ALA, @bookriot.bsky.social, @penamerica.bsky.social, @flfreedomread.bsky.social, @txfreedomread.bsky.social all track different aspects of the movement - no matter how you look at it, book bans are sweeping across the country. Don't miss our joint report: https://bit.ly/4qkTZh5

Libraries are valued and treasured community goods and cornerstones of democracy, and library workers are dedicated civil servants and experts. ALA’s OIF is debunking the lies book banners tell about libraries. www.oif.ala.org/lies-about-l...

“Authoritarians gain power when citizens stop paying attention. Visit your local library, check out books, and keep reading. If we stay unified and informed, we can ensure reading w/out restriction remains the foundation of our democracy and a fundamental freedom for all.” time.com/7341120/book...

ALA is proud to join @PENamerica & dozens of @UAbookbans partners on a letter to the TN Secretary of State, whose call for TN libraries to review materials within 60 days "has created widespread confusion, fear and operational disruption across the state's public libraries."  pen.org/press-releas...

On Saturday, @authorsabb.bsky.social won the ALAN Award at @ncte.org, and I was honored to accept it on our behalf. This is the speech I gave. www.prettyokmaggie.com/blog/2025/11...

I got my $1 and my apology. I met falsehood with resolve, and I claimed my own voice by defending it. And in that single dollar, my truth stands taller than every lie told. Let it be known: I will never back down.

No one can own the law - Bob Ambrogi gives us summaries of the many (!) amicus briefs filed in support of access to legal information in the ROSS Intelligence litigation with Thomson Reuters as it heads to the Third Circuit. www.lawnext.com/2025/11/no-o...

I can't keep the thread up, but suffice to say, PEOPLE VOTED TO PROTECT AND FUND LIBRARIES AND SO MANY SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS SUPPORTED PRO-EDUCATION, PRO-STUDENT CANDIDATES. People showed up. They didn't just buy banned books. They VOTED. And guess what? Voting made a difference.

😎😎😎😎 GOOD THINGS CAN STILL HAPPEN 😎😎😎😎

NEW YORK CITY - see Kim A Snyder‘s @nytimes.com Critics Pick documentary THE LIBRARIANS this weekend. After an incredible five week run, this is your last chance to see the film at @filmforumnyc.bsky.social! Ending Nov 6th, get tix now! thelibrariansfilm.com/host-a-scree...

Kim A. Snyder’s award-winning documentary is now playing throughout the US. Celebrate the last day of @bannedbooksweek.bsky.social with our hero librarians and be inspired to join the fight. See THE LIBRARIANS in theaters, get tickets now. TheLibrariansFilm.com/screenings

#LetFreedomReadDay is in ONE WEEK! On 10/11, take at least ONE action to help defend books from censorship and speak up for those who make them available. Find resources/tools + actions you can take in just 5 mins: uniteagainstbookbans.org/let-freedom-read-day #BannedBooksWeek #UniteAgainstBookBans

Just ordered the new book from Brian Morton. What a great person he is. A teacher and friend to all who read his work. (I gave a couple of talks at Sarah Lawrence where he teaches and it turned out I was the student.) bookshop.org/p/books/writ...

The 2025 #TIME100NEXT list is out! I'm honored to be a part of this group: time.com/next @la-cac.org

The starting point for any ID system should be to reduce the situations that you need to provide ID for to a minimum. Ask ‘do we really need to know ID for this?’ and in a great many scenarios the answer will be ‘no’. So don’t ask. Everyone is better off.

This is the best explanation I’ve seen about what Palantir is. When I wrote Data Cartels, a book about data brokers, a lot of people asked why I didn’t focus on Palantir. The answer is that Palantir isn’t a data broker. Palantir creates ‘extravagant plumbing’ that depends on data brokers’ data.

New reporting about AI slop in libraries from rockstar reporter @clurrese.bsky.social featuring some rockstar librarians! 🥰 www.404media.co/librarians-a...

Do you know an intellectual freedom fighter in New York state? Nominate them for this year's Intellectual Freedom Award from the New York Library Association! I can't wait to read your stories! Due October 3! www.nyla.org/intellectual...

Congratulations @samuelmoore.org!

Fantastic read by Trevor Quirk on the most fascinating topic: data flows. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/m...

Fobazi is currently in the ICU and could use your support. Apologies to those I haven’t been able to reach out to yet. You can message me for more info and I will be posting updates to GoFundMe. Please share, send healing thoughts, prayers, etc. ❤️ -Elena gofund.me/c8485b58

Federal employees said they worry about the future of FOIA in the U.S., not only for their sake, but for requesters as well. www.muckrock.com/news/archive...

