MORE 'SCHOOL-LIBRARIES' POSTS
From The Los Angeles Times: The tattoos on Jen Cousins’ arms speak to literacy and how books can take on us on trips across strange and extraordinary universes: an owl for wisdom, a drawing from the novel “Wonder,” multicolored glasses from Harry Potter and a saying from one of her children: “The world is only what you shape it […]
Illinois: First-in-the-Nation Legislation to Prevent Book Bans Approved by General Assembly as Bill Passes Senate, Governor Expected to Sign
Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries, School Libraries
|From the Illinois Sec. of State: Landmark legislation designed to prevent book banning passed the Illinois Senate, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced today. HB 2789, which now awaits the Governor’s signature, sets a nationwide precedent in the fight against book bans, as libraries and librarians face unprecedented censorship of books and resources, including in […]
From WYFI: The Indiana legislature approved a controversial bill Thursday that centers on what books students should and should not have access to in school. The final version of the legislation was largely decided behind closed doors. Under House Bill 1447, school districts and charter schools are required to publicly post their library catalogs and establish […]
The Seattle Public Library Joins Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned to Fight Censorship with Free Card For Youth
Funding, Libraries, National Libraries, News, Public Libraries, School Libraries
|Here’s the Full Text of an Announcement From the Seattle Public Library: The Seattle Public Library is joining Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned initiative to fight censorship and book banning by offering teens and young adults across the nation free access to the books in its digital collection. Youth ages 13 to 26 who live […]
From the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Arkansas’ attorney general said on Friday that a law creating a new offense for “furnishing a harmful item to a minor” does not apply to e-books and audiobooks despite concerns from the head of the Central Arkansas Library system over whether thousands of items in digital libraries remain vulnerable to […]
From a PEN America Release: The number of individual book bans across the country increased by 28 percent during the first half of the 2022-23 school year compared to the prior six months, January – June 2022, according to a new PEN America report. “Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools” documents […]
Report: “Missouri Senate Puts Library Money Back in Budget”
Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries, School Libraries
|From the St. Louis Post Dispatch: Budget writers in the Missouri Senate on Wednesday restored the state funding for local public libraries that had been stripped from the spending plan by the House. During an hourslong review of the House spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, inserted $4.5 […]
Tennessee: “House Approves Bill Targeting Publishers for Sending Schools Sexually Explicit Books”
Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, News, School Libraries
|From The Tennessean: A Tennessee bill that would open book publishers and distributors to criminal prosecution for sending obscene materials to public schools is headed to Gov. Bill Lee. The Tennessee House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 1059 in a 71-22 vote. It already passed the Senate last week, and now heads to Lee’s desk. [Clip] Book […]
From a Stateline Report: Amid the national uproar about whether to allow students access to a wide variety of books, the superintendent of a Virginia school district this week proposed a sweeping solution: Get rid of school libraries altogether. Mark Taylor, who leads the district in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, suggested at a recent school board […]
Statement: American Library Association (ALA) Condemns Ongoing Threats Against Libraries
Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News, School Libraries
|Here’s the Full Text of an ALA Statement (March 27, 2023): The American Library Association (ALA) condemns—in the strongest terms possible—the violence, threats of violence and other acts of intimidation that are increasingly taking place in America’s libraries, including last week’s bomb threats to Hilton Central District Schools in New York, which put the lives […]