Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
Good. There's a conflict of interest there even if she began the process 6 months ago. If her precious darling is too much of a special snowflake to read about racial violence that actually happens to kids, then tell the teacher not to let special snowflake borrow the book. Simple solution but that's not what she wants, obviously. She wants to stick her head in the sand and pretend this stuff doesn't happen.School board member admits to filing book challenge, claims violation of privacy
https://portcitydaily.com/latest-news...
North Carolina
NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A school board member has taken to social media to share her disdain for a recent report regarding another book challenge at New Hanover County Schools. Josie Barnhart admitted she was the one behind it.
Barnhart claims she is being politically targeted by the media — with her children being used as “collateral” — for reporting on Sharon Draper’s “Blended,” which is being challenged at Wrightsboro Elementary. The book is about Isabella, a mixed-race 11-year-old, navigating her parents divorce and incidents of racism in her school, all culminating in a traffic stop where Isabella is shot by an officer.
... Documents show the parent took issue with the maturity level of the subject matter. The documents were released via a public records request made by WHQR, and NHCS redacted both the student and parent names.
The outlet reports the challenge “accused the author of ‘taking liberties’ by injecting an incident of racial tension into the book” and voiced concerns on how the book would affect relationships between students and school resource officers (SROs).
New Hanover County Schools did not provide WHQR with the name of the parent behind the challenge; however, WHQR reported multiple sources pointed to Barnhart.
“This breach of privacy is a direct attack on your and my parental rights,” Barnhart wrote in her statement Thursday. “I refuse to stand by when there is an attempt to intimidate and silence parents who follow the process.”
The board member demanded accountability for what she called a “leak” of information — particularly her name — along with changes in protocols, though didn’t offer specifics. Later in the statement, Barnhart discussed filing the challenge.
“I started this process six months ago, not utilizing my position on the board to influence, but rather taking the appropriate channels all parents are given,” Barnhart wrote.
Port City Daily asked Barnhart for specifics on how she found out about the book but did not receive a response by press. WHQR reported there were copies in Wrightsboro classroom libraries.
Book challenges begin at the school level, where a committee of staff, principals and a parent review the material in question. The Wrightsboro Elementary committee approved of the book, rejecting the challenge, yet the parent appealed, which prompted it to go before the district-wide review committee. WHQR reported NHCS had yet to inform the outlet on results of the committee’s meeting, which occurred on May 5.
... In her statement, the board member claimed the process is “tainted” because of reporting tying her to the complaint.
Not only has it “muddied” the process, but Barnhart claims people that provided information to WHQR did so in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The law ensures student’s educational records are kept private and confidential, with only parents allowed to review things like grades and attendance. However, FERPA doesn’t apply to parent identities.
Barnhart did not further detail how she thought the release of her name was a FERPA violation.
She claimed the release was intended to “create media buzz and sow division in our community before the district has made a decision about content shows a clear attempt to manipulate, sway, and intimidate decision makers under the false claims of ‘book banning.’”
Port City Daily also asked Barnhart if she would recuse herself should she bring the challenge before the school board. After the district-level review, parents have the option to appeal to the school board, which has final say on the matter.
Upon reaching out to other board members to weigh in, Tim Merrick was the only person to respond:
“I’ve read Ms Barnhart’s press release where she implies that she is the parent, but I have not heard her say definitively she is. If it is determined she is the parent, then she must recuse herself. It is wholly inappropriate to act as both plaintiff and jury.”
If it reaches the board, “Blended” would become the second book to be challenged in the last two years. In 2023, the board voted 4-3 to temporarily ban the book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You” from curriculum after it was being taught in an AP English class. The ban was only supposed to hold until the district could identify a book with an alternative perspective, though this has yet to be done, despite recent attempts to discuss it by Merrick and board member Judy Justice. The item is scheduled to be taken up by curriculum committee in June.
And South Carolina can't let Utah surpass their book ban count. I doubt there will be any books left for kids to read next year and the teens are fighting this!https://www.thestate.com/news/local/e...
Midlands school libraries remove children’s book over LGBTQ+ relationship
South Carolina leads the nation in public school book bans, with over half linked to one parent's challenges in Beaufort County, sparking statewide debate on censorship and educational content.
A children’s picture book about the life of tennis great Billie Jean King has been removed from libraries in one Midlands school district for what officials determined was inappropriate content.
The book “I Am Billie Jean King” by author Brad Meltzer is an illustrated biography of the tennis star targeted at readers from the ages of 5 to 9, according to its Amazon listing. But after one parent complained about the book to the Lexington-Richland 5 school district, administrators removed the book from libraries at three different schools in the Chapin-Irmo area district. On one page of the book, published in 2019, the 39-time Grand Slam winner mentions that she is gay and married to a woman. But administrators decided that the book doesn’t meet its age and grade level standards, the district said in an email, because the district’s health education standards “do not teach preferential lifestyles or romantic feelings.” The district cited the state’s 1988 Comprehensive Health Education Act, which says South Carolina schools’ sex education programs “may not include a discussion of alternate sexual lifestyles from heterosexual relationships including, but not limited to, homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases.”
Normally, a book would only be removed by a formal challenge from a parent, followed by a review by a committee pulled together from teachers, librarians and community members to decide if the book should be returned to school shelves. But in this case, district officials say the book will still be available to students at the affected schools. It will just be moved to the school counselor’s office, where it can be accessed with written parental approval.
... The S.C. Board of Education this month voted to bar 10 books from public schools statewide, bringing the total to 22 and in the process becoming the state with the most banned books in the country, most of them challenged by a single parent. New rules adopted by the state Department of Education last year focus on removing books with s--ual content. But critics have called those standards vague, and the King book’s only mention of s-x is noting the protagonist’s relationship. ...
Read more at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/e...
South Carolina becomes nation's leader in mandated public school book bans with voteSouth Carolina now leads the nation in public school book bans, with 22 titles removed.
https://www.greenvilleonline.com/stor...
The South Carolina Board of Education recently banned 10 books, citing “s--ual conduct” as inappropriate for all students.
Critics argue the bans prevent children from accessing diverse perspectives and are based on a flawed policy.
The ACLU of South Carolina criticizes the policy for not requiring board members to read the books before banning them.
South Carolina has become the nation's leader in books banned from public school shelves.
According to the South Carolina branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, South Carolina leads the U.S. in book bans after the state board of education voted earlier this month to remove 10 books from all public schools and grade levels.
The action brings the total to 22 books removed or restricted statewide in public schools.
ACLU South Carolina director of communications Paul Bowers said the ban prohibits children from books that provide insight into the world around them.
"Overall, we can see that these book bans are an absurd outcome of an absurd policy," Bowers said. "The state has declared all books to be age-inappropriate for students from kindergarten through 12th grade based on context-free passages and a broad rubric of 's--ual conduct,' with no requirement that board members or Department of Education officials read the books at all".
In March, the board's instructional materials review committee recommended banning the titles based on Regulation 43-170, which deems any book containing a description of “s--ual conduct” age-inappropriate for all students.
The board deemed the 10 books to have s--ual conduct inappropriate for school-aged children.
The May 6 vote was 15 to 2, with David O’Shields of Laurens County and the Rev. Tony Vincent, representing Anderson and Oconee counties, casting the dissenting votes.
"As long as Regulation 43-170 remains in place, book bans will be a recurring feature of State Board of Education meetings," Bowers said.
Mod
Kanye West (Ye) should be facing serious criminal charges, but that will likely never happen, sigh. For me, Kanye West is a vile little Nazi (but the sad fact is that this despicable POS obviously enjoys being labelled a Nazi and considers it an honour).
https://www.dw.com/en/kanye-west-adol...
The fact that Holocaust denial and Nazi symbols are NOT illegal in the USA is absolutely disgusting and enables monsters like Kanye West. Too bad that Kanye West cannot seemingly be arrested (but for me, he should be rotting it jail).
And in my opinion, if Donald Trump actually wants to be serious regarding combatting ALL American anti-Semitism and yes Donnie that includes White Supremacy and Aryan Nations type of anti-Semitism and not just Islamic based anti-Semitism, then he, then Trump would immediately make ALL Nazi symbols (the salute, Holocaust denial, swastikas etc.) totally and completely illegal in the USA and he would also permanently and openly, publicly muzzle and go after Elon Musk who is obviously actively supporting Kanye West, Nazism and anti-Semitism.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/05/1...
Boycott X, boycott Elon Musk. And after Kanye West's "song" and that Elon Musk has removed neither it nor Kanye West and his cohorts discussing this from X, honestly, why would anyone who is against Nazism (old and new) in any way support Musk and/or want to own a Tesla.
Manybooks wrote: "https://www.cbc.ca/news/kanye-west-hi...Kanye West (Ye) should be facing serious criminal charges, but that will likely never happen, sigh. For me, Kanye West..."
I never followed him to begin with but I understand he has serious mental health issues and his swing to the alt-right caused Kim Kardashian to take the kids away. Nazi symbols, anti-Semitism, KKK symbols, "from the river to the sea", etc. are supposedly protected under free speech. There's no distinction between hate speech and free speech, however, the police DO take neo-Nazi activity seriously, at least in communities where that sort of thing is not common.