It appears that the Constitution, as it is on Congress's website, has been altered. The Constitution. The original: web.archive.org/web/20250601... Today's: web.archive.org/web/20250806... Note Article One, Sections 9 & 10.

Was going to try my hand at minting a new term for AI issues in libraries for a blog post I'm working on with @libraryfutures.bsky.social but found out @sarahlamdan.bsky.social already beat me to it with "vendor slurry", so it's just "AI vendor slurry" now.

Applications for the Ask A Librarian Internship are open for one more week! This paid, remote, part-time internship is open to currently enrolled Library & Information Science students. Apply by July 16. library.columbia.edu/about/jobs-i...

We’re working on a Freedom to Read advocacy toolkit for children 2-8 for #BannedBooksWeek! What are some kid friendly actions families can take together to fight #BookBans?

Also if you're interested, I wrote a book about this: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706321...

"[D]ata is useful, it’s for sale, and the government’s buying. Tau describes the tension between a government eager to reap the benefits of data brokers’ tools and civil rights advocates alarmed by how invasive these tools are." @sarahlamdan.bsky.social reviews "Means of Control" by Byron Tau.

ALA is deeply disappointed in the result of today's Senate vote to reject using #ERate funding for wi-fi hotspot programs. The E-Rate program is broadly popular and admired, helping millions of Americans get online through the library and at school. More from ALA President Cindy Hohl ⤵️

IMLS! www.ala.org/news/2025/05...

Everything old is new again: “Many librarians lived in fear of losing their jobs or facing prosecution because of the contents of their libraries.”

NEW: ALA is going to court to stop the President’s attempts to illegally dismantle the Institute of Museum & Library Services. The President does not have the authority to destroy a federal agency. That's why we're taking action with our co-plaintiff @afscme.bsky.social. #ForOurLibraries (1/3)

"They are the American people's records, and there should be adequate FOIA staff to make sure that record requests are answered promptly," he says. "Firing your staff is antithetical to openness and transparency." Public records offices gutted in HHS layoffs www.npr.org/sections/sho...

NEW — Keith Sonderling, Trump’s Deputy Secretary of Labor, has been named the Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an agency source tells me. He’ll arrive tomorrow at their office with DOGE and their security detail.

Doctors Say NEVER Eat This One Strange Fruit or Using Microsoft Word Will Become Even Worse www.axios.com/2025/03/18/t...

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

Trump’s trying to gut funding for libraries: you can fight back with ALA. The President's executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum & Library Services would be deeply harmful. We need to speak out. Take action NOW: tell Congress to protect library funding. bit.ly/ProtectLibraryFunding

BookLooks.org, Moms For Liberty's unprofessional book ratings system used to ban books nationwide, is shutting down. But there's not exactly cause to celebrate yet. #booksky bookriot.com/booklooks-sh...

Excellent advice for library workers from library workers ⬇️

🚨 Town Hall Alert! 🚨 The next Joint Advocacy Committee meeting with GLA & SGA is coming up! 💬✨ 📅 Zoom Meeting: Wednesday, March 19 @ 6PM ⏳ Sign-up Deadline: Monday, March 17 @ 6PM 🔗 Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... Don’t miss your chance to be part of the conversation! 👏 #TLSky

A predictable consequence of overruling Chevron, the made-up major questions doctrine, and other judicial power grabs is a headline like this: www.law.com/nationallawj...

Popping in here for a sec with my law librarian hat on to say that this is bonkers.

My latest for @truthout.org reports on librarians who are running for office and taking power. As Ilana Stonebraker says, we need to imagine ourselves as the deciders.

We ❤️ all the libraries that have been supporting data rescue and their patrons. Our focus is the preservation of access for all. www.datarescueproject.org/libraries-su...

Dear Manager, this week: 1. I went to the doctor 2. I went to the mountains 3. I looked to the children 4. I drank from the fountains 5. I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it

“There are so many book bans happening right now, and it’s terrifying if you really pay attention to what that means for children’s right to read and learn—and for teachers and libraries,” - Amanda Gorman thegrio.com/2025/02/11/a...

Here’s the @oif.bsky.social News for the week of February 14, 2025 www.oif.ala.org/intellectual...

The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...

NEW: Take action against the Trump Administration's federal funding freeze by sharing your library story. How would a federal funding pause impact your library & community? Share your story with ALA as we work to inform elected officials & decision-makers on this issue: airtable.com/appTIEEt9RjD...