ALL THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES OFFERING FREE ACCESS TO BANNED BOOKS: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE; Book Riot, October 23, 2023

Kelly Jensen , Book Riot; ALL THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES OFFERING FREE ACCESS TO BANNED BOOKS: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE

"This list is as comprehensive a roundup as possible of all the U.S. public libraries offering access to banned books. It includes the name of the library, the people who are being granted access to the collections, materials within the collections, as well as any other pertinent or relevant information. 

The list will be updated as more libraries engage in this kind of access activism. Note that many of these programs operate under the banner of “Books Unbanned.” Though they will be quite similar because laws regarding libraries differ state by state and because every library collection differs from another, the breadth of access and catalogs differs in each variation of the program. Folks who qualify may apply for cards at each of the Books Unbound programs—you’re not limited to just one."

How Israeli Civilians Are Using A.I. to Help Identify Victims; The New York Times, October 20, 2023

 David Blumenfeld, Carmit Hoomash, Alexandra Eaton and Meg Felling , The New York Times; How Israeli Civilians Are Using A.I. to Help Identify Victims

"“Brothers and Sisters for Israel” formed initially to protest judiciary reform. After Oct. 7, they shifted their mission to helping victims of the attacks, and together with volunteers from Israel’s leading tech companies, created a sophisticated data operation to help find out more about those missing, taken hostage or killed."

Innovative Approaches to Circumventing Book Bans; American Libraries, October 3, 2023

Greg Landgraf , American Libraries; Innovative Approaches to Circumventing Book Bans

"Libraries and schools nationwide are working overtime to repel an unprecedented level of attacks on the freedom to read. Vigorous debate, advocacy, and coalition-building remain the backbone of the fight against book banning. But some libraries, groups, and individuals have recently taken innovative approaches to ensure information access for all."

Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'; NPR, October 19, 2023

Chloe Veltman, NPR ; Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'

"Amy Kurzweil said the chatbot project and the book that came out of it underscored her somewhat positive feelings about AI.

"I feel like you need to imagine the robot you want to see in the world," she said. "We're not going to stop progress. But we can think about applications of AI that facilitate human connection.""

AI is learning from stolen intellectual property. It needs to stop.; The Washington Post, October 19, 2023

William D. Cohan , The Washington Post; AI is learning from stolen intellectual property. It needs to stop.

"The other day someone sent me the searchable database published by Atlantic magazine of more than 191,000 e-books that have been used to train the generative AI systems being developed by Meta, Bloomberg and others. It turns out that four of my seven books are in the data set, called Books3. Whoa.

Not only did I not give permission for my books to be used to generate AI products, but I also wasn’t even consulted about it. I had no idea this was happening. Neither did my publishers, Penguin Random House (for three of the books) and Macmillan (for the other one). Neither my publishers nor I were compensated for use of my intellectual property. Books3 just scraped the content away for free, with Meta et al. profiting merrily along the way. And Books3 is just one of many pirated collections being used for this purpose...

This is wholly unacceptable behavior. Our books are copyrighted material, not free fodder for wealthy companies to use as they see fit, without permission or compensation. Many, many hours of serious research, creative angst and plain old hard work go into writing and publishing a book, and few writers are compensated like professional athletes, Hollywood actors or Wall Street investment bankers. Stealing our intellectual property hurts." 

After Hospital Blast, Headlines Shift With Changing Claims; The New York Times, October 18, 2023

 Katie Robertson, The New York Times; After Hospital Blast, Headlines Shift With Changing Claims

"Covering wars is always fraught, both because journalists on the ground are often in harm’s way and because the sides at war aggressively push information in their favor."

A.I. May Not Get a Chance to Kill Us if This Kills It First; Slate, October 17, 2023

 SCOTT NOVER, Slate; A.I. May Not Get a Chance to Kill Us if This Kills It First

"There is a disaster scenario for OpenAI and other companies funneling billions into A.I. models: If a court found that a company was liable for copyright infringement, it could completely halt the development of the offending model." 

