[Libs-Or] Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions Intellectual Freedom News - December 2022

[Jennifer Keyser]

Dear Libs-OR Community,

Please enjoy the December edition of Multnomah County Library's Rights,
Responsibilities & Reactions: Intellectual Freedom News. Next month there
will be a special edition of the newsletter focused on privacy and
intellectual freedom.

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions
Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – December 2022

------------------------------

The Oregon Library Association and the Oregon Intellectual Freedom
Committee issued a Statement regarding Crook County Library Treatment of
LGBTQIA Material
<http://ola.memberclicks.net/message2/link/0b908421-05b7-425a-9281-b4cb1ccaed27/1>.
It was in response to a deluge of requests to create a separate section for
LGBTQ materials
<https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/demands-to-label-move-lgbtq-childrens-books-flood-crook-county-library-amid-warnings/article_93f8b900-75af-11ed-9243-8f35d022bd2c.html>
(Bend Bulletin, 8 min). The Crook County library board rejected the
proposal to segregate LGBTQ books
<https://www.opb.org/article/2022/12/09/crook-count-oregon-library-board-rejects-proposal-segregate-lgbtq-books/>
(OPB, 4 min). Learn more about how the debate started in May 2022 with
this interview
of the Crook County Library Director
<https://www.opb.org/article/2022/05/23/central-oregon-elementary-changes-policy-after-parents-raise-concerns-over-books-about-gender-and-race/>
(OPB, 16 min). (censorship)

Attacks on LGBTQ+ communities are becoming more frequent, including drag
queen events targeted by right-wing groups
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/22/proud-boys-keeping-popping-up-anti-lgbtq-events/>
(PBS NewsHour, 8 min) and a ban of books and authors in Russia
<https://www.ibtimes.com/moscow-libraries-start-removing-lgbtq-themed-books-shelves-stores-3643403>
(IB Times, 3 min). The Philadelphia Inquirer finds that the rise in
homophobia, antisemitism and violence comes from the far-right's reaction
<https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/trump-fuentes-right-wing-violence-20221127.html>
to political losses (11 min). The rhetoric especially targets transgender
people
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/us/politics/anti-transgender-lgbtq-threats-attacks.html>
(NY Times, 15 min). Students demonstrate their support of LGBTQ+ peers
<https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/education/2022/12/13/439351/katy-school-students-come-together-as-censorship-of-lgbtq-voices-ramps-up/>
amidst censorship (Houston Public Media, 7 min). How to Combat LGBTQ Book
Bans in Schools
<https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/11/how-to-combat-lgbtq-book-bans-in-schools/>
provides strategies to address censorship (Bucks County Beacon, 7 min). (
diversity, censorship)

Over the past year book bans have been frequently in the news. Texas
Monthly details the impact of recent book challenges and related
legislation on school libraries: The Year We Banned Books
<https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/the-year-we-banned-books/>
(20 min).  The New York Times delves into the numerous conservative
organizations behind book bans
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/books/book-bans-libraries.htmlGroups%20Is%20Fueling%20a%20Surge%20in%20Book%20Bans>
(16 min).  Popular Information looks at one person’s mission to remove
thousands of books from a school library: How to ban 3600 books from school
libraries <https://popular.info/p/how-to-ban-3600-books-from-school>
(Popular information, 18 min). An offshoot to the numerous book ban
campaigns is silent censorship
<https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/11/25/23474136/silent-censorship-books-open-discourse-other-views>
(Chicago Sun-Times, 5 min).  (censorship)

Learn about the strategies used by grassroot organizers groups to fight
calls for censorship
<https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/story/Grassroots-Organizers-Show-how-to-Mount-Censorship-Counterattacks>
(School Library Journal, 10 min) and how a young activist helped start a
student movement to fight censorship
<https://www.seventeen.com/life/a41996468/cameron-samuels-voices-of-the-year-2022/>
(Seventeen, 7 min). We Need Diverse Books <https://diversebooks.org/>
launched a new initiative to combat censorship: Books Save Lives
<https://diversebooks.org/programs/bookssavelives/> (censorship)

Graphic novels remain an easy target for book bans, since they are often
deemed as not substantial or productive reading materials. Read how a
complaint from one parent led to the removal of all graphic novels at a
school library: It Only Takes One Parent to Get All the Graphic Novels
Removed
<https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vnqb/it-only-takes-one-parent-to-get-all-the-graphic-novels-removed-from-a-school-library>
(Vice, 6 min) (censorship, first amendment)

An underlying concern with book bans is access to information, a core tenet
of intellectual freedom and libraries: Libraries: Where Abortion Access and
Book Bans Collide
<https://progressive.org/latest/libraries-abortion-book-bans-collide-alvarez-281122/>
(The Progressive, 5 min). Related is one library’s response to a Supreme
Court decision that made abortion no longer legal in some states: Abortion
Misinformation within Oklahoma City's Metro Library
<https://bookriot.com/metro-library-misinformation/> (Book Riot, 30 min)  (
access, privacy, first amendment)

Vice looks at how disinformation was started and quickly spread on Twitter: We
Are Watching Elon Musk and His Fans Create a Conspiracy Theory About
Wikipedia in Real Time
<https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjk5j7/we-are-watching-elon-musk-and-his-fans-create-a-conspiracy-theory-about-wikipedia-in-real-time>
(9 min). More on disinformation strategies: Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in
criticizing former Twitter safety chief
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-child-porn-qanon/>
(The
Washington Post, 10 min). The New York Times looks at how big tech
companies are seeking specialists to fight disinformation: Sympathy, and
Job Offers, for Twitter’s Misinformation Experts
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/technology/twitter-misinformation-experts-hiring.html>
(11
min). (disinformation)

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies provides an overview to identifying
misleading posts on social media: Don’t be fooled by fake screenshots
<https://www.poynter.org/tfcn/2022/dont-be-fooled-by-fake-screenshots/> (4
min). (disinformation)

Parody and other creative expressions are coming under scrutiny
<https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3750501-no-joke-this-supreme-court-case-could-take-a-big-bite-out-of-the-first-amendment/>
with several prospective Supreme Court cases (The Hill, 7 min). The Onion
quickly jumped into the conversation with a parody brief
<https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-293/242596/20221006144840674_Novak%20Parma%20Onion%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf>.
(first amendment)

Social media shifts and upcoming Supreme Court cases bring to light the
challenges around free speech in digital spaces: The Dark Era at Stake if
Congress Allows Internet Censorship
<https://www.thedailybeast.com/congress-moves-on-internet-censorship-should-not-impinge-on-free-speech-and-first-amendment>
(The Daily Beast, 5 min) and As We Lament Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover, We
Miss the Bigger Problem for U.S. Democracy
<https://msmagazine.com/2022/11/28/twitter-elon-musk-free-speech/> (Ms.
Magazine, 7 min) (first amendment, free speech)

Additional Intellectual Freedom Reading and Resources

ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/ A blog
dedicated to intellectual freedom issues, and includes the Intellectual
Freedom News
<https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/category/intellectual-freedom-news/>.

Oregon Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Toolkit
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/home> (published February 8,
2022). A range of tools and resources relating to IF challenges and
policies created by the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee.

------------------------------

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions is a monthly roundup of Intellectual
Freedom News compiled by the Multnomah County Library Intellectual Freedom
Committee. We welcome comments, feedback and suggestions of articles at
lib.ifc at multco.us.

*Jennifer Keyser *(she/her)
*Policy Coordinator Librarian*
Monday - Friday
971-429-4699
Multnomah County Library
multcolib.org
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