The Freedom to Read Foundation and the American Association of School Librarians have joined the Association of University Presses, Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Freedom to Learn Advocates in filing an amicus curiae brief that supports the request by the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and two Texas …
Booksellers sue over Texas law requiring them to rate books for appropriateness
Texas Tribune announces two Texas bookstores and three national bookseller associations file suit over House Bill 900, which requires private booksellers to rate books on appropriateness, and bans “sexually explicit” material from libraries.
The record number of book challenges we’re reporting today are not the result of a parent filing authentic requests for reconsideration. Overwhelmingly, we’re seeing groups and individuals at library board meetings demand the removal of long lists of books obtained from organized censorship groups who share these lists on social media.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
I know that library workers of all types take seriously the fundamental mission to enhance and provide access to information for all. We understand that at our very core, we are an equity-based profession - one that might not exist if someone were to suggest it today.
Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada, American Library Association President 2022-2023
Let history show of this period that librarians and the writers whose works they protect from being removed or erased, were on the frontlines in upholding our democracy.
Tracie D. Hall, ALA Executive Director upon accepting the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, 73rd National Book Awards, November 16, 2022.
ALA Fund helps librarians facing threats, challenges and wrongful termination.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom’s Director says “We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges . . . In my twenty years with ALA, I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.” For those librarians across the country who are faced with these challenges and threats, financial support can be found …
The Constitution prohibits public bodies, such as libraries, from discriminating on the basis of viewpoint or censoring materials based on their message. Libraries uphold these Constitutional principles by enabling readers to choose materials representing a variety of ideas, opinions and views. ALA is alarmed by the increasing trend of censorship campaigns directed at libraries around the country. These proposals would strip readers of their freedom to choose and could make it impossible for libraries and librarians to fulfill their legal and professional responsibilities.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director, Office of Intellectual Freedom of ALA in a letter to The Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform
Libraries cannot remain neutral about hate, oppression, censorship.
In the current climate of well-funded campaigns to control what children read, Melanie Huggins, president of the Public Library Association (a division of the American Library Association), is speaking out in Public Libraries Journal Jan/Feb 2022. She shares that in the past, the diversity of a collection served as a library’s primary (and mostly quiet) act of resistance against hate, …