[Libs-Or] Multnomah County Library's Intellectual Freedom Newsletter –June 2025

[Jennifer Keyser]

Hello Oregon Library Community!

The June IFC Newsletter from Multnomah County Library is now available (PDF
version attached). This month is a little less jam-packed, but still covers
a variety of intellectual freedom issues. This edition highlights some new
podcasts. Check those out if you want a deeper dive into ebooks, the
internet or censorship. If you crave more news, there is always the ALA IF
Blog <https://www.oif.ala.org/> that rounds up a variety of articles.

Thanks for all you do to support intellectual freedom!

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions
Intellectual Freedom Newsletter – June 2025
------------------------------

🎉Good news for freedom to read in Oregon: Bill prohibiting book bans in
school libraries becomes law
<https://www.orartswatch.org/bill-prohibiting-book-bans-in-oregon-school-libraries-becomes-law/>!!
(Oregon Artswatch, 5 min). For a brief background on the law, see this OPB
report
<https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/10/oregon-school-library-book-access-bill/>
(4 min). legislation, censorship

Popular Information dives into Florida’s ongoing efforts to promote
censorship in schools
<https://popular.info/p/florida-officials-threaten-librarians>, including
intimidating librarians (7 min). The Tallahassee Democrat reports on
how advocates
continue to fight
<https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2025/06/20/censorship-claims-grow-over-floridas-book-ban-orders/84259121007/>
censorship by the state (7 min).  censorship


A new American Library Association report examines the important role of
libraries in prisons
<https://www.ala.org/news/2025/06/investing-in-prison-libraries-report> in
relation to recidivism and improving communities (3 min). Read the full
report: Investing in Prison Libraries: A Cost-Effective Path to Safer
Communities and Second Chances
<https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/Investing_in_Prison_Libraries_06_2025.pdf>.
Related, a zine from Library Futures highlights the work of incarcerated
library workers: Controlled Chaos
<https://www.libraryfutures.net/publications/controlled-chaos/>. access



PC Mag offers tips for when you are looking for an older version of a
webpage: How to View Archived Versions of a Website
<https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/view-cached-version-of-a-website#https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/view-cached-version-of-a-website#>
(4 min). Journalist’s Resource provides tips in finding  health data
<https://journalistsresource.org/home/when-health-data-disappears-8-tips-for-finding-whats-hidden-from-public-view/>
that has disappeared from public view (10 min). access, information literacy

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is headed to the House to be voted on
soon, but is receiving additional pushback from LGBTQ+ groups
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/24/kosa-lgbtq-transgender-wachowski-blackburn-coppa/>
-due to how it may limit access to information for kids (Washington Post, 9
min). access, legislation

The Washington Post relays the latest privacy issues with Meta
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/06/06/meta-privacy-facebook-instagram/>
and steps to take to protect your data (5 min). The Conversation delves
into the prevalence of  the Internet of Things devices and their impact on
your privacy
<https://theconversation.com/how-internet-of-things-devices-affect-your-privacy-even-when-theyre-not-yours-251592>
(9 min). privacy


A new report from Muck Rack highlights the biggest threats to journalism
<https://www.insideradio.com/free/report-disinformation-is-biggest-threat-to-journalism/article_502c022c-55ad-456b-8010-ae896b20774c.html>,
which include disinformation, AI and the decline in social media (Inside
Radio, 2 min). Read the full report: “State of Journalism 2025” report
<https://files.constantcontact.com/4d97b452901/1c55658b-2d94-433d-9db5-14e59a09431a.pdf>.
disinformation

Clint Smith explores in The Atlantic how Toni Morrison changed publishing
<https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/08/toni-morrison-editor-random-house/683262/>
as an editor at Random House (17 min). Read more about her work at the
publishing house in Toni at Random
<https://multcolib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S152C2597454>. An opinion
from the Washington Post highlights the importance of not politicizing the
Library of Congress (7min). access, diversity

Unbannable <https://theunbannablebook.com/>, a digital archive of queer
creativity that goes against the current wave of censorship was launched
for Pride Month
<https://lbbonline.com/news/Terri-and-Sandys-Unbannable-Book-Spotlights-Queer-Creative-Voices>
(Little Black Book, 4 min). diversity

Podcasts – check out these deeper dives into IF topics:

   -

   Future Knowledge <https://futureknowledge.transistor.fm/> by the
   Internet Archive and Authors Alliance.
   -

   Podcast about eBooks and libraries
   <https://eclive.engelberg.center/episodes/trailer-introducing-a-podcast-about-ebooks-from-library-futures>
   from Library Futures:
   -

      Accompanying interactive timeline
      <https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html>
      -

   From Cory Doctorow a deep dive into the internet: Pluralistic: Who broke
   the internet?
   <https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/08/who-broke-the-internet/>. Also
   available on on CBC’s Understood
   <https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1353-the-naked-emperor>
   -

   Unbound Pages <https://www.wgbh.org/culture/books/series/unbound-pages>
   from GBH explores book bans and censorship in the U.S.


