[Libs-Or] Multnomah County Library's Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – October 2025

Fri Oct 31 17:40:15 PDT 2025

Dear Oregon Library Community,

The October edition of the Intellectual Freedom Newsletter from Multnomah
County Library is now available (PDF version attached). If you crave more
news, there is always the ALA IF Blog <https://www.oif.ala.org/> that
rounds up a variety of articles.

Thanks for all you do to support intellectual freedom!

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions
Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – October 2025
------------------------------
Banned Books Week and censorship articles:

   -

   For the People captures insights on how and why it matters to advocate
   for libraries
   <https://librariesforthepeople.substack.com/p/banned-books-week-2025-i-did-it-you>
   and offers history of public libraries
   <https://www.librariesforthepeople.org/resources?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#good-library-zine>
   is available as a zine
   -

   By the Numbers: Banned Books Week 2025
   <https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2025/10/07/by-the-numbers-banned-books-week-2025/>
(American
   Libraries, 6 min)
   -

   Judging books by their covers
   <https://theconversation.com/many-book-bans-could-be-judging-titles-mainly-by-their-covers-255807>
   results in book bans  (Conversation, 6 min)
   -

   Banned Books Week displays gets banned in Hawaii
   <https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/10/hawaii-state-library-bans-displays-for-banned-books-week/>
   (Civil Beat, 7 min)
   -

   Forbes highlights the controversy behind 21 Banned Books
   <https://www.forbes.com/sites/entertainment/article/banned-books/> (22
   min)
   -

   A look at the psychology behind book bans and censorship
   <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-of-mind/202510/how-book-bans-control-information-and-why-they-backfire>
   (Psychology Today, 9 min)
   -

   After a A librarian in Wyoming who fought against censorship and lost
   her job was awarded a settlement
   <https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/wyoming-library-settlement-book-bans-terri-lesley.html>
   (New York Times, 5 min)

ALA looks at the case that upheld parental rights and the impacts on
libraries
<https://www.oif.ala.org/what-emmahmoud-v-taylor-em-means-for-your-library/>
(5 min). access

New legislation in California is focused on protecting online privacy with
one click
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/10/easy-privacy-protections-california-ab566/>
(Washington Post, 5 min). Related, Amazon’s Ring plans to scan faces
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/03/amazon-ring-doorbell-facial-recognition-pricacy/>
(Washington Post, 5 min). Go deeper with this think piece
<https://blog.chayn.co/encryption-is-necessary-for-gender-based-violence-support-f4da9b4adafa>
on gender based violence, privacy, encryption, minors and feminist rights
(Medium, 18 min). privacy

Google has added new features
<https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/how-google-protects-against-scams-2025/>
that protect user privacy and keep scams away (3 min). Wired looks at
the password
managers in browsers
<https://www.wired.com/story/browser-password-managers/> and offers tips
(10 min). privacy

In this recent episode of Future Knowledge
<https://futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/preserving-government-information>,
The Internet Archive delves into how they preserve government information
(36 min). access

JSTOR provides a look at why libraries persist
<https://daily.jstor.org/how-libraries-stand-the-test-of-time/> and how
they transform (7 min). access

The Conversation looks at how misinformation gets endorsed and accepted
<https://theconversation.com/winning-with-misinformation-new-research-identifies-link-between-endorsing-easily-disproven-claims-and-prioritizing-symbolic-strength-265652>
(5 min). disinformation
------------------------------
AI Spotlight

Libraries and AI: In partnership with the New York Public Library, Data &
Society has created a four-part series that looks at the social impact of
AI: Understanding AI <https://datasociety.net/events/understanding-ai/>.
404 Media reports on requests at libraries for AI-hallucinated books
<https://www.404media.co/librarians-are-being-asked-to-find-ai-hallucinated-books/>
(404 Media, 5 min). information literacy, disinformation

Authors continue to fight against the use of their work by AI companies: A
thriller writer won against a tech giant
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/books/review/andrea-bartz-anthropic-lawsuit.html>.
(New York Times, 7 min) and OpenAI is faced with class action lawsuit
<https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/98961-authors-class-action-lawsuit-against-openai-moves-forward.html>
from authors (Publishers Weekly, 3 min). copyright

Concerns continue to grow about the ethical use of AI, especially by minors
and with regards to mental health (warning: articles mention suicide):
ChatGPT’s
new parental controls leave kids at risk
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/02/chatgpt-parental-controls-teens-openai/>
(Washington Post, 8 min), kids playing with AI
<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2025/oct/02/ai-children-parenting-creativity>
think it is real (Guardian, 18 min), and a historian on how ethical use of
AI
<https://www.startribune.com/adam-raine-chatgpt-lawsuit-teen-mental-health-education/601498318>
is not up to the user (7 min). For a deeper dive, listen to this podcast
from the NY Times: Trapped in a ChatGPT Spiral
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/podcasts/the-daily/chatgpt-ai-delusions.html>
(44 min). Also, N+1 makes the case for eschewing AI: Large Language Muddle
<https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the-intellectual-situation/large-language-muddle/>
(15 min) and Blood in the Machine argues for not readily embracing AI
<https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/cognitive-scientists-and-ai-researchers>
(8 min). ethics, information literacy

A look at productivity and AI: AI-Generated “Workslop”
<https://hbr.org/2025/09/ai-generated-workslop-is-destroying-productivity>(Harvard
Business Review, 11 min) and companies are not able to explain positives
<https://www.ft.com/content/e93e56df-dd9b-40c1-b77a-dba1ca01e473> of AI
(Financial Times, 5 min).. Another perspective from Conversation Generative
AI may be worthless
<https://theconversation.com/generative-ai-might-end-up-being-worthless-and-that-could-be-a-good-thing-266046>
and that is fine (6 min). Plus a look at the need for soft skills
<https://theconversation.com/kids-need-soft-skills-in-the-age-of-ai-but-what-does-this-mean-for-schools-261518>
and what that means for education (Conversation, 6 min). information
literacy

A new study from BBC demonstrates that AI assistants misrepresent news
content
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/new-ebu-research-ai-assistants-news-content>
(4 min). information literacy, disinformation

Authors Alliance explores an unexpected consequence of AI
<https://www.authorsalliance.org/2025/10/29/open-when-site-restrictions-and-clauses-undermine-open-access/>
on open access publishing. (5 min). access

Data centers supporting AI present a variety of issues, see Futurism’s
report <https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-data-centers-finances> (5
min). Related Business Insider offers an interactive map
<https://www.businessinsider.com/data-center-locations-us-map-ai-boom-2025-9>
of data centers.
Additional Resources

ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org A blog dedicated to
intellectual freedom issues, and includes the Intellectual Freedom News
<https://www.oif.ala.org/category/intellectual-freedom-news/> –a weekly
roundup of IF related articles
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.

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

[image: Copy of MultCoLib_2LineLogo_252px_RGB.jpg]

  [image: All are welcome here. Multnomah County.]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20251031/8f382bf8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: October2025_IntellectualFreedomNews.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 244319 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20251031/8f382bf8/attachment.pdf>