CHICAGO – The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) launched significant updates to tools to help library workers, advocates and the public combat book banning and to stay informed on the latest censorship cases around the country.
The goal of OIF is to educate library workers and the public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.
“The Office for Intellectual Freedom is proud to offer practical tools that provide clear guidance and support for library professionals as they continue to protect the right to read,” said Sarah Lamdan, OIF Executive Director.
Censorship Cases Bot
This news feed, available on Bluesky, provides real-time updates on the latest book censorship cases. OIF curates this feed in partnership with the Free Law Project, a nonprofit organization that uses technology, data, and advocacy to make the legal ecosystem more equitable and competitive.
OIF is also pleased to share updates to existing resources:
Book Résumés
Through the generous support of Auto-Graphics, a Soutron Global Company, Unite Against Book Bans launched an online catalog of every title on the Book Résumés website. Book Résumés help teachers, library workers, parents, and community members defend books from censorship. They detail each title’s significance and educational value and are easy to share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members. Book Résumés are available for more than 800 of the titles most frequently targeted for censorship. The Auto-Graphics catalog adds robust search features, so now these resources are even easier to discover and access. Additionally, libraries worldwide can now easily link to these Book Résumés from their own catalogs. As efforts to censor books continue to expand, tools that aid advocacy for everyone’s right to read in the library are more important than ever before.
First launched in February 2024 through the Unite Against Book Bans campaign, this free resource was created in partnership with dozens of publishers and library leaders. These résumés help teachers, library workers, parents, and community members defend books from censorship. Each details a title’s significance and educational value and is easy to share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members.
Intellectual Freedom Manual
The eleventh edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual is available for preorder on the ALA store. The latest version of the manual offers up-to-date insights into protecting intellectual freedom, fighting censorship, and safeguarding privacy, among many other related topics.
About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the largest non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to America’s libraries. The ALA mission is to empower and advocate for all libraries and library workers to ensure equitable access to information for all. For 150 years, ALA has provided resources for information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more information, visit?www.ala.org.
Free Law Boilerplate
Free Law Project is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing open justice through technology, data, and research. It maintains widely used public legal research tools including CourtListener, the RECAP Archive, and its suite of APIs, providing millions of users with free access to court opinions, filings, and structured legal data. Its new Justice Initiatives division focuses on expanding access to justice for self-represented litigants, developing tools like the Litigant Portal to make legal information, forms, and court processes more understandable, accessible, and actionable. By combining innovative technology with deep expertise in public-interest law, Free Law Project helps ensure that the justice system works for everyone.
