The Textbook & Academic Authors Association has signed the American Library Association’s and American Publishing Association’s Freedom to Read Statement, originally published on June 25, 1953 and republished June 25, 2023, marking its 70 year anniversary.

From the AAP’s General Counsel, Terry Hart:

“Seventy years ago, publishers, librarians, and scholars from across the United States joined together to address a wave of attacks on books, leading to the ALA and APA Freedom to Read Statement, subsequently endorsed by numerous allies.  At the time, fear, suspicion, and suppression, fueled in large part by McCarthyism, was at a fever pitch—a serious situation that required an equally serious affirmation of intellectual freedom and the constitutional protections that make it possible.

Unfortunately, as we approach the 70th anniversary of the Statement, we are grappling with a new wave of censorship, as more than 60 bills have been introduced in the past year that would chill or control what Americans may read.  These bills would, for example, impose lists of banned books on public schools; require content ratings at public and school libraries, and subject librarians, educators, publishers, and booksellers to criminal liability.”

Please join us in signing the Freedom to Read Statement.