The Maryland library where you can get your blood pressure read; WTOP, October 16, 2023

John Domen, WTOP; The Maryland library where you can get your blood pressure read

"These days, libraries offer a much wider range of services than just free books and tables to do research at. However, at one Maryland library, you can read a book — and then get a health screening, which is a bit like researching your own health.

The screenings happen every Monday at the Greenbelt Library in Prince George’s County, and are conducted by nursing students.

The library has a blood pressure clinic, connects patrons to community resources like vaccine clinics and hosts health education discussions, according to Sara Chapman, a clinical instructor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing...

This program will run on Mondays through Nov. 13 in Greenbelt, from 11 a.m. until about 3:30 p.m. It then pauses until the spring semester begins. The nurses there are students, after all, and they’re getting credit for their community and public health nursing class.

And while you wouldn’t think that sitting at a hallway table and getting your blood pressure checked is a typical library activity, the hope is that this can be expanded beyond the Greenbelt branch to other libraries around the county.

Quemar Rhoden, the central area director with the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, said his team is “always trying to be more dynamic with our program offerings” while keeping the community’s needs in mind.

“The library is much more than books. It’s a place where people gather,” Rhoden said. “The community really trusts us. They trust us with some very personal matters, and it’s always our goal to offer more services that meet their needs.”

Foley Library director who refused to remove inappropriate material from children section departing for Wyoming; 1819 News, October 16, 2023

Erica Thomas , 1819 News; Foley Library director who refused to remove inappropriate material from children section departing for Wyoming

John Jackson was hired by the Campbell County Public Library System in Wyoming as its executive director.

The system's former director, Terri Lesley, was fired on July 28 following the discovery of what some called pornography in the children and teen sections of the Gillette Library. Lesley said she believed the public was being harmed by being unable to access various information. After being fired, she filed a lawsuit against the library system for discrimination and members of a family who reportedly defamed her by writing Letters to the Editor accusing her of illegal activity.

When residents in Foley voiced concerns in August about similar material, Jackson told 1819 News he would not remove inappropriate material from the children or young adult sections if he saw it.

"I have the ability to take it off the shelf, but I will not take it off the shelf because I will not be self-censoring," Jackson said. "I will not fall into the trap to becoming a censor and a book-banner because once you do that, where do you stop? You then become ruled by whatever anyone comes in and says they find offensive. I'm sure that someone could find content in virtually any book on the shelf offensive based on their personal beliefs, so once you start book banning, there's no end to it."

Jackson said he would stand against censorship and that moves against the books were also against constitutional rights."

"George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”; Library of Congress, October 16, 2023

Library of Congress ; "George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”

George Chauncey, recipient of the 2022 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, released three videos today with the Library of Congress examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ Americans. These are now available to watch on loc.gov and the Library’s YouTube channel. 

In “From Sexual Regulation to Antigay Discrimination,” Chauncey is interviewed by Library of Congress Chief Communications Officer Roswell Encina on the history of how LGBTQ+ people in the United States were treated throughout the 20th century; the ways that their legal, social, and political treatment changed over the years; and the lives that people created for themselves in the shadow of discrimination.

In “Why Marriage Equality Became a Goal,” Chauncey interviews civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto, who has worked on the most significant legal cases dealing with marriage equality over the past 30 years. In this interview, Chauncey and Bonauto discuss the significance of the goal of marriage and why they think both the law and public opinion changed so rapidly as equality became the law of the land.

In “AIDS: A Tragedy and a Turning Point,” Chauncey convened a panel of experts to discuss the AIDS crisis that took the lives of a generation of gay people, including many who were writers and community leaders, even as it also set the stage for changes to come by prompting a new wave of activism and leading to an outpouring of LGBTQ+ people embracing their identities. In the discussion, Chauncey, Deborah Gould, Duane Cramer and Jafari Allen revisit the early history of AIDS and discuss the fear and loss as well as the action and assertiveness that came from that dark time."

