Freedom to Learn Foundation
The Freedom to Learn Foundation (FTLF) is dedicated to protecting our public libraries and institutions of learning and democracy that provide essential services to our communities, safeguarding intellectual freedom, educational equity, and access to information for all. We believe that every individual—regardless of background—deserves the right to read, learn, and explore ideas without censorship or restriction. Our mission is simple but urgent: to defend our libraries, support allies dedicated to educational opportunities for all, push back against book bans, and empower communities to stand up for the freedom to learn.
FTLF operates at the intersection of education, advocacy, and coalition building designed to ensure that our libraries remain a vibrant part of our communities while defending books, media, and ideas so that they remain accessible in classrooms, libraries, and public spaces.
Our core programs include:
✅ Investing in and Protecting Our Libraries & Defending Educators
✅ Education & Awareness
✅ Leadership Development
✅ Legal & Policy Support
✅ Coalition Building & Community Engagement
Public libraries and educators are under sustained federal and state legislative attack.. Many face budget threats, replacing career professionals with political appointees, harassment, and legal action for upholding their principles to provide open and self-selected access to books, information, and resources from our nations’ schools and libraries. Make no mistake, these efforts to defund the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and criminalize book access are part of a broader strategy to destabilize public institutions and our public education infrastructure.
Through the FTLF Essential Library Services Grant Program, the Freedom to Learn Foundation will provide direct support to libraries in rural and historically marginalized communities, as well as to librarians and teachers facing censorship or political pressure.
A key priority of this program is to fund libraries that serve communities most in need—supporting essential services such as internet access, educational programming, community events, workforce development resources, and the preservation of safe, inclusive spaces for civic dialogue and learning.
FTLF will provide and advocate for funding and legal protections, and promote their essential role in a healthy, informed democracy.
To learn more about our FTLF Essential Library Services Grant Application process, please click here:
💡 About the FTLF Essential Library Services Grant Program
As libraries across the country face funding cuts and unprecedented attacks impeding their mission of providing safe spaces for all, the Freedom to Learn Foundation is launching the Essential Library Services Grant Program to directly support those libraries most at risk. This initiative exists to ensure that smaller, rural, resource challenged libraries, often serving historically marginalized communities, can continue to provide essential services—like free PC and internet access, educational programming, and safe community spaces—even in the face of growing censorship and defunding efforts. These grants are designed to strengthen the public institutions that protect our right to learn, connect, and thrive.
Hosting workshops, training, and community events to educate students, parents, and educators about the dangers of censorship and the importance of diverse perspectives.
We create public programming that helps people understand the scope and stakes of censorship in America today. Through public forums, classroom presentations, and digital campaigns, we illuminate how book bans often target communities of color and LGBTQ+ youth, suppress historical truths, and silence critical perspectives. Our educational content draws from current data and investigative reporting to empower individuals to push back effectively and legally.
Training the next generation of advocates, educators, and policymakers to fight back against book bans and restrictive policies in their communities.
We train and mentor emerging leaders—students, librarians, teachers, and parent advocates—who are defending intellectual freedom in their communities. Participants in our programs gain the tools to organize, testify, and speak out publicly against censorship. e’re investing in grassroots leaders to shift the narrative and protect educational justice for future generations.
Providing legal resources, amicus briefs, and policy advocacy to challenge unconstitutional censorship and promote the Freedom to Read at the state level.
Our legal work includes submitting amicus briefs in cases of national significance, advising local and state policymakers, and supporting litigation against unconstitutional censorship laws. We use legal precedent from the Supreme Court and insights from leading First Amendment experts to highlight how recent laws are vague, overbroad, and discriminatory—violating students’ rights to access diverse viewpoints and librarians’ freedom to provide information.
Bringing together authors, librarians, educators, and advocates to build a national movement against censorship and attacks on intellectual freedom.
We work hand-in-hand with national publishers, grassroots organizers, library associations, and civil liberties groups to strengthen the pro-democracy coalition. Our partners include authors whose books are frequently challenged, library systems defending community access, and legal advocates challenging censorship in court. Together, we amplify resistance, support defenders, and coordinate strategic campaigns across sectors.
The fight for intellectual freedom has never been more urgent. Across the country, schools and libraries are under coordinated assault. Extremist networks are promoting legislation that bans books, limits classroom discussion, and erases entire communities from curricula. These bans often target books that center Black history, queer identity, immigrant narratives, and social justice themes—threatening the diversity that defines American public education.
With over 4,000 book challenges recorded last year—many orchestrated by politically affiliated and ideological organizations, and filed en masse using pre-written complaint templates—the crisis of censorship, book banning, and escalating threats against educators and librarians is only growing. State laws in places like Florida and Missouri allow a single objection to result in the removal of a book district-wide, with no expert review or educational input.
At the same time, librarians and educators are facing harassment, job loss, and criminal charges for simply upholding students’ rights to read. Public libraries are being defunded for refusing to remove inclusive titles, and the federal agency that supports them—the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—is now under direct threat.
Proposed federal budgets have called for the elimination of IMLS altogether, jeopardizing critical funding streams that sustain public and school libraries in every state. Without IMLS, programs that provide books to underserved children, build digital literacy skills, and expand library access in rural and low-income communities would disappear. More than 120,000 libraries across the country rely on IMLS-backed programs, including essential services like interlibrary loan systems, workforce training, and summer reading initiatives that combat learning loss. These are not luxuries—they are lifelines.
Weakening IMLS doesn’t just reduce federal support—it opens the door for more ideological control over what libraries can offer, especially in vulnerable communities. The loss of this foundational agency would set back decades of progress in ensuring equitable access to knowledge and opportunity.
This is not just about books. It’s about democracy, access to truth, and the future of education in America. We do this work because every student deserves the freedom to think critically, engage openly, and grow into an informed citizen. And we know that when libraries are silenced and teachers are punished, entire communities lose their voice.
We refuse to let that happen.