This is it. Dismantle the Dept. of Ed., eliminate funding for public schools and set up White, Christian, Nationalist charter schools funded by the tax payers. We must fight this!House Republicans propose $5 billion for private school vouchers
https://apnews.com/article/tax-credit...
Faith leaders denounce US book burning as hate-fuelled intimidation https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
Faith leaders denounce US book burning as hate-fuelled intimidation
Interfaith group responds after books on Black, Jewish and LGBTQ+ history were burned and shared in racist video
“Unfortunately, this is one of those things that’s, like, I’m shocked, but not surprised, every time it happens,” Rev Ryan Wallace of Fairmount Presbyterian told the Guardian in an interview. “We need to not get complacent. Every time it happens, we have to be there to say, ‘this is unacceptable.’”
The group of faith leaders gathered on Monday to speak out against the book burning. The informal, inter-faith coalition in Ohio, called the Interfaith Group Against Hate, has been organizing and engaging in political action in recent years, to combat far-right and white supremacist attacks.
Wallace said the coalition, which began in 2023, has also been engaging in pro-immigrant advocacy, in response to the Trump administration’s heightened offensive on immigrant communities.
“I’ve seen a lot of this kind of hate. And there’s more and more and more of it,” said Wallace. “And that was part of it, with this interfaith group, to say: let’s not pretend like this is just somebody else’s problem and that this is happening someplace else. It’s happening here.”
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The Beachwood police department launched an ongoing investigation, the department said in a statement to the Guardian. Once the investigation is complete, the city prosecutor will review and determine whether they can charge someone with a crime.
“Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes,” the Beachwood police chief Dan Grispino said in a statement. “We are committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting any hate-motivated incidents within the City of Beachwood. Our priority is to maintain a community that can thrive.
...
“ As a person of faith, I am called to stand in solidarity with the whole community, and to call for change in our community that reflects our shared values,” he said.
The group hopes to donate 1,000 books to the library system, related to Jewish, African American and LGBTQ+ history.
Sickening that anyone would even consider this type of bill but it's what happens in Russia. I'll follow this up with the Russian news.Texas- Half Price Books leads fight against Texas bill targeting ‘harmful material'
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dal...
HB 1375 would hold bookstores liable for selling or displaying books that some may find obscene
Dallas-based Half Price Books is helping lead the fight against a bill being considered in Austin.
The bill would allow bookstores to be sued for selling or even displaying harmful material to minors. ...
President Kathy Doyle Thomas said that while Half Price Books workers love reading, reading every book that comes through its doors is unrealistic. Doyle Thomas said that's what her stores would be expected to do under a bill proposed by State Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, District 93.
“How do we know in all of these books that we have in all of the stores across the state -- we don't know what's inappropriate. [They] could be inappropriate in Corpus Christi compared to Dallas, Texas,” explained Doyle Thomas.
House Bill 1375 would hold bookstores liable for "damages arising from the distribution, transmission, or display of harmful material to a minor."
Schatzline told a House committee last month that it provides parents with the option to sue those who expose children to obscene content.
... [cue the usual argument for "protecting minors"]
Doyle Thomas said titles in the romance, mystery and self-help sections would be at the top of the list of those at risk of being targeted.
“When I saw the bill, I was just frustrated and mad and I thought we have to do something about it,” she said.
In a recent letter to lawmakers, Doyle Thomas wrote that HB 1375 is “a threat to all booksellers” and asked them not to interfere with their ability to do business. Critics see this as the latest chapter in book censorship.
“Someone is trying to decide what I can and can’t read and my children can and can’t read and we do not think that’s fair or appropriate,” said Doyle Thomas.
The bill remains in a House committee and has not been voted on. Before it can become law, it must be approved by both the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
The Texas legislative session is scheduled to end on June 2.
Yes this is Russia but it CAN happen here, witness Texas, in the story above. Police Arrest Publishing House Staff Over Alleged LGBTQ+ Books
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/0...
Law enforcement authorities searched the offices of Russia’s largest book publisher and arrested several employees over alleged LGBTQ+ “propaganda” and “extremism,” Russian media and rights groups reported Thursday.
According to the state-run TASS news agency, 11 employees of Eksmo Publishing House were arrested on Wednesday. Three have been charged with distributing “LGBT propaganda” and engaging in “extremist” activities, according to lawyer Maxim Olenichev of the legal advocacy group Perviy Otdel.
Authorities accuse the employees of publishing literature with LGBTQ+ themes, Perviy Otdel said. Russia’s Supreme Court outlawed the so-called “international LGBT public movement” as an extremist organization in 2023, even though no such entity formally exists.
Those arrested on Wednesday reportedly include Eksmo’s senior managers, as well as staff from its shipping and accounting departments. The rights group OVD-Info and BBC Russia noted that at least two of those arrested were no longer employed by Eksmo at the time of their arrests.
TASS, citing the publisher, later reported that its head of distribution was released after being questioned by the police. Eksmo said it was cooperating with the investigation.
Following the police searches and arrests, Eksmo reportedly sent its business partners a list of 50 books flagged by authorities as violating Russia’s laws against “LGBT propaganda,” according to Novaya Gazeta Europe.
Among those books is the 2021 coming-of-age bestseller “Summer in a Pioneer Tie,” originally published by Popcorn Books, in which Eksmo acquired a majority stake in 2023.
Popcorn Books was the first publisher targeted under Russia’s expanded anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
Utah gains on SC but SC wins the book banning czar title so farhttps://www.sltrib.com/news/education...
Utah banned an 18th book from all public schools. An adult book but still censorship.
The law requires a book be removed from all public schools in the state if at least three school districts (or at least two school districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to “objective sensitive material” — p---graphic or otherwise indecent content, as defined by Utah code.
The Utah State Board of Education also issued guidance recommending that schools prohibit students from bringing “objective sensitive material” onto campus.
“These titles should not be brought to school or used for classroom activities, assignments, or personal reading while on school property,” the USBE’s guidance reads.
“Water for Elephants” was officially banned May 5 after the Davis, Cache County and Tooele County school districts removed the title.
Go students!Katy ISD, Texas students call for repeal of book and gender policies following school board election
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/ar...
James Cross’ May 3 victory against school board president Victor Perez, who had championed conservative policies regarding gender identity and library materials, means a majority of the seven-member board might be interested in overturning those policies.
Following the May 3 election results, Katy ISD students and community members are asking school board members to repeal the Houston-area district’s controversial book and gender policies.
The board appointed trustee Lance Redmon as its new president Monday after Katy ISD voters ousted former president Victor Perez, who had championed the policies and campaigned on conservative principles. Perez lost his reelection bid against longtime educator James Cross, who has voiced opposition to the district’s book and gender policies.
Cross' victory means a majority of the seven-member board might be interested in overturning at least some of those policies as Redmon, Dawn Champagne and Rebecca Fox voted against a gender fluidity policy that narrowly passed in 2023. Several community members on Monday urged the board to begin that process immediately.
Former Katy ISD librarian Lynette Alidon addressed the board during the public comment period and asked the trustees to listen to the needs of the fast-growing community west of Houston.
"Let this be a lesson to future school board candidates and their campaigns," she said. "These cultural wars created distrust, fear and hatred, which brought negative attention to this district. Please listen to the speakers at the board meetings and have discussions with our students and educators to determine what is best for this district."
Jarred Burton, a Tompkins High School senior and president of the student-led Sexuality and Gender Alliance Club, said the board now has the opportunity to eliminate the policies implemented by the previous administration that some view as discriminatory.
"I am speaking not only for myself, but for the students who are not safe enough to come here and talk to you themselves," Burton said. "Please repeal the gender fluidity policy and stop the book bans. These policies have put an insane strain on both students and teachers. Please listen to the people who are most directly affected by these decisions."
...
in August 2024, the board approved a library policy that bans books "adopting, supporting, or promoting gender fluidity" from elementary and junior high libraries in Katy ISD. The policy passed with a 5-0 vote, with Champagne and Fox abstaining.
Burton said Perez was partly responsible for the passage of both policies and that the recent election showed that much of the community had been against them.
"Everywhere this policy has been proposed, it has been met with fierce opposition by a majority of community members and now that opposition has made its way to the polls," Burton said. "Mr. Perez ran a deceptive, dirty campaign, spreading lies and using my peers and I as political pawns."
...
Graduating senior Zeo McGhee was among the public speakers to ask for the book and gender policies to be repealed.
"I am young, but I am also my own person, and I am smart enough to know that anyone who limits my self-expression does not have my best interests in mind," McGhee said. "Stop trying to control students. It is your responsibility to right the wrong that has been done and only you can change what this district is known for."
OK but what constitutes a gender identity book? My Shadow is Pink ? Plus California has an ant-book ban law! The Supreme Court is going to rule on this on June and it sounds like they're leaning towards the "freedom of religion" (to hate thy neighbor variety) excuse. CA judge requires parental notification for elementary school gender lesson
https://www.wfxg.com/news/ca-judge-re...