Justice Barrett Calls for Supreme Court to Adopt an Ethics Code; The New York Times, October 16, 2023

Abbie VanSickle, The New York Times; Justice Barrett Calls for Supreme Court to Adopt an Ethics Code

"Justice Amy Coney Barrett said on Monday that she favored an ethics code for the Supreme Court, joining the growing chorus of justices who have publicly backed adopting such rules.

“It would be a good idea for us to do it, particularly so that we can communicate to the public exactly what it is that we are doing in a clearer way,” she said during a wide-ranging conversation at the University of Minnesota Law School with Robert Stein, a longtime law professor and the former chief operating officer of the American Bar Association."

Which banned books have been removed from Iowa schools? Our updated database lists them; Des Moines Register, October 16, 2023

Tim Webber, Des Moines Register; Which banned books have been removed from Iowa schools? Our updated database lists them

"A new law approved this year by Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature has already resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries throughout Iowa, according to data obtained by the Des Moines Register, and that number could reach the thousands by the start of the new calendar year. 

Senate File 496, signed into law by Reynolds in May, bans books with descriptions or depictions of sex acts from school libraries and prohibits instruction on gender and sexual identity until seventh grade, among other effects.

Since then, schools have worked throughout the summer and into the new school year to meet the law’s new restrictions, with the process still ongoing in many districts...

Which books have been pulled from the shelves in my Iowa school district?

Through Wednesday morning, 24 school districts have sent the Register a list of books that have been removed from their schools’ shelves.

They can be viewed in this database, or you can use the quick search tool below. The database groups together graphic novels, translations and other direct adaptations with the original work. Additionally, note that some school districts have removed books as a precautionary measure as they determine whether they can be returned to the shelves...

Together, more than 450 individual works by more than 300 authors have already been pulled from the shelves of Iowa school districts as a result of Senate File 496. Our database will continue to be updated as we receive more lists from districts around the state."

Get a free session with a lawyer on civil legal issues through a Jefferson Parish Library; Nola.com, October 16, 2023

CHRIS SMITH, Nola.com; Get a free session with a lawyer on civil legal issues through a Jefferson Parish Library

"The Jefferson Parish Library is participating in the 2024 annual Lawyers in Libraries statewide program in partnership with the Louisiana State Bar Association, the state and the Louisiana Library Association.

As part of this event, local attorneys volunteer for two-hour “Ask-a-Lawyer” sessions where they meet with patrons one-on-one to answer civil legal questions and connect them to further resources. Sessions are free. This sessions take place on a first-come, first-served basis."

San Diego Public Library, Father Joe's Villages work to treat addiction with Suboxone; KPBS, October 12, 2023

 Thomas Fudge / Science and Technology Reporter

Contributors: Carlos Castillo / Video Journalist,  KPBS; San Diego Public Library, Father Joe's Villages work to treat addiction with Suboxone

"There’s a new partnership aimed at helping people experiencing opioid addiction in San Diego. The School of Social Work at San Diego State University (SDSU) is teaming up with the San Diego Public Library and Father Joe’s Villages to provide access to Suboxone...

By promoting literacy and providing information, the old library mission of public service has evolved. The library has also become a place where those experiencing homelessness use the bathrooms, charge their phones, be dry and safe.

“Libraries have become dynamic and reflexive and respond to the needs of the community in real time as opposed to holding those traditional values and mission, and not expanding and growing with our communities,” said Jennifer Jenkins, deputy director for the San Diego Public Library.

The SDSU project sought to recruit at least 40 people to get Suboxone prescriptions and take it regularly. Urada said she hopes this will be a model for the rest of the library system and perhaps libraries in other states."