AI Spotlight

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists highlights the problems of using AI
in government work
<https://thebulletin.org/2025/05/government-officials-are-letting-ai-do-their-jobs-badly/>
(10 min). The Wall Street Journal covers how AI in search engines is not
connecting users to the information
<https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-ai-news-publishers-7e687141> they are
seeking and the impact on news sites (7 min). Although geared toward higher
ed, this Conversation article highlights best practices
<https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-ai-news-publishers-7e687141> for
engaging critically with AI tools (7min). information literacy

Vox reports on how AI can gather data from  a single vacation photo
<https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/415646/artificial-intelligencer-chatgpt-claude-privacy-surveillance>
(Vox, 7 min). The Conversation dives into personal data collected by AI
<https://theconversation.com/ai-tools-collect-and-store-data-about-you-from-all-your-devices-heres-how-to-be-aware-of-what-youre-revealing-251693>
(10 min). privacy

Copyright issues are a persistent issue with the development of AI
tools, chatbots
need books to learn from
<https://apnews.com/article/ai-chatbot-training-data-libraries-idi-e096a81a4fceb2951f232a33ac767f53>
(AP, 8 min), but that also means grabbing information
<https://www.404media.co/ai-scraping-bots-are-breaking-open-libraries-archives-and-museums/>
that is copyrighted (404 media, 8 min). Go deeper with this report from
glam-e lab: Are AI Bots Knocking Cultural Heritage Offline?
<https://www.glamelab.org/products/are-ai-bots-knocking-cultural-heritage-offline/>
Related, AI firms say they can’t respect copyright. These researchers tried.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/05/tech-brief-ai-copyright-report/>
(Washington Post, 5 min). copyright

Similarly, disinformation continues to go hand in hand with AI. New York
Times reports how it threatens democracy
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/technology/ai-elections-democracy.html>
around the world. (11 min). The Conversation explains the prevalence of AI
slop
<https://theconversation.com/what-is-ai-slop-why-you-are-seeing-more-fake-photos-and-videos-in-your-social-media-feeds-255538>
on social media (7 min). disinformation

The Conversation provides a critical look at AI as an accessibility tool
<https://theconversation.com/ai-is-now-used-for-audio-description-but-it-should-be-accurate-and-actually-useful-for-people-with-low-vision-256808>
and the need for accuracy to be useful (5 min). access

Information Labs walks through the history of technology disrupting
<https://informationlabs.org/spinning-disruption-a-history-of-creative-industry-alarm-bells/>
and reshaping the creative industry (8 min). Related, Techpolicy provides a
thought piece on AI and creative works: AI Doesn’t Paint: Why We Cannot
Separate Art from the Artist
<https://www.techpolicy.press/ai-doesnt-paint-why-we-cannot-separate-art-from-the-artist/>
(10 min). For fun, a playful exploration of AI from the perspective of an
artist
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/23/magazine/ai-art-artists-illustrator.html>
(New York Times). copyright
------------------------------
Additional Resources

ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: https://www.oif.ala.org A blog dedicated to
intellectual freedom issues, and includes the Intellectual Freedom News
<https://www.oif.ala.org/category/intellectual-freedom-news/> –a weekly
roundup of IF related articles
Oregon Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Toolkit
<https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/home> (published February 8,
2022). A range of tools and resources relating to IF challenges and
policies created by the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee.

Rights, Responsibilities & Reactions is a monthly roundup of Intellectual
Freedom News compiled by the Multnomah County Library Intellectual Freedom
Committee.



*Jennifer Keyser *(she/her)
*Policy Coordinator Librarian*
Monday - Friday
971-429-4699
Multnomah County Library
multcolib.org

[image: Copy of MultCoLib_2LineLogo_252px_RGB.jpg]

  [image: All are welcome here. Multnomah County.]
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