A California federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring parental notification and opt-outs for gender identity topics in an elementary school’s buddy program pairing older elementary students with younger mentees, citing concerns from the program’s controversial lesson in which fifth graders were enlisted to teach kindergarteners about gender identity.
At issue is a specific buddy session, in which teachers selected and read the gender identity book “My Shadow Is Pink,” which the ruling says is “about a boy who liked to wear dresses and play with toys associated with girls.” The session took place at an elementary school in the Encinitas Union School District.
Typically, students select the books to be read, and parents receive weekly notices of which books would be read next.
This time, there was no such notice.
Before the buddy session, one staff member allegedly said to another, “We might just inspire some sweet things to fly toward their shadow tomorrow,” suggesting the lesson had a desired outcome, the plaintiff’s complaint said.
Teachers read the book to the fifth-grade students in preparation for the buddy program. The fifth graders were then joined by their kindergarten buddies, who were sat next to their assigned mentors. The teacher showed a read-along video of the book, in which the boy’s father “comes to accept his son’s ‘pink shadow’ not as a phase but as reflecting the boy’s ‘inner-most self.’”
The fifth graders and kindergarteners were then instructed to participate in an “art activity,” in which teachers told the kindergarteners to “pick a color that represents you,” and then had the fifth-graders trace their respective buddies’ shadows on the ground with their choice of colored chalk.
The fifth-grader plaintiffs were “uncomfortable” in the buddy class assignment, which they felt was contrary to their personal beliefs, and “did not wish to affirm the book’s message to their buddies.”
The fifth graders’ parents were shocked by the news, as the school had provided two weeks’ notice for the Human Growth and Development Unit on gender identity and were allowed to opt out of that program, but received no such notice or opt-out for the buddy program’s gender lesson. The school then denied the parents’ requests for notice and opt-outs for similar lessons in the future.
The ruling noted the school’s “admission that the buddy program is a mandatory part of the Curriculum,” which “violates the First Amendment” for “compelling individuals to mouth support for views they find objectionable.”
“The court’s decision affirms that schools have a duty to notify parents and provide opt-outs when controversial gender ideology is taught, and they cannot avoid that duty by teaching the material in a mentoring program instead of health class,” said Dean Broyles, president of the National Center for Law & Policy.
First Liberty Institute and the National Center for Law & Policy filed a complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction in September 2024.
Here's the story from Rhode Island. If it's paywalled I have another link to the TV news. If you think Jessica de la Cruz has a point, guess which books she would opt her kids out of? Science based books including vaccines save lives and anything LGBTQ+ and anything that shows guns are bad. 'Freedom to Read Act' passes RI Senate
https://www.providencejournal.com/sto...
https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/bi...
The Freedom to Read procedures apply to school libraries as well as public libraries, drawing objections from GOP senators.
The Freedom to Read Act seeks to prevent governments from removing books they disagree with politically from the public while shielding librarians, schools and teachers from harassment and prosecution.
It would give authors, booksellers or publishers the right to sue any government entity found to "enforce censorship" and claim damages of up to $5,000 per censored work.
Sen. Mark McKenney, D-Warwick, the lead sponsor of the Freedom to Read Act, said the bill contains a procedure for residents to object to specific books being in a library, but would not allow that to turn into "harassment" like the case of a Westerly librarian who testified a year ago.
The procedures apply to school libraries as well as public libraries.
The bill "includes criteria and a procedure that are in line with professional standards. Professional standards include requirements for age appropriateness and if necessary for removal of books," McKenney said.
The Freedom to Read bill passed on a 30-4 party-line vote with the four-member GOP caucus opposed.
Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz said she "does not support banning books" but objects to applying the same requirements for adult-serving public libraries to school libraries.
"I do however, believe that there are materials that are not age appropriate that children should not have unfettered access to in public school libraries," de la Cruz said. "And the legislation applies the same standards to public libraries as it does to public school libraries."
The Senate passed two different bills addressing library controversies last year but they died in the House.
The House is considering a companion bill to the Freedom to Read Act introduced by Rep. David Morales, D-Providence.
I know this already but I went to library school and have been to the LoC. If you don't know or need to point someone to the actual FACTS, here's what the Librariy of Congress actually does. Hint: It doesn't involve kindgergartners!https://bookriot.com/what-is-the-libr...
Kelly Jensen adds:
"Thinking about this administration like a cult is a useful framework for answering many of the whys and why nows. None of these decisions are made out of facts or information, and no amount of arguing about what information they’re sharing about these institutions matters to them or their followers. Facts and information are the enemy, and that’s been clear since Trump laid out his goals for presidency years ago. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s bold-faced lies about Hayden’s dismissal being related to “concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children” don’t matter because that phrasing and rhetoric is about building a following and loyalty. It’s about social acceptance, not about facts, evidence, expertise, or authority. Libraries and schools are an enemy in such regimes and thus why they become early and easy targets.
What can you do at this point? It’s the same things you’ve been doing all along. But given that the Library of Congress is part of the legislative branch, it is especially crucial to be reaching out to your federal House and Senate representatives and demanding answers, demanding pushback, and demanding accountability. For the first time in a long time, right now we can directly thank Congress for the LOC not yet being ransacked as quickly as the IMLS."
Tribal libraries are most at risk for losing most of their federal funding right now, starting in Alaska, amid DOGE cuts.Tribal communities risk losing local libraries and the history they hold amid DOGE cuts
Federally recognized tribes say the Trump administration cut the grant money they use to sustain the local libraries that serve as anchors in their most rural communities.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/poli...
Santa Clara Pueblo Community Library, an anchor for the northern New Mexico tribe it serves.
Internet service across the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation is sparse, the tribe’s governor, James Naranjo, told NBC News, and resources to expand access to technology and literacy programs for its 1,700 members are already stretched thin.
Naranjo said the library relies on federal grant money to build bridges between the tribe and otherwise out-of-reach services — grants that could be on the chopping block thanks to cuts by the Trump administration.
The Pueblo’s was one of more than a hundred libraries on federally recognized tribal lands across the country that were notified by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — a small federal agency responsible for funding local libraries and museums across the country — that their congressionally appropriated grant had been terminated midcycle, according to an IMLS spokesperson.
“IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program,” one letter, obtained by NBC News from a tribal grant writer who received it, said. “IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda.”
Trump’s March 14 order instructed the IMLS — which guarantees states and sovereign tribes can provide the public with free access to myriad services like early literacy resources, Braille books, internet access and STEM and cultural programs — to cease all operations, slash staff and provide a report to the Office of Management and Budget detailing proof of compliance.
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The spokesperson said the grants were terminated for evaluation purposes, and that some of them would be reinstated if they align with the administration’s priorities, but declined to provide details on the timeline and criteria.
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Tribal leaders worry that it could mean the end of library services their constituents rely on, and the beginning of a very long fight.
“This is something that’s personal to me,” said American Library Association President Cindy Hohl, a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska, which said it had its Native American Basic Grant canceled.
“As we continue to look at what is happening in the current government, we need to advocate for the needs of our sovereign nations,” Hohl said. “We need to hold the federal government accountable to upholding their trust responsibility.”
“Tribal libraries and tribal communities have specific needs to preserve their culture, their language, their heritage, and to live as traditional people in our traditional communities,” Hohl added.
Among the initial cuts were four grant programs designed specifically to support library and museum services in rural Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.
Thousands of miles from New Mexico, the only library within miles of the 68-person Igiugig Village tribe in southwestern Alaska was stripped of the funding it relies on to purchase books and sustain its summer reading program. In Juneau, funding for a project dedicated to digitizing and preserving the history of Native Alaska was slashed. Across Indian Country, the federal dollars that funded tribal librarian and coordinator salaries have run dry, putting the jobs and the programs they run in jeopardy.
“It’s unfortunate that these cuts are nationwide, and it’s hurting our children,” Naranjo said. “You know, it’s hurting our unborn. It’s hurting our community in general. Yeah, $10,000 might be a small amount to others, but it’s a huge amount to us.”
The Santa Clara Pueblo received $10,000 last year through the Native American Library Services Basic Grants program, which is designed to provide small, hard-to-reach Native American and Indigenous communities with access to funding that addresses the individual needs of each tribe. In the absence of the grants they were promised, Naranjo and tribal leaders across the country may have to make difficult decisions to keep their local libraries and museums afloat.
“Our library is our vault,” said Santa Clara Pueblo Lt. Gov. Charles Suazo, who previously served as library coordinator, a position made possible by the IMLS grant money and which is now at risk unless the tribe dips into other areas of its budget to sustain the salary. “It holds our traditional language, some old pictures, some relics from the past. … Without this, all that could be lost.”
The Santa Clara Pueblo and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico, share the traditional Tewa language, which is considered endangered by Native language experts. An IMLS-funded project at the P’oe Tsawa Community Library in Ohkay Owingeh teaches Tewa to tribal youth in an effort to preserve it, but it could be on the chopping block if the grant money isn’t fully restored.
