intellectual freedom Archives | Page 2 of 29 | American Libraries Magazine

2024 LibLearnX Wrap-Up

By Alison Marcotte | February 5, 2024

Authors told inspiring stories and emphasized the importance of having open conversations. Presenters addressed the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), covering different ways librarians have started using the technology, as well as measuring its impact. Speakers tackled critical topics in the profession, including intellectual freedom, community engagement, and leadership and management. A different dialogue Opening … Continue reading 2024 LibLearnX Wrap-Up →

Preparing for Pushback

By Diana Panuncial | January 21, 2024

Goswami presented at “Be Prepared: Program Challenges at Your Public Library,” a January 21 session at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2024 LibLearnX conference in Baltimore. He was joined by Amanda Sand Vazquez, director of Dubuque County (Iowa) Library District and president of the Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT), and Betsy Gomez, assistant director of … Continue reading Preparing for Pushback →

Michele Norris (r) speaks with ALA President Emily Drabinski on stage at the 2024 LibLearnX Opening Session

Six Words, Countless Conversations

By Greg Landgraf | January 20, 2024

She started the Race Card Project with 200 postcards—printed at Kinko’s on her way to taking her kids to soccer practice—inviting whoever picked them up to share their thoughts on race, in exactly six words. She dropped them at a variety of venues while on a book tour. More than 500,000 personal narratives later, the … Continue reading Six Words, Countless Conversations →

2023 Year in Review

January 2, 2024

Another record year for book challenges Preliminary data from the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) through August 31 showed a 20% increase in reported book challenges for 2023—surpassing the record set in 2022. The data also showed an increase in challenges that targeted multiple titles, with libraries in 11 states receiving challenges that included 100 or … Continue reading 2023 Year in Review →

Farmers for Libraries sign in support of Columbia County Rural Library District

Referenda Roundup 2023: Campaign Stories

By Ryan Ireland | January 2, 2024

Overall, library measures across the US continue to pass at a high rate. However, in many communities, the discourse over what materials can be held in certain sections of their libraries has escalated to people introducing ballot measures seeking to defund, shut down, or weaken the library’s authority. Tried and true campaign messaging, like touting … Continue reading Referenda Roundup 2023: Campaign Stories →

Newsmaker: Ali Hazelwood

By Diana Panuncial | January 2, 2024

What is the inspiration behind your new book, Bride? Paranormal romance raised me. This book is very much an homage to Nalini Singh, J. R. Ward, Kresley Cole, and Christine Feehan. I read all their books when I was a teenager, and I love them so much. Most of their books have a nugget of … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ali Hazelwood →

Banned Books Week 2023: Let Freedom Read, featuring the Uncensored Library in Minecraft

Unbanned

By Greg Landgraf | October 3, 2023

Libraries and schools nationwide are working overtime to repel an unprecedented level of attacks on the freedom to read. Vigorous debate, advocacy, and coalition-building remain the backbone of the fight against book banning. But some libraries, groups, and individuals have recently taken innovative approaches to ensure information access for all. Books Unbanned is one of … Continue reading Unbanned →

Banned Books Week 2023: Let Freedom Read featuring Da'Taeveyon Daniels

Newsmaker: Da’Taeveyon Daniels

By Greg Landgraf | October 1, 2023

The 2023 Banned Books Week youth honorary chair spoke with American Libraries about the power of young activists, the importance of expressing identity authentically, and what gives him hope in challenging times. What does it mean to you to be chosen as the youth honorary chair of Banned Books Week, especially as the US is … Continue reading Newsmaker: Da’Taeveyon Daniels →

Banned Books Week 2023: Let Freedom Read featuring Books Unbanned program

By the Numbers: Banned Books Week 2023

By Megan Bennett | October 1, 2023

Banned Books Week takes place Oct. 1–7 1,269 Number of book challenges documented in 2022 by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). This is nearly double the number reported in 2021 and the highest number of book ban attempts since OIF started compiling this data more than 20 years ago. The 2022 … Continue reading By the Numbers: Banned Books Week 2023 →

