Click here to view a video of the 11/17/22 presentation. 

If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries." Peter Scheer, former executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition

Book banning has become rampant across our country. Libraries and their librarians are being threatened and the very principle of access to information guaranteed by the First Amendment is at stake.

• Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom, will provide a national view of the book challenges that are happening in school and public libraries and strategies to address those challenges.
• Mickey Huff, director of Project Censored and Diablo Valley College professor, will review our First Amendment rights, the current challenges and threats our country is experiencing and what citizens can do to protect those rights.
• Cindy Chadwick, Alameda County Librarian, will discuss a recent incident at the San Lorenzo Branch Library Drag Queen Story time and how the Library has responded.
• Alison McKee, Contra Costa County Librarian, will discuss how the library and community are responding to protests at a Drag Queen Story time at the local Lafayette Library.

The panel will be moderated by Susan Hildreth, LWVDV, former San Francisco Public Library Director and California State Librarian. The webinar will be followed by an opportunity to answer your questions.

The Library will provide closed captioning for this event. 

Click here to register for the Zoom webinar. Information on how to access the Zoom webinar will be sent to your email address 24 hours before the program.

This program will be recorded and uploaded to the LWVDV and Library's YouTube channels after the event.