Huntington Beach City Council to consider review board to stop some books from hitting public library shelves; Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2023

 MATT SZABO, Los Angeles Times; Huntington Beach City Council to consider review board to stop some books from hitting public library shelves

"Van Der Mark has said multiple times that what she is seeking does not amount to a book ban, but Chavez disagreed.

“They’re basically getting a committee to do the book banning for them, right?” she said. “It’s still a book ban. A library of our size orders about 9,000 children’s books a year, so I don’t know where they think the committee’s going to find the time to read these books. It doesn’t seem like a workable plan at all.”"

As Moms for Liberty spreads, so does school turmoil; Salon, October 13, 2023

EVELYN NIEVES, Salon; As Moms for Liberty spreads, so does school turmoil

"What began in Florida in 2021 with three conservative women (two former school board members from neighboring counties and a current school board member) now claims 130,000 members in 300 chapters in 47 states. ...

But Liz Mikitarian, a retired Brevard County, Florida, kindergarten teacher and founder of STOP Moms for Liberty, says she tried seeking common ground with the group for a year. She posted comments on Moms for Liberty’s Facebook page. “I was looking for dialogue,” she said. “They weren’t interested.”

Mikitarian knew one of Moms for Liberty’s founders, Tina Descovich, who had been on the Brevard County school board before losing her seat in 2020. The connection didn’t help.

She says she attended increasingly unruly school board meetings as Moms for Liberty jelled. “They were saying they were seeing things in classrooms that were not going on,” Mikitarian said. When she objected, she said, things got ugly.

She says she was mocked and doxxed. “They started calling me a pedophile supporter. It was nuts. And I thought to myself: What is going on? Are there other people feeling this is a straight-out attack on public education? That’s when I started STOP Moms for Liberty.”

The group, she said, now has chapters in over 40 states. Unlike Moms for Liberty, STOP Moms is unincorporated and has no paid staff or funding. Its growth, Mikitarian said, has come through social media."

Coos Bay Library offers community fridge; The World, October 14, 2023

 Bree Laughlin , The World; Coos Bay Library offers community fridge

"Now, Coos Bay Public Library patrons can obtain fresh produce six days a week during the library’s open hours.

Addis and his colleagues at the library partnered with South Coast Food Share and The Beet Food Systems Consortium, which are helping to support the project by providing the fridge and funding for food and operational costs.

The program has been so successful, Addis needs to restock the fridge multiple times per week. He also provides handouts with recipes and the health benefits of certain fruits of vegetables.

“The vast majority of people are just extremely appreciative. People are coming in and it's been getting more popular every day,” he said.

Everyone who enters the library is eligible for free produce. Patrons can ask an employee to unlock the fridge. They will receive the free healthy food items after being asked a few questions (name, address, # of people in household) that will only be used for statistics. The library does not share personal information."

WHAT ELSE DO PARENTS WHO BELIEVE LIBRARIANS SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR LIBRARY MATERIALS THINK?; Book Riot, October 13, 2023

Kelly Jensen , Book Riot; WHAT ELSE DO PARENTS WHO BELIEVE LIBRARIANS SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR LIBRARY MATERIALS THINK?

"Book Riot and EveryLibrary have teamed up to execute a series of surveys exploring parental perceptions of libraries, and our first data sets were released at the end of September. These specifically explore the ways parents perceive public libraries...

While most parents have no idea how librarians choose the books in the collection (53%), and most also believe librarians should be responsible for collection development and maintenance (58%), one of the most surprising findings was that fully one-quarter of respondents believed librarians should be prosecuted for giving children access to materials...

People who do not know how librarians select material are much more likely to also believe librarians should be prosecuted for that material. This is chilling, to say the least. It’s also an important point to emphasize for library workers. Where and how do you educate your patrons about the process behind the acquisition of books, movies, and other collection items? If this demographic who somewhat or wholly believes librarians should be prosecuted for materials is your average or above average user, there is a lot of opportunity — maybe even necessity — for education."

