FTRF is a proud sponsor of Banned Books Week 2012. As we lead up to the Sept 30 – Oct 6 celebration of free access to information we are featuring the winners of the 2012 Judith Krug Fund grants who did wonderful work drawing attention to the harm that censorship has in our society. http://www.ftrf.org/?page=Krug_BBW

ACLU of Pennsylvania 

ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, was awarded a 2012 Krug Fund grant for their 17th annual "fREADom: A Celebration of the Freedom to Read,” Read-Out and the second annual "Banned After Dark” event featuring performances of banned or challenged plays, songs and other works. This is the second grant for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which also was awarded a grant in 2010. http://www.aclupa.org/events/pittsburghbannedbooksreadi.htm

Those attending the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color conference this week - and anyone in the Kansas City area - please join the Freedom to Read Foundation at a reception on Friday from 6-7:00 p.m. at the Westin Crown Center, 1 East Pershing Road in Kansas City, MO in the Roanoke Foyer.

You don't have to be a member to stop by, relax, have a nosh, chat with friends, and learn more about the work FTRF is doing to protect the freedom to read!

Following the reception, we also invite you to attend the 50 for Freedom of Speech event in the adjacent Shawnee Mission room.  FTRF is pleased to cosponsor  - with REFORMA and Librotraficante - this celebration of Mexican American and Ethnic Studies literature and the freedom to read.  The event is one of many around the country responding to the dismantling earlier this year of the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies Program and the concomitant removal of books from all district classrooms.

Freedom to Read Foundation General Counsel Theresa Chmara has written an article for American Libraries magazine discussing recent court decisions in Washington and Missouri affecting Internet filtering in libraries:

Why Recent Court Decisions Don’t Change the Rules on Filtering

Several libraries have been sued recently on the grounds that their internet filtering programs are unconstitutional, raising questions in the library community about whether the rules have changed about blocking software.

The short answer is no.

In discussing a federal judge's recent decision in the case Bradburn v. North Central Regional Library, Chmara explained that:

The fact that the district court in one case upheld an internet filtering system does not mean that other libraries can be assured of a similar result.

In another recent case involving a school library, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri reached a different conclusion. The court held on February 15 that the school district in Camdenton, Missouri, had unconstitutionally blocked websites that support or advocate on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people while permitting students access to websites that condemn homosexuality or oppose legal protections for LGBT people.

In that case, the district had to pay significant legal expenses.  Chmara concludes by noting:

If libraries use filters that block constitutionally protected material deemed harmful to minors and do not allow adults to disable filters, or fail to provide an effective unblocking system, those libraries may open the door to years of litigation and significant legal expenses.

We encourage everyone interested in this issue to read the entire article (plus Chmara's follow-up comment) at American Libraries.  As she points out, neither the article nor the comment are intended as legal opinions, and libraries should consult their legal counsel regarding their particular situation.