11 Questions: Sarah Lamdan: Meet the director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom; American Libraries, June 16, 2026

American Libraries; 11 Questions: Sarah Lamdan

Meet the director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

"Earlier this year, Sarah Lamdan was promoted to executive director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) after joining the Association in 2024 as OIF deputy director.

Prior to joining ALA, Lamdan was a librarian and law professor at City University of New York School of Law, where her research focused on information access, privacy, and other legal issues related to librarianship. She is author of two books, most recently Data Cartels (Stanford University Press, 2022), which looks at privacy and access as they relate to data analytics companies and platforms.

Lamdan answered our 11 Questions to introduce herself to ALA members...

Best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I’ve ever received is to be honest and transparent about what you know and what you don’t know. When you work with a team, everything goes better when nobody’s left in the dark. (I’ll make an exception for surprise parties!) It’s also okay not to know everything. Often, the best response is “I’m not sure, but I can find out.” There are so many things to know, and there’s no way you know them all!

What drew you to librarianship and ALA?

I decided to become a librarian after I started law school. A professor at University of Kansas sent me to the campus archives to transcribe some letters by Susan B. Anthony. The archivists and librarians were so helpful, and the letters were so neat. I wanted to do more work like that. The librarians at my law school took me under their wings as I pursued an MLIS and a law degree. At Emporia (Kans.) State University’s School of Library and Information Management, I was drawn to intellectual freedom topics. Working at ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) was a dream job! I feel so lucky to do this work."

Attempt to ban book at SLO County school library denied by board; The Tribune, June 13, 2026

 Sadie Dittenber, The Tribune ; Attempt to ban book at SLO County school library denied by board

"The Lucia Mar school board rejected an effort to ban a prize-winning author’s book from the Arroyo Grande High School library at a meeting on Thursday.

The novel “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison will remain in the Arroyo Grande High School library — despite an effort to have it removed from the shelves due to sexual content and other concerns...

Arroyo Grande English teacher Nicholas Kennedy wore a T-shirt that read “Probably reading Toni Morrison” to the meeting. He reminded board members that the book in question is not required reading, and that students — and their parents — can choose whether or not they read it...

Pham took issue with some of the syntax used in the novel, which she described as growing progressively worse throughout the book — but her comment drew sharp disagreement from board president Stewart. 

“Well, we can’t be afraid of different cultures’ patois, and they way they speak, right?” Stewart responded. “That’s racism.”"

Judge Blocks National Parks From Removing ‘Negative’ Signs; The New York Times, June 12, 2026

Maxine Joselow, The New York Times; Judge Blocks National Parks From Removing ‘Negative’ Signs

"A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the National Park Service from removing or revising signs, films and other materials at national parks across the country to comply with a directive from President Trump.

The ruling pauses enforcement of an executive order that called for removing or covering up materials at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans” or cast the United States “in a negative light.”

The judge, Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, also ordered the Park Service to restore within three weeks any exhibits that it had dismantled or altered...

Judge Kelley, who was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., sharply rebuked the Trump administration for taking down materials. “Not only does this undermine the integrity of the national parks; it sets a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization,” she wrote.

Judge Kelley began her 63-page ruling by listing examples of national parks that help educate visitors about difficult periods of American history, as well as contributions made by people of color, gay and transgender figures, women and other marginalized groups.

“From the echoes of abolition in John Brown’s Fort in Harpers Ferry, to the genesis of the modern L.G.B.T.Q.+ civil rights movement at the Stonewall National Monument, to the retreating ice of Glacier National Park in Alaska, the national parks preserve the multifaceted and multilayered history of our nation, including the good, the bad and the ugly,” she wrote."

Federal court hears oral arguments in appeal of Arkansas’ library obscenity law; Arkansas Advocate, June 11, 2026

TESS VRBIN, Arkansas Advocate; Federal court hears oral arguments in appeal of Arkansas’ library obscenity law

"A federal appeals court heard arguments Thursday to uphold the injunction of a 2023 Arkansas law governing challenges to library content, while Arkansas’ solicitor general said the plaintiffs’ allegations were “too speculative.”

The three-judge panel from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis will rule on whether two sections of Act 372 of 2023 can go into effect. A district judge blocked the provisions in 2024, and the state appealed the ruling in 2025.

The two challenged sections would create criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors,” and give city and county governing bodies the final say over library content.