Greenville County Library System committee votes 5-1 to eliminate all displays. What to know.; Greenville News, October 13, 2023

Savannah Moss, Greenville News; Greenville County Library System committee votes 5-1 to eliminate all displays. What to know.

"“I asked our library staff to research if there was another library system that had eliminated themed displays. They did not find any. In other words, we appear to be the first to eliminate theme displays,” Pinkston said. “Are we blazing a trail that others will soon follow? Or are we overreacting to a containable problem?”"

AI voice clones mimic politicians and celebrities, reshaping reality; The Washington Post, October 13, 2023

Pranshu Verma

 and 

Will Oremus

, The Washington Post; AI voice clones mimic politicians and celebrities, reshaping reality

"Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have made it easy to generate believable audio, allowing anyone from foreign actors to music fans to copy somebody’s voice — leading to a flood of faked content on the web, sewing [sic] discord, confusion and anger.

Last week, the actor Tom Hanks warned his social media followers that bad actors used his voice to falsely imitate him hawking dental plans. Over the summer, TikTok accounts used AI narrators to display fake news reports that erroneously linked former president Barack Obama to the death of his personal chef.

On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators announced a draft bill, called the No Fakes Act, that would penalize people for producing or distributing an AI-generated replica of someone in an audiovisual or voice recording without their consent...

Social media companies also find it difficult to moderate AI-generated audio because human fact-checkers often have trouble spotting fakes. Meanwhile, few software companies have guardrails to prevent illicit use."

Ethical Resistance Is the Answer to Grief and Rage; The New York Times, October 14, 2023

 Peter Beinart , The New York Times; Ethical Resistance Is the Answer to Grief and Rage

"Historically, geographically and morally, the A.N.C. of 1988 is a universe away from the Hamas of 2023, so remote that its behavior may seem irrelevant to the horror that Hamas unleashed last weekend in southern Israel. But South Africa offers a counter-history, a glimpse into how ethical resistance works and how it can succeed. It offers not an instruction manual, but a place — in this season of agony and rage — to look for hope."

Inside the Israel-Hamas information war, from insider attacks to fleeing leaders; The New York Times, October 14, 2023

Elizabeth Dwoskin, The New York Times; Inside the Israel-Hamas information war, from insider attacks to fleeing leaders

"While social media has been a critical tool for disseminating wartime information in recent days, a barrage of images, memes and testimonials is making it difficult to assess what is real...

“Right now,” said Hultquist, “it’s very difficult for a lay person to get to ground truth.”"

Libraries to observe Open Access Week with virtual panel discussion Oct. 24; Penn State, October 11, 2023

  Penn State; Libraries to observe Open Access Week with virtual panel discussion Oct. 24

"Penn State University Libraries will participate in the 16th annual global observance of Open Access Week with a virtual panel discussion at noon on Oct. 24. Panelists will discuss this year's theme, “Community Over Commercialization,” in the context of University Libraries initiatives that support research and teaching. The session is free and will be held virtually on Zoom; registration is required in order to attend.

The theme “encourages a candid conversation about which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community — and which do not,” according to the website description.

The panelists are Libraries employees who work on open initiatives including open access, open publishing, open data, open metadata, open educational resources and open source software:

• Jeff Edmunds, digital access coordinator, Cataloging and Metadata Services
• Ana Enriquez, interim head, Scholarly Communications and Copyright
• Andrew Gearhart, applications developer, Libraries Strategic Technologies
• Ally Laird, open publishing program coordinator, Research Informatics and Publishing
• Elizabeth Nelson, reference and instruction librarian, Lehigh Valley Campus Library, Penn State Lehigh Valley
• Briana Wham, Data Learning Center manager/research data management librarian — STEM, Research Informatics and Publishing"

Jacksonville library keeps policy affirming Library Bill of Rights; My Journal Courier, October 13, 2023

Ben Singson, My Journal Courier ; Jacksonville library keeps policy affirming Library Bill of Rights

"Jacksonville Public Library's board of trustees unanimously voted during a meeting Tuesday to maintain the language in its policy regarding the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights. Under current Illinois law, libraries in the state must officially adopt the Library Bill of Rights to be eligible for state grants.