“These are really critical services,” Ohkay Owingeh Lt. Gov. Matthew Martinez said. “I mean, our library, physically, is at the center of our tribal community in rural northern New Mexico.”
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The Makah Tribe in Neah Bay, Washington, is home to the Makah Cultural and Research Center, which could be left on the hook for large portions of the $149,779 Native American Library Enhancement Grant it was awarded. The grant funds hadn’t been reimbursed in full by the IMLS when the grant was terminated halfway through its life cycle last month, according to Janine Ledford, the executive director of the Makah Cultural and Research Center.
“This project has been empowering individuals on their journey toward wellness in response to an alarming opioid epidemic on the Makah Reservation,” Ledford wrote in an appeal letter sent to Sonderling on May 7 and shared with NBC News. “The MCRC has been open since 1979 and has never had any federal awards offered, accepted and then revoked.”
Tribal leaders said the sprawling violation of contracts between the federal government and sovereign tribal nations opens up centuries-old wounds.
“If you look at history, the federal government, you know, put our parents and grandparents in boarding schools. Language was not taught,” said Martinez, the Ohkay Owingeh lieutenant governor. “We were punished for speaking [our] language, so we’ve built momentum to privilege the use of language and incorporate it in everything that we do.”
Tribal libraries across Alaska slash hours and programming amid Trump’s cutshttps://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-...
For thirty-five hours each week at the Klukwan Library, people study, check out books, and take workshops on everything from paddle making to Chilkat weaving.
Or at least they used to. The Trump administration recently notified the tribal library that it was canceling two grants that account for the vast majority of its budget. That left the staff no choice but to cancel all future events – and dramatically reduce their hours.
“The letter said that our grant is, unfortunately, no longer consistent with the agency's priorities, and no longer serves the interest of the United States,” said Jamie Katzeek, the library’s co-director.
The money comes from an agency known as the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides funding to communities across the country, including libraries in Native villages. In Alaska alone, the agency awarded library-related grants to dozens of tribes over the last two years.
It’s not yet clear how widespread the cancellations are across Alaska – or the country more broadly. But Theresa Quiner, the president of the Alaska Library Association, has been doing her best to track what’s happening.
“My perception is that most people who are Native American Library Services grant recipients, I have a feeling that most libraries have gotten the cancellation notice at this point,” Quiner said.
Library hours go from 35 to 4 in Klukwan
The Chilkat Indian Village in Klukwan was among them. In 2023, the tribe was awarded a two year grant – called an enhancement grant – of nearly $150,000. The money helped fund a project that aims to both reclaim and sustain traditional knowledge.
Then, in 2024, the tribe also received a much more common, $10,000 basic grant, which can be used to pay for staff hours and other budget items.
By early April, the large grant was canceled even though the library still had nearly $100,000 to spend. Three weeks later, the smaller one was terminated, too. That left the library with just one source of funding: an annual $7,000 grant from the state that’s set to wind down next month.
That means Katzeek will work four hours per week until the end of June. She said she will likely use that time ensuring the library spends down the rest of the state grant according to their application.
It all means the library will no longer be able to offer programming and events meant to preserve traditional knowledge – or provide library services to students and other community members during the weekdays and weekends.
“The biggest loss is probably the programming that we offered. We would partner with other organizations and offer instructors for paddle making, moccasin making, beading, Chilkat weaving,” Katzeek said. “A lot of those programs were important to the people that live here in Klukwan, even people from town.”
The cancellations also threaten the library’s ability to apply for the state grant in the next round, given that it typically uses federal funds to meet a state matching requirement.
“That basically makes us ineligible to apply for the next PLA grant, which is supposed to start July first,” Katzeek said.
Library cuts have big impacts in small communities
At least five other tribes that have received IMLS funding could not be reached for comment. But Quiner, of the Alaska Library Association, provided a few additional examples of libraries that have lost funding so far.
Among them is the Kuskokwim Consortium Library, where Quiner serves as library director. She said the library partners with the Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council in Bethel to get the same $10,000 grant as Klukwan. And they got the cancellation notice, too.
It’s a smaller sum than the agency’s much larger enhancement grants, which go to fewer recipients but often exceed $100,000. But they still matter, Quiner said, particularly in places where $10,000 can be the difference between having some library services or none at all.
“I did hear from the Pedro Bay Village Council that they've had to lay off a library worker because of this grant cancellation,” Quiner said. “And so it's a small amount of money, but it has a pretty big impact in a small community.”
Other libraries, such as the Tuzzy Consortium Library in Utqiaġvik, aren’t as reliant on federal dollars.
The library is part of Iḷisaġvik College – Alaska’s only tribal college – and supports the school’s students and staff. It also provides public library services to seven communities across the North Slope Borough.
Teressa Williams, the library’s director, said the library has received the $10,000 grant for each community for years. And as is the case in Klukwan and Bethel, those grants were cancelled.
She said the loss is a “significant hit” to the library. But she emphasized that the federal grant amounted to just 7% of her overall budget, which means the library won’t be as affected as others. She added that she also doesn’t have to worry as much about the matching requirement for the state grant.
“Thankfully, I'm able to use my local funds to be able to afford the match,” Williams said.
Still, she’s concerned about the broader ramifications of Trump’s effort to dismantle an agency that so many libraries rely on for funding. That’s especially the case, she said, given Alaska’s low literacy rate – and the role libraries play in getting early literacy resources to families in rural areas.
“Libraries provide not only just books, though,” she said. “There's people in communities that don't have internet at home. They don't even have a computer at home. When they need services to apply for the PFD, to file their taxes, where are they going to go, if not the library?”
Further complicating the picture is a federal judge’s decision last week to halt the executive order amid ongoing litigation. Even so, neither the Klukwan Library nor the Tuzzy Library have received any indication that their grants may be reinstated.
In Klukwan, Katzeek said she’s working with the tribal administrator to appeal the cancellations. But for now, her options are limited.
“We don't yet know what the what it'll look like for the library after June 30,” Katzeek said. “But we may have to close temporarily.”
Sumner County Libraries in TN already prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from accessing adult materials in the collection without parental permission. Now the board wants a new policy, letting the board be the deciding factor on all new book purchases. Tensions flare as Sumner County Library Board proposes policy overhaul on book selection
https://fox17.com/news/local/tensions...
Heated emotions and loud objections erupted Monday night as the Sumner County Library Board introduced a controversial plan that would centralize control over what books are allowed in public libraries.
The proposal would take authority away from individual library branches and give board members the final say over materials available to the public, including decisions on book bans and fundraising efforts.
FOX 17 News was live in Gallatin, where dozens of residents packed the meeting room, many of them visibly upset and speaking out against what they view as government overreach.
“Communities should be able to decide what’s best for them, not a county board,” one resident told FOX 17 News.
Frustration reached a boiling point during the meeting, with several residents walking out as Library Board President Johanna Daniels presented the proposed changes.
...
Those opposed to the plan argue that local librarians, not politicians, are best equipped to make decisions about what books belong on the shelves.
“The people already making these decisions and reviewing content have degrees in this. They have experience. They know how to make judgment calls,” said Brooklynn White, a concerned citizen.
Daniels, however, defended the board’s direction, insisting library policy must align with Tennessee state law. She referenced recent legislation that restricts access to certain materials in public schools, bans transgender athletes from girls’ sports, and prohibits gender-affirming procedures for minors.
“These choices must create a collection that does not violate state and local laws,” Daniels said during the meeting.
She specifically argued that books involving LGBTQ topics should not be available in public libraries, suggesting they conflict with state guidelines.
Beyond book content, the proposed policy would also limit how local libraries raise money, placing control of fundraising efforts under the county board.
Even some board members expressed concern about the scope of the changes. Board member Paul McCoy said parts of the policy came as a surprise.
“It needs to go back to the committee. It needs a lot of work,” McCoy said, noting he wasn’t aware of all the revisions.
What’s Next
Ultimately, the board voted to table the proposal until its next meeting in July.
Opponents say they aren’t backing down.
“We’ll be back — and louder,” one attendee said outside the meeting.
TexasNacogdoches ISD cleared up the misunderstanding In a Facebook post the district says, no books have been removed or banned. Some titles have been placed on the other side of the counter in the high school’s library and now require a parent’s permission.”
In this Texas school district, they want it clear they’re not banning books. They’re simply censoring them through restriction. It’s Still Censorship Even If It’s Not Banned!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news...
Not banned, but reserved; that’s the category a list of library books now fall under at Nacogdoches High School.
If kids want to read them, they must ask their parents first.
“I’m glad that they’re not completely removed, that we’re not burning them in the streets and that we’re not sending them to an incinerator, but it’s still problematic. I began to wonder how it happened, whose decision it was, how it came about,” said Emily Taravella, professional counselor.
Taravella served Nacogdoches ISD as a teacher and school counselor for 15 years.
She found out about the book restrictions on Facebook, and she says she’s disappointed.
“Initially a lot of people were posting that the books were banned,” says Taravella.