The 18 plaintiffs in the case include libraries, bookstores, advocacy groups and individual library patrons. The defendants are Arkansas’ 28 prosecuting attorneys, Crawford County and its county judge, Chris Keith.

Crawford County lost another federal lawsuit in 2024 after three parents claimed the county library violated the First Amendment by moving LGBTQ+ children’s books into separate “social sections” that only adults could access."

Sales of Meta whistleblower’s memoir soar after Hay festival ‘silencing’; The Guardian, June 10, 2026

Ella Creamer , The Guardian; Sales of Meta whistleblower’s memoir soar after Hay festival ‘silencing’

"Sales of the whistleblowing memoir Careless People increased by more than 300% in the UK the week after its author was “silenced” during an appearance at Hay festival following legal action by Meta, the subject of the book.

Sarah Wynn-Williams – who between 2011 and 2017 served as the director of global public policy at what was then called Facebook – sat on stage but did not speak during her hour-long appearance on 31 May on the advice of her lawyer. She appeared alongside the journalist Carole Cadwalladr and academic Tim Wu.

The sales boost – 304.5% week-on-week – has nudged the book, published last March, to the number one spot in the paperback nonfiction chart.

Upon publication, Meta obtained an order blocking Wynn-Williams from promoting her book, which accuses the company of a toxic internal culture and manipulative political influence."

Book bans in Washington County School District may have flouted state law; St. George News, June 9, 2026

Eric Peterson, The Utah Investigative Journalism Project

, St. George News; Book bans in Washington County School District may have flouted state law

"Ed. note: The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah News Dispatch and St. George News.

A law passed in 2024 allows just three school districts to decide what books can be removed from school library shelves across the state for obscene content. Records obtained by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project now indicate one of the most prolific school districts for banning books may have been doing so in violation of state law, leading to the removal of “obscene” books statewide based on recommendations from book-ban activists."

Park Service orders removal of ‘woke’ quotes at Boston’s Bunker Hill monument; The Washington Post, June 4, 2026

Jake Spring , The Washington Post; Park Service orders removal of ‘woke’ quotes at Boston’s Bunker Hill monument

A visitor complaint prompted a review of quotes that are anti-war, pro-immigrant or highlight American hypocrisy on slavery ahead of the monument’s 251st anniversary celebration.

"The National Park Service has ordered the removal of three quotes at the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston commemorating a Revolutionary War battle because they have run afoul of President Donald Trump’s policy seeking to scrub “corrosive ideology” from federal institutions, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The site includes panels with quotes from historic figures or writings that reflect on the 200-year-old monument. A visitor at the site complained to park staff about a quote related to women’s suffrage as being “woke” feminist ideology, the people familiar said, and the visitor later sent an email complaint.

That prompted a wider review of material at the site that ultimately led the agency to order the removal of the three quotes in time for the 251st anniversary of the monument on June 17, two of the people said. The panel quotes have not yet been removed...

The quotes ordered to be removed include one from a 1971 anti-war editorial by Vietnam War veterans Arthur Johnson and Bestor Cram, the people familiar said.

“We find, upon reflection, that our duty to our country has not ended ... We as Vietnam Veterans, strongly feel that the United States should cease to build memorials to death and begin to glorify life,” the quote reads.

Cram told The Washington Post in an interview on Thursday that he opposed Trump’s policymaking changes across the park system, including the order to remove his quote.

“I‘m completely outraged with the administration wanting to essentially reinterpret history or erase history,” Cram said. 

Trump issued an executive order last year directing the Interior Department to eliminate information that reflects a “corrosive ideology” that is critical of historic Americans or events. National Park Service officials have broadly interpreted that directive to apply to information on racism, sexism, slavery, gay rights or the persecution of Indigenous people...

Emily Thompson, executive director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, said it’s unprecedented that one visitor’s opinion would result in changes to exhibits that are carefully planned and researched by experts.

“It’s scary that we aren’t trusting the experts and academics who have put together this material and instead we are censoring history and science that is not incorrect and it’s not inaccurate,” Thompson said. “It’s just information that makes people uncomfortable and it’s politically motivated.”

NPCA, the Coalition and other groups are suing the Trump administration over the policy, with a judge dismissing the administration’s motion to dismiss earlier on Thursday."