First adopted in 1939, the Library Bill of Rights outlines seven points of best practice libraries should follow, including one that says "material should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.""

Arkansas librarians meet for annual conference amid censorship pressures; Arkansas Advocate, October 12, 2023

  TESS VRBIN, Arkansas Advocate; Arkansas librarians meet for annual conference amid censorship pressures

"Library administrators and staff from across Arkansas are gathering in Hot Springs this weekend for an annual conference, at a time when librarians in some parts of the state are under pressure to remove or relocate books pertaining to controversial subjects.

The Arkansas Library Association (ArLA), a chapter of the American Library Association, is a statewide organization that advocates for public libraries and promotes professional development for librarians. Both individuals and institutions in the library profession can be members of ArLA, according to its bylaws.

The organization is one of 18 plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the state over Act 372 of 2023, a law that would alter libraries’ material reconsideration processes and create criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors.” In July, a federal judge temporarily blocked the portions of the law that would have applied to public libraries, three days before the law was supposed to go into effect.

Supporters of Act 372 and the relocation or removal of certain library content have said no one under 18 should have access to content regarding sexual activity or LGBTQ+ topics.

The ArLA conference schedule includes discussions about the history of censorship in libraries, including attacks on LGBTQ+ subject matter.

The conference as a whole will not focus on these issues, but they have had an impact on librarians’ morale across the state, said Carol Coffey, the ArLA president and the Patron Experience and Library Analytics Coordinator for the Central Arkansas Library System."

Researchers use AI to read word on ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius; The Guardian, October 12, 2023

Ian Sample , The Guardian; Researchers use AI to read word on ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius

"When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in AD79, it burned hundreds of ancient scrolls to a crisp in the library of a luxury villa and buried the Roman town in ash and pumice.

The disaster appeared to have destroyed the scrolls for good, but nearly 2,000 years later researchers have extracted the first word from one of the texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside the delicate, charred remains.

The discovery was announced on Thursday by Prof Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, and others who launched the Vesuvius challenge in March to accelerate the reading of the texts. Backed by Silicon Valley investors, the challenge offers cash prizes to researchers who extract legible words from the carbonised scrolls." 

Book bans in Texas spread as new state law takes effect; THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA, October 11, 2023

JEREMY SCHWARTZ, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA ; Book bans in Texas spread as new state law takes effect

"The local censorship efforts come as courts wrestle with a new Texas law that requires booksellers to rate public school library books based on their depictions of or references to sex. Books in which such references are deemed “patently offensive” by the vendors will be issued a “sexually explicit” rating and can’t be sold to schools and must be removed from shelves of school libraries. Books that reference or depict sex generally will be rated “sexually relevant” and require parental permission to read.

Texas schools would be barred from buying books from vendors who don’t use the ratings.

On Sept. 18, a U.S. district judge in Austin issued a written order blocking the law, which was passed this spring, from taking effect. Judge Alan D. Albright, a Trump appointee, ruled the law would impose “unconstitutionally vague requirements” on booksellers and “misses the mark on obscenity.”

“And the state,” he wrote, “in abdicating its responsibility to protect children, forces private individuals and corporations into compliance with an unconstitutional law that violates the First Amendment.”

A week later, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the judge’s ruling, temporarily allowing the law to go into effect while the court considers the case, which it is expected to take up this month."

