Author: Patricia Mastricolo

Policy Change in NJ School District Paves Way for Censors

Earlier this year, two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees School District in New Jersey restricted access to Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home against their own policies. The restriction was overturned at the end of February after CBLDF, co-sponsors of…

A History of Frequently Banned Comics

Though CBLDF has Case Studies of challenges and bans of comics that go back over twenty years, when it comes to the graphic novels being challenged in quantity, it’s a far more recent affair. This year’s ALA list of most…

Imprisoned Journalists and Comic Strip Alum Among Pulitzer Winners

The 2019 Pulitzer Prizes winners have been announced, and among the many talented journalists, photographers, authors, and musicians, were Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo – the two Reuter’s journalists imprisoned for supposedly violating Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act while investigating…

ACLU Urges GA Sheriff to Rescind Book Ban

The ACLU is working to reverse a new policy in a Georgia prison that severely limits inmates access to books and publications, by only allowing them to choose from what is available on the book cart. They’ve written a letter to Chatham…

In Their Own Words – Banned Books Edition

Last week American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom announced their annual list detail the most frequently challenged and banned books based on those reported throughout the previous year. Here’s some of the responses from the creators whose work was…

WA Reverses Prison Book Ban After Failed Defense

The Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) reversed its decision to ban book donations from nonprofits after outcry from the public and local lawmakers, including WA Governor Jay Inslee, voiced questions about the ban. DOC had previous enacted the policy…

Join CBLDF for One Day Intensive – Teaching Comic Books

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to present Teaching Comic Books, a one day conference created in collaboration with Portland State University Comics Studies and Portland Comic Book Month. TCB:PDX gathers leading expert educators, librarians, advocates, and creators for…

Free Webinars for Educators and Librarians Center Around Comics

American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) is hosting free webinars focused on information about comics and manga for education. Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10th is a webinar titled, Addressing the Gatekeepers: How to Turn Comic…