Pentagon is censoring military newspaper Stars and Stripes, lawsuit alleges; The Washington Post, June 3, 3026

Scott Nover

 and 

Liam Scott

, The Washington Post; Pentagon is censoring military newspaper Stars and Stripes, lawsuit alleges

"Two advisory board members of Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper that has long enjoyed editorial independence from the government, sued the Defense Department on Wednesday, alleging that an effort to impose new restrictions on the paper was an act of illegal censorship.

The complaint, filed in federal district court in Washington, comes from Susan “Suki” Dardarian and William “Bill” Church, two Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalists on the Stripes advisory board. Dardarian is a former editor and senior vice president of the Minnesota Star Tribune, and Church is the executive editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper...

Stars and Stripes said in a statement that it has a “long-standing mission to provide independent journalism to the military community, and that independence is fundamental to our credibility and our purpose.”"

Firings at CBS' '60 Minutes' reflect the fight for media control in the age of Trump; NPR, June 3, 2026

David Folkenflik, NPR; Firings at CBS' '60 Minutes' reflect the fight for media control in the age of Trump

"The battle royale over the network's most prestigious and profitable news program is part of a broader fight over the direction of CBS News.

And given CBS's acquisition by a billionaire family whose business interests have become intertwined with the political interests of President Trump, it reflects a larger war over control of the media in the current moment.

That father and son, Larry and David Ellison, bought CBS' parent company, Paramount, last summer. In January, they became co-owners of TikTok's U.S. operations. Now they're seeking approval from Trump's regulators to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN."

Read the letter firing Scott Pelley from ‘60 Minutes’ — and his response; The Washington Post, June 3, 2026

Scott Nover

 and 

Liam Scott

, The Washington Post; Read the letter firing Scott Pelley from ‘60 Minutes’ — and his response

"Pelley was fired Tuesday when Bilton sent him this letter, printed in full below...

Pelley responded in a late-night statement shared with The Washington Post, lambasting the network, its leadership and its ownership under David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, whom he accused of trying to “curry favor with the Trump administration.

You can read it in full here:"

CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes’; The New York Times, June 2, 2026

Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum, The New York Times ; CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes’

"CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, jettisoning one of the network’s best-known journalists in a clash over the future of “60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program.

Mr. Pelley, 68, a “60 Minutes” correspondent and a former anchor of “CBS Evening News,” joined the network in 1989. At a staff meeting on Monday, he accused the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” citing the ouster last week of the program’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents.

“We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Nick Bilton, the tech journalist who was hired last week as the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, wrote in a memo to the show’s staff on Tuesday night.

CBS News declined to comment. In a formal letter to Mr. Pelley, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Bilton wrote that the correspondent had been “terminated for cause effective immediately.”"

Scott Pelley Accuses CBS News Boss of ‘Murdering’ ‘60 Minutes’; The New York Times, June 1, 2026

 

Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, The New York Times; Scott Pelley Accuses CBS News Boss of ‘Murdering’ ‘60 Minutes’

"CBS News faced a fresh wave of turmoil on Monday after Scott Pelley, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, laced into the show’s newly hired executive producer during a staff meeting and accused Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief, of “murdering” the longstanding Sunday news program.

In an extraordinary exchange, Mr. Pelley, his newscaster’s baritone sometimes shaking in anger, told Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, that he had “slender” qualifications for his new job and questioned the network’s commitment to the future of the program, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times.

The 10 a.m. gathering, held at the program’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters, was intended as a formal introduction to Mr. Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week as part of a major shake-up at “60 Minutes.” CBS fired Tanya Simon, the previous executive producer, and her deputy, along with Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two of the show’s correspondents — an event that Mr. Pelley referred to as “Black Thursday.”

The meeting quickly turned tense — not a surprise after months of strain between veteran journalists at “60 Minutes” and Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist who was a longtime critic of legacy media institutions before she became the head of one last year. She was appointed by David Ellison, a tech scion who took control of CBS’s parent company Paramount in a multibillion-dollar merger...

Ms. Weiss’s handling of “60 Minutes” has generated internal turmoil for months.

In December, she pulled a segment reported by Ms. Alfonsi, about the brutal treatment of migrants in a Salvadoran prison, saying that it needed more reporting. The segment was critical of the Trump administration, and Ms. Alfonsi said the decision was “political.” The piece ultimately aired with some additional comments from the Trump administration."