Nacogdoches ISD cleared up the misunderstanding In a Facebook post the district says, no books have been removed or banned.
Some titles have been placed on the other side of the counter in the high school’s library and now require a parent’s permission.
“It also creates a confusing message for students about some books are bad, some books are good, when that’s a very subjective issue. Who made the decision about which books need to go and that’s the part that I don’t know yet,” said Taravella.
Nacogdoches ISD says they’re following the READER Act, (Restricting Explicit and Adult Designated Educational Resources), a law which requires library book vendors to rate books as se--ally explicit, or relevant, and report their findings to the Texas Education Association.
The TEA reviews those ratings.
According to the Texas Library Association, explicit books get removed, and the s--ually relevant books require a parent’s permission.
“The school district feels compelled to follow the laws, but at the same time, when is it going too far and when do we need to support our librarians and the freedom to read.” said Taravella.
According to Taravella, some of the restricted books include, ‘The Fault in Our Stars, “The Hate U Give,’ and ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.’
Columbia County, Georgia, pulled their public library from a regional system which granted access to interlibrary loans across many other libraries. https://www.wrdw.com/2025/05/08/count...
https://www.augustachronicle.com/stor...
The selection of the library board in Columbia County will not change after elected officials voted to withdraw from the regional library system to become a single region.
County Manager Scott Johnson assures patrons they will continue to receive the same services at the library.
The change will not impact funding either.
So, why break away from the regional system?
Johnson said several patrons went through the reconsideration process for several books they believed didn’t belong in the library.
Board members from Columbia County helped pass having certain books moved from the young adult section, 6th through 12th grade, to the adult section for the region, including books that depict sketches of naked children and body parts.
Now, some of the other counties within the regional system want that decision reversed.
Johnson says this is what led elected officials to vote to remove themselves from the regional group last night.
“I do feel as a county, I do feel we should have the ability if we are paying upwards of 3 million to operate in the way the county sees fit,” said Johnson.
While some books have been moved to other sections in the library, Johnson assures patrons no books have been banned.
“There is no intent here to move books to a section where nobody will check them out, so hopefully they will be phased away. That’s not the intent. I have heard the term ‘shadow boxing’ and that the county is doing all this nefarious activity, that’s not the case. There are books I saw early on that I say for me personally, not as a county manager, but for me personally, shock the conscience.”
Also
https://www.augustachronicle.com/stor...
'We don't need your guidelines,' Columbia County parents tell library board
Columbia County residents voiced concerns over new library policies, particularly the reshelving of teen LGBTQ fiction into the adult section.
Critics argue the policy is discriminatory and contradicts the community's growing diversity.
Supporters believe the policy protects children, while opponents say it's unnecessary censorship.
Patrons upset with policy changes to Columbia County's library system aired their grievances Tuesday before an advisory board that gave no indication that any new rules would be rescinded.
Critics of the new policies have said the rules seem to be applied disproportionately to works of fiction that offer teenage perspectives on LGBTQ issues.
The county's Board of Commissioners voted May 6 to withdraw from the Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System and, effective Jan. 1, 2026, place the county's three library branches into a self-contained system that still would be a part of the 60-member Georgia Public Library System.
Should reshelving plan be shelved? Free-speech groups skeptical of Columbia County library plan
The withdrawal decision follows a library advisory board vote in 2024 to change how books at Columbia County's three library branches are classified and shelved. Librarians used to decide. Now the board will, and several books written for teen audiences about LGBTQ sexuality have been reshelved in the adult fiction section.
College student and parent Annie Cook told board members that the spirit of the reshelving rule runs counter to the emerging "social contract" of the community.
"We have built a thriving environment of diverse restaurants, shops, real estate, and while some may fear losing what they once had, we cannot pursue growth while enacting policies that stifle and harm local citizens (who) may be different," Cook said.
Another parent, Greta Newman, said supporters of the new policy are "naive" if they think that reshelving will completely end their children's and grandchildren's potential exposure to offensive s--ual content.
"The proponents of these guidelines are speaking out in the community and pushing the narrative that they are protecting children from p--n," she said. "They cherry-pick a few lines from a book that they haven't even read but have been told is problematic, and they misrepresent them."
But the library, she said, is her "safe zone."
"I don't worry about what my child has access to, because I'm in control of what they see," she told board members. "We don't need your guidelines to do our job for us."
The regional board for the Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System upheld Columbia County's new guidelines in a vote last December. But Columbia County Manager Scott Johnson told The Augusta Chronicle that other counties on the board still questioned the decision that should be solely up to Columbia County.
"At the last meeting, the regional board actually contemplated changing those guidelines because the folks from Burke County, Lincoln County and Warren County did not agree with Columbia County's guidelines," Johnson said. "So that in and of itself was a good indicator to us that they may have different thoughts than Columbia County had, which is why we started exploring the possibility of being a single-county region. The things that our regional board wants us to do cannot be changed by another county."
Same thing North Carolina“Jackson County Commissioners recently discussed leaving the Fontana Regional Library System, citing issues with “left-leaning content” as well as what they call general mismanagement.” A similar story of a library’s board thinking that leaving a library system is the solution to further censoring materials.
https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2025-05-...
Jackson County Commissioners weigh leaving library system, new children's card available at Fontana Regional Library
Jackson County Commissioners recently discussed leaving the Fontana Regional Library System, citing issues with “left-leaning content” as well as what they call general mismanagement.
The talk comes on the heels of a recently updated regional library agreement, which helped launch a new children’s card that enables full parental control over which titles their child or teen can check out.
Commissioner John Smith at a meeting on Tuesday said he continues to receive community complaints about displays in the local library. In the past, complaints have centered on LGBTQ Pride displays, but Smith said the issue extends beyond that.
“They're promoting the same ideology that most people in this county reject,” Smith said. ...
Discussions about the library system, which includes six libraries in Macon, Jackson and Swain Counties have been fierce since 2022. Macon County ultimately decided to stay in the system in 2023 and worked through a new regional agreement with all three counties, which was signed in November.
Smith, along with Commissioners Michael Jennings and Jenny Hooper, expressed that they were unhappy with the direction of the library despite the 2024 changes to the Fontana Regional Agreement.
“Could we tell them something needs to change or else we're getting out. I mean, is that something we could do?” Jennings asked.
Hooper said “the whole library's being misrun, mishandled.” She mentioned a recent incident with an air soft gun, alleged hair dying in the sinks and homeless people in the library as current issues.
“It's very left wing, and it needs to go,” Hooper said. “We don't want to see it. We don't want to, our kids don't want it. The community don't. The majority of the people in Jackson County do not want to see that crap in there.”
Commissioner Todd Bryson said his stance is for neutrality.
“All I'm going to say on the subject is that county dollars should not promote anything. They should be 100% neutral,” Bryson said.
“You ought to be able to go in the library and not have to be appalled by anything that's there. No matter which side you're on,” Jennings added.
Hooper asked if they could change the leadership at the library or what options, legally, exist to leave the library system. County Manager Kevin King is expected to present the options for how the county would be able to leave the library system at the next meeting. King last week summarized three options: influencing library operations via board appointments or financial appropriations and leaving through the FRL agreement.
“The fourth option is to close to the library,” Hooper said.
The new regional agreement outlines that any of the three counties can leave the library system if commissioners vote by July 1. Then it will take a year for the removal to take place.
Chair Mark Letson also mentioned that the Jackson County Library's lease on the old courthouse building expires at the end of 2026.
“We can make those lease changes if we need to at the end of their lease,” he said.
The new agreement changed some of the principles of ownership when a county leaves the library system. The Fontana Regional Library system will retain the regional materials and the county will retain materials that have been directly purchased by the Friends of the Library as well as the building in some cases.
If two out of the three counties leave the library system, then the Fontana Regional Library System will be dissolved. Then jointly-owned properties and resources will be distributed by a committee of representatives from each county, a representative from the State Library of North Carolina and the current FRL director.
The agreement lasts for 10 years but it can be updated at any time at the request of one of the member counties. If there are no amendments, the agreement automatically renews at the 10 year mark. The 2024 updated agreement states that the regional agreement should be reviewed at least once every 10 years.
...
When Macon County Commissioners weighed leaving the library system in 2023, they said better protections were needed for minors at the library.
Since then, the children’s policy at the library has been updated, and a new library card for children has been implemented.
On May 1, Fontana Regional Library introduced a new limited library card for children under 15 years old. Parents can opt for the card so that children will only be allowed to check out items from the children’s section.
Regional Director Tracy Fitzmaurice said the card is an option to help parents feel more secure about their children’s access to materials in the library.
“It's sort of the best of both worlds," Fitzmaurice said. “It's a way of giving options to parents to give them the opportunity to make decisions for their child and that's the best way we can figure out to safeguard the children that parents feel they need more safeguards.”
Parents can also opt to sign their children up for the full access card. The limited card does not allow young adult books to be checked out. These books are usually considered to be for readers 13 and up.
The limited card doesn’t look different from any other library card but when children check out materials that are not from the children’s section a warning will pop up on the librarian’s computer to not allow the child to check out that materials.
