Joe Kohlburn is a doctoral candidate in information science, librarian, activist, and an arts advocate in St. Louis, MO.
I wrote an op-ed for the KC Star back in June to advocate on behalf of the long suffering Intellectual Freedom heads in Missouri. It's a dismal state of affairs, per usual, for school librarians, parents, kids, and others who value the freedom to read. Stickers of the below title are available for free if …
Continue reading "Op . Ed- Kansas City Star- Originally Titled “Book Bans are Bullshit”"
Earlier this week, we sent a letter to the Cameron School Board in Cameron, MO objecting to recent blocking of standing orders for books speaking to diverse readership, as well as use of BookLooks, which frankly is an absolute Orwellian nightmare of a censorship platform. A day or so later, we received a response from …
Great news today! Our MLA-IFC won the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award given by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign! As always it is a great honor to be part of the MLA-IFC when it isn't winning awards, but I'm incredibly excited that our long years of work (especially long over the past 3 or so …
Continue reading "We won the Downs Intellectual Freedom Award!"
The opinions expressed in the below blog post are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the MLA, MASL, or the MO-ACLU. As a member of the MO House for the past seven years, I have to assume Cody Smith must know the true nature of the MLA, MASL, and MO-ACLU’s suit against …
Continue reading "Defunding Libraries Hurts Missouri, Obviously."
What is there to say about the MO House of Representatives voting to remove funding from Missouri Libraries? I have no doubt that MO-Reps already know all of this, but for those of you who are unaware, MLA and MASL receive no state funding. They are all-volunteer-run membership organizations working on behalf of professional librarians. …
Continue reading "Missouri Legislature Hellworld Intellectual Freedom News Roundup"
The Missouri ACLU has announced a lawsuit on behalf of MASL and the MLA against Jackson County to address SB 775, and the undue burden it puts on school librarians as well as other librarians in the state. Given the overlapping peril with the latest HB's coming out to codify the Secretary of State's proposed …
Continue reading "MO-ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of MASL and MLA"
My profound thanks to my colleagues on all their excellent work this year. Here is a non-exhaustive list of our appearances in print and television this year. Well done advocates! KSDK - February 2022 https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/education/aclu-missouri-file-suit-against-wentzville-school-district-book-ban-the-bluest-eye/63-65f9c4e8-cb79-4a26-805b-2c1d9ec360ab St. Louis Post- Dispatch - June 2022 https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/library-group-again-implores-wentzville-school-board-to-stop-banning-books/article_12c41756-63b1-5e69-b645-a1af44551151.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest Independence Examiner - July 2022 https://www.examiner.net/2022/07/09/end-school-library-censorship-and-address-the-damage-it-has-done/ KOMU - August 2022 (https://www.komu.com/news/state/new-missouri-law-will-ban-sharing-visually-explicit-materials-with-students/article_97717864-2493-11ed-9871-bb4c9247515f.html) St. …
Jeff Todd- Board President Parkway School District 455 N.Woods Mill Road Chesterfield, MO 63017 jtodd3@parkwayschools.net cc: Dr. Keith Marty- Superintendent kmarty@parkwayschools.net Dear Mr. Todd and Dr. Marty, We were asked by members of your community to write on behalf of students, teachers, and librarians in your district. Your recent effort to remove a series of …
Continue reading "Letter to Parkway School District- September 30, 2022"
In honor of Banned Books Week (Sept 18-24), the Missouri Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee would like to clearly state our position on SB 775 and related actions by legislators, administrators and school board members. On behalf of our members and readers across the state, please join us in resisting attempts to undermine intellectual freedom. …
Continue reading "Banned Books Week Statement from the MLA-IFC"
This letter was drafted to support the Missouri Association of School Librarians and their letter from earlier this week. August 11, 2022 Dear Readers, The Missouri Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee stands in solidarity with The Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL) in their opposition to pre-emptive removal, censoring, and labeling of library materials. We …
Joe Kohlburn 