James Finn
Oct 5, 2023

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Indeed, entire school systems in Iowa are trying to use AI assistance to identify books that might contain material the new law prohibits. Teachers in Florida have emptied out informal classroom book collections they made available for students, saying they don't have time to read every page of every book, and if they've erred, they could lose their jobs or even face jail time. School libraries across the country have emptied shelves for lengthy review processes, librarians or contracted third parties tasked to read every page of every book and then write a report on whether the book is "appropriate." This is another example of what I called "quiet censorship." Many of those books don't land back on shelves in any reasonable period of time, because what policy makers are asking librarians to do is not practically possible.

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James Finn
James Finn

Written by James Finn

James Finn is an LGBTQ columnist, a former Air Force intelligence analyst, an alumnus of Act Up NY, and an agented but unpublished novelist.

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