Raina Telgemeier’s critically acclaimed graphic novel Drama has survived another attempt to ban it, this time in Ottawa Catholic Elementary Schools. CBC News reported on January 15 that they were shown emails ordering librarians at all Ottawa Catholic School Board…
Author: Patricia Mastricolo
Dynamite & Humble Bundle Launch “Best Of” Sale Benefiting CBLDF
Featuring Fan Favorites & the Newest Hits As a part of their ongoing 15th anniversary celebrations for 2019, Dynamite has partnered with Humble Bundle to offer fans unbeatable deals on classic tales both new and old. Not only are these…
Adorable Cartoon Animals Latest Victim of Tumblrs Adult Content Ban
Popular cartoonist Liz Climo, one of the animators for long-running hit TV show The Simpsons who is also well known for her adorable animal cartoons, is one of the most recent users to find their work censored unnecessarily by Tumblr…
4 Years After “Je Suis Charlie” – Are We?
This week marked the 4th anniversary of the gruesome Charlie Hedbo attack, where two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the newspaper’s office and killed 12 people, injuring 11 more. At the time of the tragedy, the…
Supreme Court Rejects Petition from Prison Legal News
On Monday, January 7th the Supreme Court rejected a First Amendment dispute over the Florida Department of Corrections statewide ban of Prison Legal News (PLN), a magazine distributed monthly by Human Rights Defense Center. The ban has been in place…
Vandal Destroys PA Library Book Because of Bad Words
A copy of Susan Wigg’s summer romance Lakeside Cottage was returned to the Mifflin County Library in Lewistown Pennsylvania after some anonymous editor had crossed out all the bad words in the entire book with a Sharpie. Library Director Molly…
The Free Speech Century – Examining the Great American Experiment
The First Amendment, ratified in 1791, is by no means new. But as the recent book The Free Speech Century points out, it was largely uninterpreted until three landmark decisions came down from the Supreme Court in 1919 – marking…
There’s Still Time to Start a Reading Challenge in 2019!
With the first week of 2019 coming to a close, it is time to settle on your annual reading challenge. Reading challenges are a great way to encourage yourself to read more, often times with vast amount of online support…
Throw an Official Event for the 100th Children’s Book Week!
Right now The Children’s Book Council (CBC) is asking teachers, librarians, and booksellers to register to host an official Children’s Book Week (CBW) event for the spring of 2019. This is the 100th Anniversary of CBW, which began in 1919…
Netflix Complies With Censorship Request from Saudi Arabia
According to a Financial Times article, Netflix recently removed an episode of Patriot Act with Hassan Minhaj that was critical of Saudi Arabia after the kingdom threatened the episode was in breach of their internet cyber-crimes laws. The episode in…