CT library director resigns due to alleged political pressure over LGBTQ+ inclusion; Hartford Courant, October 8, 2023

Alison Cross, Hartford Courant; CT library director resigns due to alleged political pressure over LGBTQ+ inclusion

[Kip Currier: Paywall: Unable to access article without subscription]

State commission moves to strike standard for library directors; Montana Free Press, October 11, 2023

 Alex Sakariassen, Montana Free Press; State commission moves to strike standard for library directors

"The Montana State Library Commission voted Wednesday to strike a longstanding professional requirement applied to the directors of Montana’s eight largest libraries, one that dictates whether those libraries qualify for state funding.

Currently, public libraries that serve more than 25,000 people must employ a director with a graduate degree in library or information science in order to qualify for state certification and, by extension, state revenue. A task force earlier this year recommended that the library commission maintain that requirement. However, several commissioners Wednesday argued that professional standards should be left to local library trustees to set...

Gregory added that Montanans expect their accountants, physicians and attorneys to meet certain educational benchmarks and that removing a similar standard for library directors sends the message that “librarianship is not a profession that needs a professional course of study or license.”"

Alabama public library system mistakenly flags children’s book as ‘sexually explicit’ because author’s last name is Gay; CNN, October 11, 2023

 Fabiana Chaparro, CNN; Alabama public library system mistakenly flags children’s book as ‘sexually explicit’ because author’s last name is Gay

"An Alabama public library system says it mistakenly added a children’s picture book to a list of books containing explicit material because the author’s last name is Gay. 

The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system accidentally labeled the book, “Read Me a Story, Stella,” by Marie-Louise Gay, as “potentially inappropriate” during an internal review of sexually explicit books in the children’s and young adult sections of the county’s ten libraries. 

The library system admitted to the mistake this week after receiving backlash from internal library system staff and the local community. 

Cindy Hewitt, the library’s executive director, told CNN the picture book was labeled as containing potentially explicit material after an automated keyword search turned up the word “gay” in the book’s title, author name or subject line. 

But, she said, the purpose of the review was never to ban or censor books that dealt with topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity, race or racism. 

Instead, in response to widespread efforts to ban books across the country, Hewitt said the library system wanted to survey its catalog and take steps to preempt any state efforts to ban books. 

“We decided, as a whole, to look at all our collection and see what was likely to be challenged, with the purpose of protecting our collection and making sure it stayed intact,” Hewitt said. “(The) opposite of banning, we were trying to protect.” 

Library managers conducted the review using a list of books provided by Clean Up Alabama, a group that claims Alabama libraries offer books “intended to confuse the children of our communities about sexuality and expose them to material that is inappropriate for them.”

The organization says it works to protect “the well-being and innocence of children by advocating for a safe and enriching environment in the children’s sections of our public libraries,” according to its website."

Ethical considerations in the use of AI; Reuters, October 2, 2023

 Brad Hise and Jenny Dao, Hanson Bridgett LLP, Reuters; Ethical considerations in the use of AI

"The burgeoning use of artificial intelligence ("AI") platforms and tools such as ChatGPT creates both opportunities and risks for the practice of law. In particular, the use of AI in research, document drafting and other work product presents a number of ethical issues for lawyers to consider as they contemplate how the use of AI may benefit their practices. In California, as in other states, several ethics rules are particularly relevant to a discussion of the use of AI."

At Harvard, a Battle Over What Should Be Said About the Hamas Attacks; The New York Times, October 10, 2023

 Anemona Hartocollis, Stephanie Saul and Vimal Patel, The New York Times; At Harvard, a Battle Over What Should Be Said About the Hamas Attacks

"The debate over Israel and the fate of Palestinians has been one of the most divisive on campus for decades, and has scorched university officials who have tried to moderate or mollify different groups.

But Dr. Summers’s pointed criticism raised questions about the obligation of universities to weigh in on difficult political matters.

A famous 1967 declaration by the University of Chicago called for institutions to remain neutral on political and social matters, saying a university “is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic.” But students over the years have frequently and successfully pressed their administrations to take positions on matters like police brutality, global warming and war."

