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AFSCME represents more than 25,000 library workers nationwide - more than any other union. AFSCME is a leading advocate for equitable pay for library workers and for full funding for public libraries. From the Library of Congress and public libraries in Boston, New York, the District of Columbia, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Seattle/King County to public, school, college and university libraries nationwide, AFSCME librarians and library workers serve thousands of patrons every day.

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AFSCME represents more than 25,000 library workers nationwide - more than any other union. AFSCME is a leading advocate for equitable pay for library workers and for full funding for public libraries.

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Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!

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Audacity is the world’s most popular audio editing and recording app. Edit, mix, and enhance your audio tracks with the power of Audacity. Download now!

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OBS Studio is equipped with a powerful API, enabling plugins and scripts to provide further customization and functionality specific to your needs.

Utilize native plugins for high performance integrations or scripts written with Lua or Python that interface with existing sources.

Work with developers in the streaming community to get the features you need with endless possibilities.

Browse or submit your own in the Resources section

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OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.

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The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom provides confidential support during censorship challenges to library materials, services, and programs. Anyone can report censorship, even if they do not require assistance. Report censorship by filling out this online form, or contacting OIF via email: oif@ala.org.

As stated in Article III of the Library Bill of Rights,"Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment."

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.

Censorship is a change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes.

Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.

Personal Support during a Reconsideration Process

Anytime. If there are whispers of concern and you want to make sure you're on solid footing and get encouragement from a friendly voice, you can contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom. If you have a question about your current operations and want to make sure they align with best practices, you can contact us. If you witness authorities subverting the policy, you can contact us. If you want to strengthen your defense of the material and support of its inclusion in your collection and need resources, you can contact us. If a concerned adult posted a complaint on social media and you need guidance, you can contact us. If you get a call from a local reporter out of the blue and don't know how to respond, you can contact us. If your committee evaluated the material and recommended to retain it in the collection and you want to celebrate, you can contact us. If everyone in your life is tired of hearing you talk about this book challenge or you feel you have no one you can confidentially share with, you can contact us.

We get calls and emails every day and it is our priority to be available to you. Don't hesitate to email, call or fill out an online reporting form.

With such a wide spectrum of ideas and information available, it's inevitable that people will occasionally encounter resources they believe to be offensive or inappropriate. They may complain and request that such resources be removed. This page provides step-by step suggestions about how to respond.

What is your institution's policy and procedure?

​Locate your policy. Is it online? In a binder at your service desk? In your director's office? Many libraries have their policies located both within the physical building or accessible through their website. The reconsideration policy may be part of the collection development policy or instructional materials policy. If your library is part of a branch system or school district, this policy may be located at the central headquarters.

If the library receives a completed reconsideration form, the person or group designated in library policy to handle challenges should follow these guidelines from receipt to decision.

Under the best professional standards, reconsideration policies ask those charged with reviewing a challenged book to set aside their personal beliefs and evaluate the work in light of the objective standards outlined in the library's materials selection policy. Listed are some best practices for Reconsideration Committee members.

If a challenge rises to the level of an appeal, your library's reconsideration process may call for a public hearing by your governing board as part of the appeal process. If it does, the following tips may be helpful.

When appropriate, as the challenge becomes public, library and school district administrators may seek the support of local media. Informing local civic organizations of the facts and enlisting their support may counter negative, one-sided media coverage with moderate, tempered discussion.​ These tips will keep you calm and collected while you address the media about the challenge

When the reconsideration process is subverted or undermined

Sometimes the principal or library director does not follow policy and removes the challenged resource or cancels the event. If the administration refuses to follow the reconsideration process, even after discussing the legal and ethical reasons for doing so, how far should library workers go to defend the challenged resource?

This is a personal, ethical decision, and library workers must weigh all factors. If the director or principal is adamant, library workers may be forced to evaluate the risk of retaliation from their supervisor or losing a job against the merits of continuing to oppose the censorship attempt. After considering the situation carefully, they may come to acknowledge that they have done all that is possible at this time, or they may decide that taking a principled stand is worth the risk.

The reconsideration process can also be compromised if the concerned individual or group goes around the policy structure to speak directly to a higher authority such as an elected official, school superintendent, or board members. Although this does not always occur, optimally, higher authorities should be redirected to the reconsideration process and reminded of relevant policies.

