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Intellectual Freedom Resources
Recently, we have seen escalations in the tactics of book ban proponents in Michigan. Keep an eye out for the following in your community:
In Lapeer County, a prosecutor was reported to be considering bringing charges against the director of the public library for keeping the frequently-targeted book Gender Queer available to the public. U.S. publishers are not producing obscene books, and providing access to a book in the library is not a crime. As discussed in the linked news article, attempting to force a library to censor books with legal threats may even backfire as removing books from a public library based on viewpoint may leave the library open to a First Amendment violation lawsuit.
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What Do Michiganders Really Think? MLA Public Opinion Survey on Public Libraries And Book Banning
In March 2023, the Michigan Library Association contracted with EPIC-MRA, a full-service survey research firm with expertise in Public Opinion Surveys and Market Research Studies to conduct a statewide survey on library issues. While we have been using national studies to prove that book banning and censorship issues are not tolerated by the majority of voters in the country, we now have solid Michigan data to back this up.
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Michigan Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference
Every six months economic forecasters come together to project revenues for the State of Michigan upon which the next fiscal year budget is created. On May 19, these forecasters predicted that revenues will be lower than what was predicted last January, due in part to purposeful policy plans implemented by the Whitmer administration including major tax relief policies and business incentives, and an income tax cut.
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Michigan Library Advocacy Day
On Tuesday, April 25 the Michigan Library Association hosted its first in-person Michigan Library Advocacy Day in more than a decade. The sold-out event brought together 125 library advocates representing public, school, academic, tribal, and special libraries from all over Michigan to share the message that Strong Libraries = A Stronger Michigan.
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Cass County Proposed “Child Protection Ordinance"
April 27, 2023
Last week, MLA worked on an issue that was taking shape in Cass County that would have had far-reaching ramifications for other counties. It was a proposal, unlike anything MLA has responded to in the fight against book banning and censorship.
The Cass County Board of Commissioners was looking to adopt a “Child Protection Ordinance” which would have required signed legal statements attesting to the “safety” of materials at the three local libraries among other places. While the title of the ordinance is a “bit” misleading – this was an attempt to censor and ban books. They were also proposing a county-wide threat of felony charges and warrantless arrests to operate the libraries and curate the collections if materials didn’t satisfy their definitions.
The good news: the Cass County Board pulled the ordinance from the agenda due to the “heat” of inquiry from librarians and others who were appalled that this was on the agenda.
There are many issues with the ordinance and the three affected library systems have already engaged legal counsel; are opposed (obviously); and will work through the legal systems to ensure they continue to offer library services without censorship.
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