“It's been in the works for just over a year and a half. It took a lot of research,” Fitzmaurice said. “We had to work with the state library to make sure we could code our cards to do what we were asking them to do.”
This card is in addition to the library’s safe child policy which was updated in November 2023 to require children under 12 are supervised in the library.
A parent or a legal guardian has to sign for anyone under the age of 15 to get a library card. There is also a teen card for 16 and 17 year olds that have their own driver's license. Parents are responsible for children under 18 at the library.
Fontana Regional Library has 90,403 card holders. One limited card has been requested, Fitzmaurice shared this week. That’s about 92% of the population of the three counties based on 2024 census data.
Community members from Macon, Swain and Jackson Counties have called meetings to address the potential splitting of the library system.
A petition made by “JCPL Supporters” to save the library system was created on Sunday. The petition already has almost 2,000 signatures, with the majority of signers from ZIP codes in Macon and Jackson counties.
A survey is also circulating for Jackson County residents to share their opinions about the library.
This week, supporters of the library created a Save the Fontana Regional Library System website. The website highlights the conversation about the FRL since 2021 as well as upcoming local government and FRL board meetings.
...
The group will be hosting a protest in Sylva on Saturday May 17.
Op-ed from Read Freely AlabamaJohn Wah, l,eader of the Alabama Public Library Service–also president of the state Republican party, is gaslighting Alabamians about library content
https://www.al.com/news/2025/05/john-...
Wahl took over as Chairman of the Alabama Public Library Service Board this year without relinquishing his role as chair of the Alabama GOP, a direct conflict of interests as public libraries are intended to be apolitical receptacles for diverse worldviews and lived experiences- yes, even in the children’s and teen’s sections. His extremist politics and unabashed admiration for authoritarian government have spilled over into his role as APLS board chair, and he is intent on obfuscating the legal definition of “s--ually explicit” in order to censor our public library collections.
His political ambitions have exposed themselves time and time again, such as when he facilitated the exit of longtime respected APLS board member Virginia Doyle, who questioned the motivations behind the push for book banning led by extremist groups Moms For Liberty, Eagle Forum and Clean Up Alabama. This in turn led to the appointment of extremist anti-library activist Amy Dozier Minton, and then two others, creating a stacked board intent on attacking Alabama libraries and holding state funding hostage.
The goal, he said in an interview with radio host Jeff Poor this year, is to make sure libraries are “comfortable” for those groups - ignoring the comfort of the vast majority of Alabamians who despise censorship, regardless of party affiliation. ...
Under his leadership, Fairhope Public Library found its state funding stripped because they refused to cower to the bullying from Moms For Liberty members over an award-winning book about human trafficking. American teenagers are the most vulnerable to s-- and labor trafficking in our nation and it is important that they have this information, but Wahl wants to prevent them from reading these stories in their appropriate teen and young adult sections.
However, Fairhope community members and politicians even within Wahl’s own party condemned his actions and supported the librarians’ decision. Within days, the full amount of state funding had been raised by library supporters who do not want to see these extremists bully and defund yet another library as part of the national strategy outlined in Project 2025 (of which Moms for Liberty is an official coalition partner).
Yet Wahl has only doubled down, and in direct violation of the new APLS code that he himself championed, continues to abuse his authority to force libraries into compliance to his personal beliefs and interpretations- a conveniently ever-moving goalpost- rather than allowing local boards and librarians to make those decisions with the Constitutional rights of all Alabamaians in mind.
The Florida Department of Education sent a letter to Hillsborough County Schools last week claiming they have not removed so-called “p---graphic and inappropriate books” from some of the high schools. All two books. The letter states the school boards are in charge of choosing books for their schools, yet the letter also contradicts that!https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsboroug...
The Florida Department of Education sent a letter to Hillsborough County Schools’ Superintendent Van Ayres Friday, claiming the district has not removed “pornographic and inappropriate books” from some high school libraries.
In the letter signed by Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Díaz Jr., Díaz wrote that “Call Me by Your Name” and “Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)” had been found in the district’s public database.
Díaz said “Call Me by Your Name” was found in three high school libraries. “Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)” was available in two high schools, the commissioner said.
“Thanks to the leadership of other Florida school district superintendents and school board members, several districts have done the right thing and proactively ensured that p---graphic and inappropriate materials are not in the hands of kids. Unfortunately, Hillsborough has failed to do this and continues to have p---graphic and inappropriate books available to students,” Díaz wrote.
He also told Ayers that he is expected to attend the upcoming State Board of Education meeting on June 4 at Miami Dade College “to explain why you continue to allow p----graphic materials in your school libraries.”
Alamance County, North Carolina approves warning label for books with sensitive contentStickers will be implemented based on criteria such as s--ually explicit content, violence, substance abuse
https://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/artic...
Some books in Alamance County libraries may be marked with a bright, yellow sticker in the near future as the Alamance County Commissioners approved a content warning labeling policy.
These “parental guidance” stickers, which were approved April 21, will only apply to a book if a patron fills out a form, expressing their reasoning for why it isn’t fit for young readers. From there, a board of high-ranking library staff members will review the patron’s request based on criteria such as s--ually explicit content, depictions of substance abuse, references to suicide, underage drinking, graphic violence and profanity. This committee will be made up of the Library Management Team and the Racial Equity Team. The committee will make the final decision on whether the book receives the sticker or not. If a sticker is not decided upon, the patron can appeal the decision. However, an approved sticker cannot be appealed, according to meeting minutes from the Jan. 31 Alamance Library Committee meeting. The stickers will be placed on the spine of the books.
The stickers, which were initially suggested to look like a rainbow before that idea was discarded, are meant to look like a caution sign with yellow and white on it. The Alamance Library Committee originally considered including LGBTQ+ content in the sensitive material that the stickers applied to, according to the minutes from a Nov. 12 meeting. This sparked some controversy and outcry from some community members. However, County Commissioner Pamela Tyler Thompson said including LGBTQ+ in the sticker policy is no longer the case.
“The point was all about books for the right age for violence and sexual content,” Tyler Thompson wrote in an email to Elon News Network. “That was our vote … sticker or label concerning violence and s--ual content for the right set of eyes.”
Tyler Thompson, who is also a liaison to the library committee, said this has been brewing for a while. She said it started about a year ago because of parents’ concerns about certain books being in libraries across Alamance County. It evolved into the library committee coming up with the idea of these stickers. The committee called a special meeting on Jan. 31 to discuss the issue. ....
With about 50 community members in attendance, 20 of them got up and expressed their opinion on the topic in the public comments portion of the meeting with more than half of them saying that they disagreed with the idea of the stickers. Thompson said she was glad to see so many people at the meeting willing to talk because it shows that people care about this issue.
Noelle Vaught, an Elon University junior from Graham who attended the meeting, disagrees with the idea of stickers.
“I don’t think it’s the place of the county government to be able to label certain things as sensitive if people find it objectionable,” Vaught said. “If a parent really wanted to monitor what their children were checking out from the library, what they were reading, they could simply get that information by reading the sleeve of the book.”
Vaught said the stickers threaten freedom of expression. She said certain books across the nation have first been labeled as objectionable and then later are removed completely from library shelves. According to Tyler Thompson, it is less about censorship but rather about protecting children from content that is meant for readers older than they are.
“There are so many things nowadays that are just on the coattails of children,” Tyler Thompson said in an interview with Elon News Network. “I see a lot of kids that get that horror and that brokenness and the police at the house, all that laid on top of them, and it shows up in school. They’re mad, they’re upset, they’re stressed, they’re anxious, they’re just a walking zombie sometimes, and we can’t do that with any kind of topic.”
Tyler Thompson said it is crucial for children not to be exposed to certain things, such as suicide or drugs, in books until they are ready because it can lead to harmful decisions in their real life.
“Every day you learn and you build and you grow and you don’t have wisdom at 17 years old … I just want kids to see things when they are ready to see them, that they’ll understand them and they can make their own choices,” Tyler Thompson said.
Tyler Thompson said the importance of this issue became clear to her after she received a call from a community member who was perusing the aisle of the Mebane Public Library. The community member’s 7-year-old son was looking at books in the youth department, but someone had just left a book from another area on the shelf. That book contained illustrations of s--ually explicit content. Tyler Thompson realized there was a problem and brought the book to a county commissioners meeting. Tyler Thompson emphasized that it is up to the parent to raise their child and protect them from certain things, but said no seven-year-old should be reading certain content.
“We just have to be really smart and not get so caught up in and pissed off in politics that we don’t think about the effects that some of our decisions have on young people,” Tyler Thompson said. “Young people need to be protected and make their own decisions as they grow up when they’re ready to. Just give them time, don’t grow them up overnight.”
In the County Commissioners’ April 21 meeting, the sticker policy was approved unanimously, but it didn’t avoid some debate. County Commissioner Ed Priola voiced his support for the policy but thought it should go a step further.
“Children should not have access to age-inappropriate materials without parental consent … It’s unreasonable to suggest that a 10-year-old needs unfettered access to everything that has ever been printed,” Priola said at the meeting.
