, 2023

All because she spoke at a public library board meeting last year. “I said, ‘Hate and fear have no place in Livingston Parish,’” says Jones. “It was an innocuous speech, a speech on censorship that any librarian would give.” The meeting, which occurred in July 2022, was intended to address general book content at Livingston … Continue reading How We Fight Back


Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"

The Good Fight

September 1, 2023

By February 2020, a month before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, more than 5,500 criminal investigations had been opened in China against health care professionals and journalists accused of “fabricating and deliberately disseminating false and harmful information” about the novel coronavirus. Many were detained and charged with causing fear and hysteria, … Continue reading The Good Fight



Attorney and social media influencer Emily Amick at “Fight Book Bans: Frame the Debate, Fill the Seats, and Create Connections,” a June 25 session at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

Methods for Mobilizing

June 25, 2023

“What Moms for Liberty isn’t doing is advocacy—it’s a takeover,” said Emily Amick, an attorney, social media influencer, and founder of political change nonprofit For Facts Sake. “I want to push you to think bigger about what we’re up against and how to fight it.” Amick was the featured speaker at “Fight Book Bans: Frame … Continue reading Methods for Mobilizing


Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"

Reading for Our Lives

May 1, 2023

I looked out at the crowd and—understanding both the weight of the moment and where the conversation was taking place—I commented on the connection between attempted book banning today and the McCarthy-era attempts at cultural disenfranchisement. The rationale behind these attempts is the same: silencing people who are errantly believed to be aberrations. I said … Continue reading Reading for Our Lives


Amanda Vazquez (left), director at Dubuque County (Iowa) District Library, and Sukrit Goswami (right), director at Haverford Township (Pa.) Free Library, discuss how libraries can protect themselves from challenges at the American Library Association's 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans on January 29.

Same Fight, New Tactics

January 31, 2023

“This is the obstacle we face—and money and time is not something libraries have a lot of,” said Peter Coyl, director and CEO of Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library, at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans on January 29. “If you’re experiencing lots of challenges, it’s possible that it’s something that’s … Continue reading Same Fight, New Tactics


2022 Year in Review

January 3, 2023

Uniting against censorship attempts Organized book challenges continued to proliferate. From January through August, 681 attempts to ban or restrict library materials had been made in the US, with 1,651 unique titles targeted. In response to mounting censorship threats, ALA announced in May its Unite Against Book Bans campaign, a coalition with more than 60 … Continue reading 2022 Year in Review


Under Pressure

January 3, 2023

“We had five books that a conservative community member objected to,” she says, referring to LGBTQ books and titles about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “We have the form to fill out. There’s a process that would work if people would go through it.” Instead, McMahon says, the patron did not file … Continue reading Under Pressure


Photo of ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall. Text says "From the Executive Director by Tracie D. Hall"

Librarianship as Resistance

September 1, 2022

In the present age of neo-censorship—which journalist Rohan Jayasekera describes as “a kind of control on opinion that moves beyond the traditional model” (that of the state, the law, and the secret police) to now include “big business, courtrooms, schools, newsrooms [that] block ideas out of habit, or prejudice, or fear”—the contemporary answer to Juvenal’s … Continue reading Librarianship as Resistance


Photo of author Art Spiegelman sitting with arms crossed on table

Newsmaker: Art Spiegelman

June 1, 2022

Spiegelman spoke with American Libraries about book banning, how comic books are used as teaching tools, and the importance of libraries in his life. The recent ban of Maus in Tennessee isn’t its first challenge. What did you think when you heard the news? Well, this was the most prominent. [And] this was much more, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Art Spiegelman


Patty Wong

Challenging Times

March 26, 2022

“The freedom to read and the fight against book bans is something we’re all thinking about a lot these days,” said American Library Association (ALA) President Patricia “Patty” M. Wong in her opening remarks at the March 24 Big Ideas session. She reported that book challenges had more than doubled from 2020 to 2021. But … Continue reading Challenging Times