A Farewell Letter; The Suffield Observer, October 1, 2023

  Julie Styles - Director, The Suffield Observer; A Farewell Letter

"By the time you read this, I will have departed from my role as Director of the Kent Memorial Library. My plans to resign have been brewing for several months, despite having just started this position last fall. My decision was based on many factors, and it wasn’t an easy one to make. For the most part, it boils down to the fact that while I was hired to be a professional library director, I was not actually allowed to do my job as one.

The purpose of a public library is not to keep rows of books nice and neat for casual readers to pick something out to help them pass the time. While that is one of the services we proudly offer, it is not the core of our mission. The role of the library is to connect its patrons with information, facts, and literature that help them with all aspects of their lives. A library’s role is not to shield people from controversial issues, but rather to provide resources that help people to understand those issues. It should support the discourse that is happening in the community, not sanitize or whitewash it. Most importantly, a library should represent, reflect, and wholeheartedly welcome the diverse lives and interests of its entire community.

The way a public library is managed should not be influenced by politics. When the government of a town directs library staff to remove or relocate books based on certain topics, it is censorship. And it sends the message that some people in the community, and the stories that represent their lives, aren’t important. That some people’s lives don’t deserve to be treated equally. That only some people’s stories are worth drawing attention to.

Over the past year, people who do not understand the purpose of a library, or the tenets of the library profession, have asked me to make changes that are antithetical to established library best practices, including: increase late fines to generate more revenue for the town, tag all LGBTQIA+ books with warning labels, avoid putting up displays addressing current affairs or ones that represent marginalized communities, and to disregard patron privacy. I’ve been repeatedly told that I am “legally obligated” to include books covering “both sides” of every display topic in order to remain “neutral” (a statement that is both incorrect and very disturbing: are we to provide racist books alongside anti-racist resources? Anti-Semitic books next to ones celebrating Hanukkah or describing the Holocaust?). It’s also been suggested that I stop following the guidance of the American Library Association (ALA), despite the fact that an ALA-accredited Master’s in Library Science degree is required for my job.

Certainly, as a professional, educated, and experienced librarian, I have disagreed with directives and suggestions such as these. My duty as a librarian is to honor the First Amendment rights of everyone. To protect the privacy of our patrons. To not assign any kind of moral value to the books we provide. To let readers—and the caregivers of young readers—decide for themselves what is appropriate. To serve everyone in town—without judgment.

Unfortunately, I have not been allowed to do that. Instead, I have been instructed to run the library in ways that conflict with my professional ethics, experience, and training. So, it is time for me to move on.

It’s been an honor to serve the Suffield community for the past year, as best I could. I have gotten tremendous support and great feedback from many Suffield residents. The Friends of KML and the Library Foundation have been wonderfully supportive, as have most of the members of the Library Commission. And if I could, I would bring the entire staff of KML with me, as they are, each and every one talented dedicated and fantastic to work with. I hope going forward, their jobs provide them with fulfillment, inspiration, and a sense of pride, wherever their careers may take them."

Autonomous Vehicles Are Driving Blind; The New York Times, October 11, 2023

 Julia Angwin, The New York Times; Autonomous Vehicles Are Driving Blind

"For all the ballyhoo over the possibility of artificial intelligence threatening humanity someday, there’s remarkably little discussion of the ways it is threatening humanity right now. When it comes to self-driving cars, we are driving blind...

Despite all these real-world examples of harm, many regulators remain distracted by the distant and, to some, far-fetched disaster scenarios spun by the A.I. doomers — high-powered tech researchers and execs who argue that the big worry is the risk someday of human extinction. The British government is holding an A.I. Safety Summit in November, and Politico reports that the A.I. task force is being led by such doomers...

The doomer theories are “a distraction tactic to make people chase an infinite amount of risks,” says Heidy Khlaaf, a software safety engineer who is an engineering director at Trail of Bits, a technical security firm."