Tyler Thompson said she thinks the public reception to the stickers will be positive if implemented correctly, but acknowledged that it will be difficult for the approval committee to decide on whether certain books deserve a sticker or not. She said certain popular books such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” have sensitive content, so it might warrant criticism, but its popularity might bring others to argue for it to avoid a sticker.
However, Vaught said the implementation of content warning stickers could result in some serious consequences. He believes it could lead to full-on removal of books or even bullying in schools, which multiple community members expressed concern about at the Jan. 31 library committee meeting.
“In the long term, eventually it’s going to go into the territory of starting to remove certain books,” Vaught said. “Putting a label on a book as sensitive content, some kids at school might know what that means. And it might open up a particular kid who has one of those books to bullying or people getting the wrong impression about what it is that they’re actually reading.”
Delaware is one step closer to passing an anti-book ban bill.Freedom to Read Act heads to House floor in Delaware
Concern remains over review process
PAYWALLED
https://baytobaynews.com/stories/free...
Vote on new book collection development policy delayed for Anderson Co. librarieshttps://www.wspa.com/news/vote-on-new...
The Anderson County Library Board of Trustees said they need more time before moving forward with voting on an amended draft of the library system’s book collection development policy.
A collection development policy, which exists for all libraries, is a set of guidelines library staff follows when putting together materials for library collections.
The board met Monday night to discuss the policy, but several residents expressed concerns that the proposed changes target certain groups of people and interferes with the freedom to read.
“I think if it were just one thing, it’s like removing anything that promotes illegal activity by a minor. That’s a really broad category,” said Sam Kennedy with the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina. “I think the laws that they cite it has to do with it’s really intended to target trans people. which is disappointing.
If passed, the policy would change books and materials offered in the children and teen collections within the county library system, including materials that influence or promote actions by a minor that go against South Carolina law or appeal to the s--ual interest of children under the age of 17.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Wendy Tucker, said it’s about ensuring parents feel secure to come to the library with their children.
“What we hope to do today is offer parents more choices so that when they come in here, they feel comfortable to be here with their children, no matter what their beliefs are,” Tucker said.
The board also delayed voting on an amended library card application policy.
In the meantime, the board said any challenged book can be flagged, requiring anyone under the age of 18 to present their library card and explicit parental consent before checking out a flagged book.
“It is unique to have to give your child specific permission,” said parent and county resident, Jessicka Spearman-Childs. “It is almost like we are going to segregate the library for our children who are in the LGBTQ+ community, and that puts the spotlight on them.”
Some board members said some added additions to the draft are too subjective and should be reviewed once more.
A list of challenged books is in the works and will soon be published to the library system’s website.
Due to IMLS cuts and funding cuts at the state level, 50 Washington State Library workers will be losing their jobs, devastating access to materials for the blind and print disabled across the state.https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2...
MichiganA Lowell school librarian says she has been targeted for years by a self-described 'parental-rights' advocate. A viral video from February put her over the edge.
https://www.facebook.com/13ONYOURSIDE...
Her Go Fund Me page has raised over $25,000 in legal fees
https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/l...
Horry County Libraries (SC) are reclassifying books to meet the provisions of the state law passed last year. https://wpde.com/news/local/horry-cou...
Changes are underway at Horry County libraries following a recent board meeting where criteria for distinguishing between adult and young adult books were discussed.
This initiative stems from a proviso passed in the state legislature last year, prompting libraries to take a closer look at which books belong in certain sections.
Tracey Elvis-Weitzel, Director of Horry County libraries, explained the legislation's impact.
"Any items that we have in any of our juvenile library sections cannot illicit prurient interest in children. We have to certify that we don’t have those materials in order to get our state funding."
During the March board meeting, members deliberated on how to proceed in light of Proviso 27.1.
"Basically, what we would do is look at the age of the characters and the content of the book. If it’s super explicit, then we’re gonna move it. If the characters move towards the adult side of life, then we would move it," said Elvis-Weitzel.
Teens aged 17 and younger can still check out books in the adult section with parental permission.
Existing policies at Horry County libraries include parental restrictions on library cards, requests for reconsideration forms, and a collection development policy outlining book selection criteria.
Elvis-Weitzel emphasized the library's commitment to child safety.
"Whatever you need or want, we will provide, but I also want them to know that any censorship is the responsibility of the parent. It is not our responsibility as a public librarian to censor what their children read."
The popular "Harry Potter" series, currently in the young adult section, is one example of books that might be reclassified.
"At the moment, Harry Potter is in our juvenile fiction section, which is a little younger than the characters actually are when they start school at Hogwarts. And then the end book is a little on the darker side, so we’re really trying to figure out the best place to put those books," Elvis-Weitzel said.
For those with questions about book placement, Elvis-Weitzel expressed her willingness to discuss the library's mission.
"I would love to talk to them about the mission of a public library, especially versus that of a school library, because it’s very different. But you know I also have children, and anybody that’s an advocate for those children, I'm on your side."
The library system is currently reviewing thousands of books, with plans to complete the reclassification by October.
Once finalized, the library will certify compliance with state guidelines.
Oh HECK NO! Thank goodness this didn't pass. The agenda is plain for everyone to see now, no hiding. Talk about "indoctrination"! Let's be clear: Science is truth, Fox News is fiction.https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/poli...
New standards for Oklahoma high school students promote misinformation about the 2020 election
Leaders in the Republican-led Oklahoma Legislature introduced a resolution to reject the standards, but there wasn’t enough GOP support to pass it.
Oklahoma high school students studying U.S. history learn about the Industrial Revolution, women’s suffrage and America’s expanding role in international affairs.
Beginning next school year, they will add conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
Oklahoma’s new social studies standards for K-12 public school students, already infused with references to the Bible and national pride, were revised at the direction of state School Superintendent Ryan Walters. The Republican official has spent much of his first term in office lauding President Donald Trump, feuding with teachers unions and local school superintendents, and trying to end what he describes as “wokeness” in public schools.
“The left has been pushing left-wing indoctrination in the classroom,” Walters said. “We’re moving it back to actually understanding history ... and I’m unapologetic about that.”
The previous standard for studying the 2020 election merely said, “Examine issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome.” The new version is more expansive: “Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”
The new standard raised red flags even among Walters’ fellow Republicans, including the governor and legislative leaders. They were concerned that several last-minute changes, including the language about the 2020 election and a provision stating the source of the Covid virus was a Chinese lab, were added just hours before the state school board voted on them.
A group of parents and educators have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to reject the standards, arguing they were not reviewed properly and that they “represent a distorted view of social studies that intentionally favors an outdated and blatantly biased perspective.”
While many Oklahoma teachers have expressed outrage at the change in the standards, others say they leave plenty of room for an effective teacher to instruct students about the results of the 2020 election without misinforming them.
Aaron Baker, who has taught U.S. government in high schools in Oklahoma City for more than a decade, said he’s most concerned about teachers in rural, conservative parts of the state who might feel encouraged to impose their own beliefs on students.
“If someone is welcoming the influence of these far-right organizations in our standards and is interested in inserting more of Christianity into our practices as teachers, then they’ve become emboldened,” Baker said. “For me, that is the major concern.”
Leaders in the Republican-led Oklahoma Legislature introduced a resolution to reject the standards, but there wasn’t enough GOP support to pass it.
Part of that hesitation likely stemmed from a flurry of last-minute opposition organized by pro-Trump conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, which has a large presence in Oklahoma and threatened lawmakers who reject the standards with a primary opponent.
“In the last few election cycles, grassroots conservative organizations have flipped seats across Oklahoma by holding weak Republicans accountable,” the group wrote in a letter signed by several other conservative groups and GOP activists. “If you choose to side with the liberal media and make backroom deals with Democrats to block conservative reform, you will be next.”
Superintendent says his new standards ‘encourage critical thinking’
After a group of parents, educators and other Oklahoma school officials worked to develop the new social studies standards, Walters assembled an executive committee consisting mostly of out-of-state pundits from conservative think-tanks to revise them. He said he wanted to focus more on American exceptionalism and incorporate the Bible as an instructional resource.
Among those Walters appointed to the review committee are Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation and a key figure in its Project 2025 blueprint for a conservative administration, and Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host who founded Prager U, a conservative nonprofit that offers “pro-American” educational materials for children that some critics say are not accurate or objective.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Walters defended teaching students about “unprecedented and historically significant” elements of the 2020 presidential election.
North CarolinaI'm getting whiplash trying to keep up with these people.
NHCS superintendent revises committee’s ruling on book challenge, appeal still possible
https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/...
Two committees ruled on the challenge of the book “Blended” by Sharon M. Draper in New Hanover County Schools, but the superintendent has decided to revise the outcome.
The district’s Media and Technology Committee upheld the school-level decision to take no action on removing the book “Blended” from Wrightsboro Elementary, according to a Friday release from Superintendent Christopher Barnes. However, Barnes said he had the authority to amend any ruling and recommended the book remain in middle and high schools but be restricted to fourth and fifth graders in elementary school.