Episode 87: Protecting the Right to Read

Call Number Podcast: Protecting the Right to Read

September 11, 2023

In Episode 87, Call Number looks at how libraries and library workers are on the front lines defending intellectual freedom. First, American Libraries Associate Editor and Call Number host Diana Panuncial speaks with Peter Coyl, immediate past president of the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and director and CEO of Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library. They … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Protecting the Right to Read →

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

The Good Fight

By Tracie D. Hall | 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 →

ALA Announces Steps to Support LGBTQIA+ Library Workers

August 9, 2023

The American Library Association reaffirms its unwavering commitment to upholding the values of equity and inclusivity within libraries nationwide. In response to recent concerns surrounding discriminatory practices faced by LGBTQIA+ library workers, ALA stands united in support of these dedicated professionals, advocating for a workplace free from prejudice and discrimination. Discrimination against library workers based … Continue reading ALA Announces Steps to Support LGBTQIA+ Library Workers →

Latest Library Links

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Melissa Brachfeld writes: “Imagine the frustration of a scholar who, after traveling thousands of miles to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, must wait hours to access a single cardboard box that may or may not contain the specific materials they might be seeking. The 43 National Archives and Records Administration facilities contain over 10 billion pages, most of which have not been digitized. It can feel like searching for a historical needle in a very large haystack. Researchers at the University of Maryland, with assistance from information experts from Japan, are working to offer digital solutions to this dilemma.”

University of Maryland: Maryland Today, Oct. 17
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Sarah Wendell writes: “It seems there is some artificial intelligence (AI) weirdness with audiobook narration on OverDrive, and the narrator is only part of the story. On October 14, librarian Robin Bradford posted on Bluesky that she’d purchased an AI audiobook for her library system and she was really upset about it. Over 100 titles by AI ‘narrators’ were in their catalog, and Robin was having trouble finding indications that the authors themselves are real? Interesting.”

Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Oct. 21
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Kelly Jensen writes: “I’ve written about how book bans weren’t about the books specifically. They’re about the ways those books can be used as a tool to do a lot more damage and they’re one arm of a many-tentacled approach in the march toward authoritarianism. The argument is straightforward: if you would not have purchased the ‘inappropriate’ material in the first place, then you would not need to spend all of this money on the process of reviewing the material. Taxpayer money is at stake and poorly stewarded from start to finish. It’s a circular argument.”

Book Riot, Oct. 18
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Bennett Attaway, Elliott Bowen, and Rebecca Norlander write: “As the evaluator for ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities initiative, we’ve been analyzing grantees’ reports to learn about the partnerships they forged while planning and implementing their projects. Most first-round grantees have finished their projects, and reports from 187 grantees have been made available for analysis.” The authors also analyzed how grantees overcame challenges connected to their projects, and spoke to library patrons with disabilities to learn their perspectives on grantee projects. Applications for the third round of grants are open through December 11.

Programming Librarian, Oct. 15, 18, 22
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Forty-six books (23 fiction, 23 nonfiction) have been selected for the longlist for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, cosponsored by Booklist and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) and funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. A six-title shortlist, with three fiction and three nonfiction titles, will be announced November 12, and the fiction and nonfiction medal winners will be announced at RUSA’s Book and Media Awards livestreaming event, to be held January 26 during ALA’s 2024 LibLearnX Conference in Phoenix.

Booklist, Oct. 22
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Chance Townsend writes: “The Internet Archive can’t catch a break. Just a day after the Internet Archive posted the restoration of its Wayback Machine and other services on its blog, the site has gone dark again. It’s another frustrating setback for users who rely on the digital library’s vast resources, though details on who is causing this new disruption are still unclear. At this point, it looks like this is the fourth cyberattack on the Internet Archive since the beginning of October.”

Mashable, Oct. 22
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Faith Bugenhagen writes: “Conroe (Tex.) Independent School District’s self-described ‘mama bear’ trustees’ attempt to block books they deem inappropriate from returning to library and classroom shelves proved unsuccessful October 15. Revisions [to the district’s book policies], which passed on a 4–2 vote, now clearly define that removed titles that bypassed the formal reconsideration process can undergo a formal review process if their removals are challenged. ‘If we trust parents to review books that are being pulled, then we trust parents to review books that are being asked to go into the schools,’ Skeeter Hubert, Conroe ISD board president, said.”

Chron (Houston), Oct. 16

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