Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News v. 11 n. 11, November 2025

Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News support the committee's mission to monitor governmental activities and social justice issues affecting the professional interests of ARLIS/NA and to keep the ARLIS/NA membership informed. The monthly alerts are intended to be conversation starters, help members keep up on public policy issues and alert members to new developments. The articles compiled in the News Alerts bring to the forefront recent news from a range of perspectives designed to elicit discussion; they are not compiled to represent the views of ARLIS as an organization or the members of the Advocacy and Public Policy Committee.

Previous issues can be found here: https://www.arlisna.org/news/appc-news-alert 

Funding

• Holtermann, Gabriele. “‘The people’s museum’: State lawmakers award Brooklyn Museum $10M amid federal arts cuts.” Brooklyn Paper, November 21. 2025.

• Laucius, Joanne. “Federal budget cuts may affect some of the pleasures that define Ottawa.” Ottawa Citizen, November 5, 2025.

• Myers, Quinn. “Librarians, Aldermen Push Back Against Proposed Library Cuts.” Block Club Chicago, November 5. 2025.

• Peet, Lisa. “Hundreds of Carnegie Libraries to Receive $10K Gift.” Library Journal, November 8, 2025.

• Towfighi, Michaela. “Told to Avoid D.E.I., Arts Groups Are Declining Grants Instead.” The New York Times, November 20, 2025. [paywall]

Intellectual Freedom/Access to Information

• Battulga, Sandy. “Civil Rights Groups Accuse History Colorado of Censoring Pro-Palestinian Painting.” Denverite, November 3, 2025.

• Darblay, Louise. “Poststructuralism and Self-Censorship at Palais de Tokyo.” ArtReview, November 21, 2025.

• Farfan, Isa. “Colorado Museum Accused of Censoring Anti-ICE, Pro-Palestine Artwork.” Hyperallergic, November 6, 2025.

• Farfan, Isa. “How Can NYC Artists Push Back Against Censorship?” Hyperallergic, November 25, 2025.

• Press Release. “NCAC, FIRE, ACLU-CO Oppose Removal of Art from Exhibition at History Colorado Center.” National Coalition Against Censorship, November 3, 2025.

• Stern, Seth. “The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an Anarchist Zine.” The Intercept, November 23, 2025. [paywall]

• Wagner, Bayliss. “'Antivirus for libraries': How a Texas startup is capitalizing on school book bans.” San Antonio Express-News, November 17, 2025.

Technology and Digital Privacy

• Alajaji, Rindala. “Lawmakers Want to Ban VPNs—And They Have No Idea What They're Doing.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 13, 2025.

• Cope, Sophia. “EFF to Arizona Federal Court: Protect Public School Students from Surveillance and Punishment for Off-Campus Speech.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 16, 2025.

• Covucci, David. “DHS Is Deploying a Powerful Surveillance Tool at College Football Games.” 404 News, November 11, 2025.

• Koebler, Jason. “AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge.” 404 News, November 6, 2025.

• Lipton, Beryl. “Washington Court Rules That Data Captured on Flock Safety Cameras Are Public Records.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 12, 2025.

• Stanley, Jay. “Digital Driver’s Licenses Threaten to Create a “Great Internet Lockdown”.” American Civil Liberties Union, November 4, 2025.

• Wells, Rachel. “OpenAI Data Breach Exposes User Data. Here’s What To Do Immediately.” Forbes, December 1, 2025. 

Workplace

• Kobell, Rona. “Baltimore County Public Library Lays off 14 Part-Time Employees.” The Banner, November 14, 2025. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Detroit Institute of Arts Workers Push to Unionize.” Hyperallergic, November 7, 2025. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Philadelphia Art Museum Accuses Former Director of Theft.” Hyperallergic, November 24, 2025.

• Solomon, Tessa. “LACMA Declines to Voluntarily Recognize Union Formed by Hundreds of Workers.” ARTnews, November 6, 2025. 

Miscellaneous

• News Desk. “Opportunistic Thieves Rob Oakland Museum of 1,000+ Objects.” Artforum, November 3, 2025.

• Chakerian, Peter. “Rock Hall ‘Fair Use’ Ruling Raises Big Questions for Creators.” Cleveland, November 21, 2025.

• Reuters. “Warner Music Group Settles Copyright Case with Suno for Licensed AI Music.” November 25, 2025. 

• Soehner, Ken. “Books, Art & Librarianship at the Met.” Library Journal, November 21, 2025.

Special News Alert: 47th Presidential Administration and Cultural Heritage

Federal Offices and Agencies

• Bender, Michael C. “Trump Administration Announces Steps to Dismantle Education Department.” The New York Times, November 18, 2025. [paywall]

• “Court permanently blocks Trump’s executive order to dismantle federal agency for America’s libraries.” American Library Association, November 21, 2025.

• Marimow, Ann E. “Supreme Court Defers Ruling on Trump’s Effort to Oust Copyright Official.” The New York Times, November 26, 2025. [paywall]

• Peet, Lisa. “A Victory for IMLS as Court Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Dismantle Agency.” Library Journal, December 3, 2025.

Funding

• Cascone, Sarah. “U.S. Museums Are Bracing for a Difficult 2026 Amid Funding Cuts, New Survey Finds.” Artnet News, November 13, 2025.

• Farfan, Isa. “One-Third of US Museums Feel the Pain of Trump’s Grant Cuts.” Hyperallergic, November 12, 2025.

• Press Release. “National Survey Reveals Alarming Downturn: Museums Face Worst Financial Outlook Since Pandemic.” American Alliance of Museums, November 11, 2025.

• Press Release. “Statement on FY2026 "Minibus" Funding for the Library of Congress.” Everylibrary, November 11, 2025.

Miscellaneous

• Cieslik, Emma. “Protest Dance Outside Kennedy Center Targets Trump’s Attack on Culture.” Hyperallergic, November 24, 2025.

• Cox, Joseph. “Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort.” 404 Media, November 13, 2025. [paywall]

• Perlo, Jared. “Trump signs executive order launching Genesis Mission AI project.” NBC News, November 24, 2025.

This issue of News Alerts was compiled by Caroline Clavell, Michele Jennings, Stephanie Kays, Torie Quiñonez, and Annie Sollinger.