Over the years, I’ve talked to quite a few librarians, teachers, and students about censorship. Here are some of my resources that I’ve used to teach classes and present educational programs. Hopefully they will be helpful to you, too!
Supreme Court cases and other legislation:
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011), in which the state’s law to prevent minors from purchasing violent video games was struck down. Key takeaways: Minors enjoy first amendment rights to consume information, and the decision is a significant precedent that recognizes video games as art forms with literary merit.
LandmarkCases.org is a great resource with teaching materials for key Supreme Court decisions. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier and Tinker vs. Des Moines are good ones to kick off a discussion of youth rights. For those of us in states with anti-Hazelwood laws, here are other resources:
- Kansas Student Publications Act
- Complete listing of student press freedom laws
- The New Voices movement is leading the way to guarantee freedom of speech for student journalists.
From my 2023 Kansas Library Association conference session: Censorship Awareness
- Slides here
- Handout from session
- ALA’s Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School, & Academic Libraries
- Illinois Library Association newsletter article about movie ratings usage in libraries
- Wichita Public Library’s policies online: mission/vision and collections
- The Importance of Diversity in Library Programs and Material Collections for Children
Wichita Public Library’s intro video for managers to start the conversation with staff:
More resources coming!
I’ll add more of my past handouts and info here.