Guiding Documents to Safeguard Intellectual Freedom and Prepare your Library, School or College Against Censorship

As with any public service, libraries receive complaints. One of our responsibilities is to listen in a respectful and fair manner. The complaints that library workers often worry about most are those dealing with library materials, privacy and the internet. The key to successfully handling these complaints is to be sure the library staff and the governing authorities are all knowledgeable about the complaint procedures and their implementation.

Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices. The interpretations are designed by the Intellectual Freedom Committee to clarify the implications and applications of the original six articles. These documents are policies of the American Library Association, having been adopted by the ALA Council.

Written by Martin Garnar and Trina Magi. Tenth Edition. Chicago: ALA Editions. 2021

If your library serves youth, you may find that you need to respond to a concerned adult such as a parent, guardian or board member about resources and services in your collection. This document is designed to help you explain how and why your library selects the resources it provides. It can also help you respond to questions and challenges about material that adults may consider inappropriate.

Updated 2022

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The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom provides confidential support during censorship challenges to library materials, services, and programs. Anyone can report censorship, even if they do not require assistance. Report censorship by filling out this online form, or contacting OIF via email: oif@ala.org.

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Online directory of local service providers.

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Latest News Need Help with the ACP?
The Affordable Connectivity Program is an FCC benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more.

The benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands.

Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.

The Affordable Connectivity Program is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.

Who Is Eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program?

A household is eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program if the household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or if a member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;

Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider's existing low-income internet program;

Participates in one of these assistance programs:

Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program, including at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Eligibility Provision schools.

SNAP

Medicaid
Your Medicaid eligibility may be up for renewal. Learn more about how to renew.

Federal Housing Assistance, including:

Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program (Section 8 Vouchers)

Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA)/Section 202/ Section 811

Public Housing

Affordable Housing Programs for American Indians, Alaska Natives or Native Hawaiians

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

WIC

Veterans Pension or Survivor Benefits

or Lifeline;

Participates in one of these assistance programs and lives on qualifying Tribal lands:

Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance

Tribal TANF

Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

Tribal Head Start (income based)

Two Steps to Enroll

1. Go to GetInternet.gov (AccedeaInternet.gov en español) to submit an application or print out a mail-in application.

2. Contact your preferred participating provider to select a plan and have the discount applied to your bill.

Some providers may have an alternative application that they will ask you to complete.

Eligible households must both apply for the program and contact a participating provider to select a service plan.

How Does the ACP Protect Consumers?

FCC rules protect Affordable Connectivity Program recipients by:

Empowering consumers to choose the service plan that best meets their needs (including a plan they may already be on);

Ensuring consumers have access to supported broadband services regardless of their credit status;

Prohibiting providers from excluding consumers with past due balances or prior debt from enrolling in the program;

Preventing consumers from being forced into more expensive or lower quality plans in order to receive the ACP;

Ensuring that consumers are not liable for early termination fees;

Reducing the potential for bill shock or other financial harms;

Allowing ACP recipients to switch providers or broadband service offerings; and

Providing a dedicated FCC process for ACP complaints.

Which Internet Service Providers Are Participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program?
Various internet providers are participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program. Find internet service providers offering the benefit in your state or territory.

Service providers: find more information about how to participate.
Consumer Outreach Toolkit
The toolkit includes downloadable Affordable Connectivity Program social media images, fact sheets, and other outreach content and materials that can be customized for consumer awareness campaigns.
Request a Speaker
FCC consumer experts are available to explain the Affordable Connectivity Program at your event.
Become an Outreach Partner
The FCC is mobilizing people and organizations to help share important consumer information about the new Affordable Connectivity Program. To participate, please fill out and submit the form below:
American Sign Language Videos
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel talks about how the ACP can help families get connected to internet service (video is ASL interpreted).

Watch this ASL video to learn about the Affordable Connectivity Program, who is eligible and how to apply.
News Media Contacts & Resources
Paloma Isabel Perez
FCC Press Secretary
paloma.perez@fcc.gov

Office of Media Relations
mediarelations@fcc.gov
202-418-0500

Additional Resources

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The Affordable Connectivity Program is a long-term, $14 billion program to help ensure we can afford the internet connections we need for work, school, health care and more. Eligible households can receive a monthly discount of up to $30 per month on their internet service bill and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands.

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Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

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-Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publ…

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A website of the American Library Association Public Programs Office