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Category Archives: Libraries

ALA Report – Texas leads the nation in book ban attempts

ALA compiles data on book challenges from reports filed by library professionals in the field and from news stories published throughout the United States. Because many book challenges are not reported to the ALA or covered by the press, the 2022 data compiled by ALA represents a snapshot of book censorship throughout 2022. A challenge to a book may be resolved in favor of retaining the book in the collection, or it can result in a book being restricted or withdrawn from the library. Censorship by the Numbers – ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Censors targeted a record 2,571 unique titles in 2022, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community or by and about Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color…”

Books are not the sole target of attacks orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media. Both school and public librarians are increasingly in the crosshairs of conservative groups during book challenges and subject to defamatory name-calling, online harassment, social media attacks, and doxxing, as well as direct threats to their safety, their employment, and their very liberty..”

  • See also Washington Post: Red states quit nation’s oldest library group amid culture war over books. They are turning down money and training from a 150-year-old organization they believe is set on promulgating explicit texts to children
  • See also Chris Geidner – Dork Law: “On Monday, a federal judge ruled in favor of booksellers who argued that Texas’s new law banning some books from public school libraries and restricting others through an onerous and complicated regime is likely unconstitutional in an opinion that blasted the law and the arguments the state made in its defense. “[T]his Court has found that READER likely violates the First Amendment by containing an unconstitutional prior restraint, compelled speech, and unconstitutional vagueness,” U.S. District Judge Alan Albright — a Trump appointee to the federal bench — concluded in issuing a preliminary injunction halting state officials from enforcing the law. Texas already announced that it is appealing the decision..”

How commuter boredom turned audiobooks into a billion-dollar industry

Quartz: “Thomas Edison dreamed of audiobooks. When Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, he tested his new device by reciting the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” That wasn’t highbrow literature, but Edison felt that the recorded form would lend itself well to full-length books, too—and that some books, perhaps, were meant to be… Continue Reading

Accidental Government Documents Librarian: Secrecy 101: Classification and Executive Order 13526

Date & Time: Sep 27, 2023 02:00 PM in Eastern Time Description: The classification of government information is an essential part of national security. In this webinar, we will learn how government information is classified and the efforts made to reduce overclassification. The webinar will discuss classification categories, who is authorized to classify information, classification… Continue Reading

The Truth About Hallucinations in Legal Research AI: How to Avoid Them and Trust Your Sources

Rebecca Fordon – AI Law Librarians – “Hallucinations in generative AI are not a new topic. If you watch the news at all (or read the front page of the New York Times), you’ve heard of the two New York attorneys who used ChatGPT to create fake cases entire cases and then submitted them to… Continue Reading

Libro for audiobook

“Libro.fm is an employee-owned Social Purpose Corporation that shares profits from your audiobook purchases with your chosen bookstore, giving you the power to keep money within your local economy. Whether you are paying for monthly membership, giving an audiobook gift to a friend, or buying audiobooks for yourself or your organization, Libro.fm shares the profit… Continue Reading

Conservative book ban push fuels library exodus ALA

AP: “After parents in a rural and staunchly conservative Wyoming county joined nationwide pressure on librarians to pull books they considered harmful to youngsters, the local library board obliged with new policies making such books a higher priority for removal — and keeping out of collections. But that’s not all the library board has done.… Continue Reading

AI Policies Across the Globe: Implications and Recommendations For Libraries

AI policies across the globe: Implications and recommendations for libraries, Leo S Lo, OnlineFirst. Published August 27, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352231196172 – This article examines the proposed artificial intelligence policies of the USA, UK, European Union, Canada, and China, and their implications for libraries. As artificial intelligence revolutionizes library operations, it presents complex challenges, such as ethical… Continue Reading

Federal judge temporarily blocks new Texas book-rating law for schools

San Antonio Press News: “A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a new Texas law that would establish a book-rating system and ban or restrict books with sexual content from Texas public schools.  Austin-based Judge Alan D. Albright told lawyers that the state could not enforce the law Friday, when it was planned to take… Continue Reading

AI Can’t Read Books. It’s Reviewing Them Anyway

Wired (free to read): “ChatGPT-powered avatars recently gushed over a new book—unconvincingly. But if AI develops actual opinions, authors might be in for a shock…a PR release I received last week. The subject line: “AI book reviewers?” The press release touted “the first book to ever be reviewed by AI avatars.” I’ve written book reviews,… Continue Reading

Report: Surge of Intrusive Legislation to Intimidate Teachers, Drive Self-Censorship in Schools

Pen America: “A wave of state legislation sweeping the nation is creating the conditions to intimidate educators into self-censorship in schools, according to a new PEN America report released today. “Educational Intimidation: How ‘Parental Rights’ Legislation Undermines the Freedom to Learn” examines the rise of what PEN America has dubbed “educational intimidation bills,” a category… Continue Reading

Dan Rather and Elliott Kirschner: The War to Destroy Public Education

“Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner wrote in their blog Steady about the importance of saving public education from the forces trying to destroy and privatize it. They remind us and the general public that public schools unite us; privatization is inherently divisive. It is ironic that the red states are implementing voucher plans as the… Continue Reading

Thomson Reuters Future of Professionals Report

“Thomson Reuters a global content and technology company, today released its Future of Professionals Report. The survey of more than 1,200 individuals working internationally shares the predicted impact that generative AI will have on the future of professional work. The survey showed 67% of respondents believe AI will have a transformational or high impact on… Continue Reading