Meta legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival; The Guardian, May 31, 2026

Emma Loffhagen, The Guardian; Meta legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival

Sarah Wynn-Williams did not speak during event after lawyers warned of possible sanctions from tech firm

"Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams was forced to sit in silence on stage at an event at Hay festival, after lawyers advised her not to speak because of ongoing legal action brought by Meta.

Wynn-Williams, whose bestselling memoir, Careless People, details her years working at Facebook, was due to appear in conversation with the investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr and academic Tim Wu.

Instead, Wynn-Williams sat on stage for the duration of the hour-long discussion between Cadwalladr and Wu, without speaking or responding. She was unable even to nod or shake her head...

At the end of the event, Wynn-Williams received a standing ovation from the audience, during which she was moved to tears...

Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook executive, has faced mounting legal restrictions since the publication last year of Careless People, which contains allegations about Meta’s internal culture and decision-making, including claims relating to political influence, the company’s approach to China and concerns about the wellbeing of its child users. Meta has disputed the book’s claims."

After 88 Days of Censored News, TV and Chat, Iranians Are Coming Back Online; The New York Times, May 27, 2026

Erika Solomon and Sanam Mahoozi , The New York Times; After 88 Days of Censored News, TV and Chat, Iranians Are Coming Back Online

The government is letting people connect with the world after a near-total internet shutdown. But not everyone has access, and those who do wonder how long it will last.

"For 88 days, they could not chat with family or friends online. Their access to independent news, or to the websites they needed to run their businesses, was blocked. Simple pleasures, like streaming their favorite television shows, were denied them.

Now, after what activists say was the longest nationwide internet shutdown in history, Iran’s government seems to be restoring access. Many Iranians are reconnecting to the world, eager to resume the online habits most people take for granted."

Ousted library director wins $475,000 settlement in discrimination lawsuit against Montgomery County; Houston Public Media, May 22, 2026

Kyle McClenagan

, Houston Public Media ; Ousted library director wins $475,000 settlement in discrimination lawsuit against Montgomery County

"Rhea Young, who served as the director of the Montgomery County library system from 2022 until her termination in January 2025, sued the county last year, alleging she was fired in retaliation for refusing to segregate and limit access to books containing LGBTQ+ themes or ideas. On Wednesday, commissioners for the Houston-area county approved the settlement following a closed-door discussion.

Young will receive $475,000 as part of the settlement, of which $206,797 will be used for attorney's fees, according to a copy of the settlement shared with Houston Public Media." 

Banned Nonfiction Books Double in Public Schools, Erasing Authentic Stories & Histories; PEN America, May 7, 2026

PEN America; Banned Nonfiction Books Double in Public Schools, Erasing Authentic Stories & Histories

"In its latest report on book bans in public schools, PEN America today documents a doubling of censorship of nonfiction on subjects from history and health to general knowledge, including biographies and memoirs. The targeting of titles about real events or people underscores “an embrace of anti-intellectualism” within the book banning movement, according to the new report Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away By Book Bans.

The report offers detailed analysis of the content of the 3,743 unique titles that were removed from school libraries and classrooms from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Over this same period, PEN America tracked 6,780 total instances of bans across 23 states.

Twenty-nine percent of the unique titles banned last school year were nonfiction. In addition, approximately 13% of all unique titles fell into the educational/informational genre – texts primarily written for students for reference or learning purposes and covering a range of subjects. Overall, the rise of banned nonfiction and educational titles exposed a new casualty in the campaign to suppress and restrict learning, which goes hand in hand with efforts to undermine public education and librarianship itself, the report states.

“This latest trend shows an embrace of anti-intellectualism, undermining public knowledge by  devaluing education and expertise,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. “It is another example of how censorship sweeps broadly, leading to removals of all kinds of books, in its efforts to sow fear and distrust in our public education system.”

As book bans in public schools have exploded since 2021, PEN America, the writers and free expression organization, has documented the crisis nationwide, counting more than 23,000 bans over the period.

The increase in nonfiction bans over 2024-2025 is especially troubling as reading scores and literacy rates decline while the report notes that nonfiction “is the gateway to literacy” and essential for young people to make sense of the world and form their own opinions. Books in this category often deal with personal, artistic, historical, and educational topics – just this month, Utah added the memoir of Jaycee Dugard, who was abducted from the street at age 11 and held for 18 years, to its list of books banned statewide."

ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment; The New York Times, May 8, 2026

Jim Rutenberg and John Koblin , The New York Times; ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment

The network’s argument, made to the F.C.C., is the most aggressive posture taken yet by a television network toward the Trump administration.

"ABC has accused the Federal Communications Commission of violating its free speech rights, potentially setting the stage for a protracted, high-stakes legal battle between the network and the Trump administration.

The company said in a filing with the agency that regulators had a “chilling effect” on free speech by trying to punish political content they disagreed with. The filing, made public on Friday, is the most aggressive defense from any television network since President Trump kicked off an extended campaign last year to bring media organizations to heel.

It represented a striking departure for ABC. The network, under the corporate stewardship of the Walt Disney Company, set an early tone of compliance toward Mr. Trump when it settled a defamation lawsuit with him for $15 million in December 2024. Many legal experts considered Mr. Trump’s case unlikely to succeed in court.

The filing was registered on behalf of a single ABC station in Houston and involved a minor regulatory dispute over the talk show “The View.” But in a signal of its importance, the company’s paperwork was signed by one of the most experienced Supreme Court litigators in the country, Paul D. Clement, a solicitor general under President George W. Bush."

Huntington Beach ordered to pay $1 million in lawyer fees in library censorship lawsuit; The Orange County Register, April 30, 2026

CLAIRE WANG , The Orange County Register; Huntington Beach ordered to pay $1 million in lawyer fees in library censorship lawsuit

"Huntington Beach must foot roughly $1 million in legal bills for restricting minors’ access to certain books at the city’s library, an Orange County judge ordered this week.

In a tentative ruling Monday, April 27, Orange County Judge Lindsey Martinez said the city needs to pay $960,000 to attorneys from four legal organizations, who billed more than 1,300 hours of work on the high-profile lawsuit against the city’s book restriction policy."

Book bans and culture wars came for libraries. They’re still standing strong. ; The 19th, April 24, 2026

Nadra Nittle , The 19th; Book bans and culture wars came for libraries. They’re still standing strong. 

During National Library Week, librarians throughout the country fight for books, jobs and truth.

"When students ask why books with LGBTQ+ themes need to be included in the collection, DeMaria tells them to consider the limited number of movies, books and other media that portray queer people. 

LGBTQ+ students “deserve that representation,” she said. “If it sits on the shelf because at that moment I don’t have a student who needs that mirror, that’s where it stays until I do.”"

Repression of Uyghurs persists as the world moves on; Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), April 19, 2026

 Yalkun Uluyol, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); Repression of Uyghurs persists as the world moves on

"Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, is participating in a panel discussion of the ethical and legal dilemmas at the heart of international human rights, The Attention Economy of Suffering, presented by The Ethics Centre in partnership with Human Rights Watch, on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

Dozens of my family members, including my father, Memet Yaqup, have disappeared into China’s system of mass incarceration over the past decade simply for being Uyghurs. When international attention to our plight surged — through joint statements at the United Nations, extensive media coverage, national parliaments recognising atrocity crimes — I believed there would be enough pressure to secure the release of my loved ones. 

Yet, eight years into my father’s enforced disappearance, I still have no information about his whereabouts, health or the allegations that led to his imprisonment. Meanwhile, the world’s attention has moved on.

My father is one of the hundreds of thousands who since 2016 have suffered the Chinese government’s grave human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Chinese authorities have subjected Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to mass arbitrary detention, unjust imprisonments, intrusive surveillance and forced labour.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded in a landmark 2022 report that the Chinese government may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. That acknowledgement marked a rare moment when the Uyghur people appeared to have the world’s attention. Yet even then, China’s global influence was on full display. 

Efforts by a group of countries who tried to place Xinjiang on the formal agenda of the UN Human Rights Council were narrowly defeated after heavy pressure from Beijing. What happened read like a page taken from the Beijing playbook: intimidation of critics, the cultivation and mobilisation of allies, and a steady erosion of momentum for such criticism.

In Xinjiang, the Chinese government weaponises information about people’s everyday lives — lawful and peaceful behaviours — and uses it against them. The authorities have put mass surveillance tools in place, including one called the Integrated Joint Operations Platform, to track everyone, their movements, contacts, phone use and contents, vehicle location and interaction with people abroad."