“Although it is rare, it is within my purview,” Barnes wrote of the ruling. “This revision I think is most in line with the Parent Bill of Rights and existing and potential forthcoming legislation.”
Additionally, the ruling indicates parents would need to provide written permission for a fourth or fifth grader to check out the book.
“This way parents will be informed of its content and will have the ability to discuss its content with their children as they choose,” Barnes wrote in the release.
Barnes’ boss, school board member Josie Barnhart, admitted in a social media post this week that she filed the complaint against the book. It was done so in her capacity as a parent of a school-age child, not a school board member. Barnhart argued the book is too mature for elementary students and could damage student interactions with school resource officers.
...
Barnhart’s complaint was filed in January about the books in classroom libraries at Wrightsboro Elementary, and the school-level review committee decided against taking action on it. She then appealed to the district-level Media and Technology Committee. Barnes said neither committee violated any policy or procedure in its decision, yet he has the authority to uphold, overturn or override any decision.
“This is, of course, a difficult decision because there is no easy resolution,” Barnes wrote. “As superintendent, it is my responsibility to make decisions that I feel best reflect the educational and developmental needs of the students of New Hanover County Schools.”
Barnhart and the district-level committee have the ability to appeal Barnes’ decision in the next 15 days. Port City Daily asked Barnhart Friday afternoon if she would take any action; a response wasn’t received by press, though this will be updated upon any feedback provided.
If appealed, the final decision is in the hands of the New Hanover County Board of Education. That could raise a conflict of interest, seeing as Barnes is a school board member, who would have to recuse herself.
Florida trying to be TexasPolitics or education? Collier County parents debate biology textbook
Some say the book pushes ideology, while others defend it as science-based curriculum.
https://www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/arti...
A newly approved biology textbook for Collier County high school freshmen has sparked a political debate over what’s being taught in local classrooms. The book was approved for the 2025-2026 school year in March.
Multiple residents filed formal objections to the book, citing concerns over its sections on evolution, climate change, COVID-19, and masking (which is titled the "Miller & Levine Experience Biology). When it came time for the state-required public hearing on May 14, those petitioners didn't show up—costing the district around $10,000 in staff time and resources. Despite that, numerous residents filed in for public comment on either side.
“There is nothing more important than our children. The textbook clearly presents a lot of essentially political ideology as accepted fact, when not only is it not accepted, nor is it fact. It is again weaponized ideology," said John Strand, a Collier County resident who opposed the book.
Supporters say the textbook reflects mainstream science and accused opponents of politicizing education.
“It was about hot-button issues today. It wasn’t about photosynthesis. It wasn’t about Mendel’s theory," said Nancy Chisholm, who spoke in favor of the textbook.
“We have to rely on this published science. And that’s what this textbook does,” said David Webb, who was in support.
More than 20 speakers addressed the board at Tuesday’s meeting, with public opinion split fairly evenly.
After about 3 hours of comment and public debate, the Collier County School Board voted 4-1 to approve the textbook for the future school year.
CT- soon to be an anti-book state (hopefully)Kelly Jensen of BookRiot reports: "Republicans trying to push new restrictions on materials–especially LGBTQ+ ones–in Kent Memorial Library (CT) have dropped their plans. "
https://www.ctinsider.com/journalinqu...
Try as I might, I still don't see what's so explicit or obscene about... penguins! It's not like the book discusses mating habits of penguins! It's based on a true story at a zoo! Listen to the kids and not to the whiny control freaks.Moms For Liberty in Guilford County, North Carolina, have lodged a complaint in Summerfield Elementary School over And Tango Makes Three. They claim that the book is against North Carolina state law.
https://12ft.io/proxy
A book about two male penguins who raise a chick together can no longer be used in kindergarten through fourth grade classrooms at the school Summerfield Elementary School.
The book was set aside for those grades following an April 25 challenge by the Guilford County branch of Moms for Liberty.
Parents from Summerfield Elementary shared their thoughts on the decision about “And Tango Makes Three” on Tuesday during a Guilford County Board of Education meeting.
Brandon Daughtry, a gay parent who is an adoptive father to a child a Summerfield Elementary, said removing the book was an attack on the LGBTQ community.
“Natural behavior in birds that doesn’t fit someone else’s beliefs is not a reason to pull or ban a book. This book is being criticized for its LGBTQ basis and nothing more,” Daughtry said. “It seems people are just simply not OK with a book about two dads.”
The Guilford County chapter of the group Moms for Liberty filed a complaint to Superintendent Whitney Oakley and other school officials claiming the book and its associated lesson plan violated state law, specifically Senate Bill 49.
S.B. 49 has a clause which states that “Instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality shall not be included in the curriculum provided in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, regardless of whether the information is provided by school personnel or third parties.”
Guilford school officials said the book and associated lesson plan were found to be in violation of the law. A letter circulated by Moms for Liberty on May 8 states, “We are pleased to report that the noncompliant materials have been removed from K-4 classrooms.”
The letter also said the lesson plan used in conjunction with the book was inappropriate. The letter read, “This lesson centers the concept that all families are unique and different. Your students may have families with two moms or two dads; stepparents; a transgender parent; adoptive parents; or foster parents ...”
The letter added, “However, it remains unclear whether fifth grade classrooms are still using these lessons.”
Parents at the meeting argued that teaching students that some children have family structures with two dads or two moms should not constitute as a violation of S.B. 49.
“They cite the North Carolina Senate Bill 49 of 2023 prohibiting instruction on sexuality gender identity or sexual activity in K through four classrooms,” Olivia Teixeira said. “But ‘And Tango Makes Three’ doesn’t teach a lesson on any of that any more than a math problem asking our children to add four apples to five oranges could be considered a lesson on agriculture.”
Teixeira also said the complaint was a test case by Moms for Liberty.
“Don’t think this will stop with penguins,” Teixeira said. “This is a test balloon. Now that they’ve gotten a toe in the door, they’ll be looking to move in.”
Carol Webb mocked the decision by the school system to limit the book.
“My son read the book in question a few years ago. Within one hour of reading the book I got a call from the school nurse. He sprouted horns. He broke out in rainbows. His hair, his skin, he had to be rushed to the hospital. I’m kidding. The book did not turn my kid gay. Phew!”, Webb said as the audience laughed.
Christine Verner said the removal of the book eliminated representation for children in the school who did have same-sex parents.
“I talked to my third grade son about why ‘And Tango Makes Three’ wasn’t going to be available. The first thing he said to me almost in tears was ‘but Christopher has two dads, he’s going to feel excluded,’” Verner. “And that is not the message that I’m trying to send to my children as I’m raising them.”
Previously when books were challenged, a vote was taken by a school’s Media Technology Advisory Council as to whether the title should be removed.
If the council voted to keep the book and the decision was appealed, the board of education would then vote on the book.
Verner said the lack of transparency regarding a challenge to a school book was another issue parents had with the book being pulled from the curriculum.
“When we take books out of schools without a process, without involving our community, and without transparent criteria for making these decisions we aren’t protecting our kids, we’re silencing voices,” Verner said.
However, it was clear during the meeting that members of the board of education did not vote on whether the book should be banned. Several Democrats on the board vehemently opposed the book’s removal.
The Guilford County Board of Education holds a 7-2 Democrat majority.
“Let me go ahead and say I will never support removing books from a classroom,” Deborah Napper, the board member representing District 5 said. “I believe in parents’ right to monitor what their children read and the games they play and everything else, and to remove those options from other parents ... is not OK with me. I read what my children read. I know the books in my library.”
At-large board member Alan Sherouse said he had deep concerns about the book being banned and called S.B. 49 a bad law.
“S.B. 49 does nothing to improve parent involvement in education. It does nothing to increase the rights of supportive and affirming parents. It does nothing to impact a child’s sexuality and gender identity,” Sherouse said. “What it does is make LGBTQ persons including children feel less affirmed, less safe, made to feel abnormal and unconventional and more vulnerable to despair and harm from others or even from themselves.”
Sherouse also said that with staff and colleagues he intended to “... explore every possible avenue to restore access of this book in question and others that are contested, and have a clear, fair, transparent process of evaluation for such decisions.”
District 1 Board Member T. Dianne Bellamy Small said she was concerned with what she viewed as an attempt to define what is considered a legitimate family.
“Some of our family makeups never had a mom and a dad,” Bellamy Small said. “So, I think that the folks who are trying to define what family looks like perhaps need to take a step back and realize that just because your family might be what is considered traditional, that’s not what many of us grew up with.”
By this logic, the library needs to pull Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel or any book in which the heroine gets married due to their instruction in heteronormative sexual activity.
Ivonne wrote: "By this logic, the library needs to pull Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel or any book in which the heroine gets married due to their instruction in heteronormative sexual activity."You said logic. There's no logic behind any of this. Those old fairy tales are way more inherently problematic than Prince & Knight or The Prince and the Dressmaker. And way way way more problematic than two penguins trying to do what they do- keep their species alive.
Mod
Exactly!! Considering that a lot of sea birds have same sex relationships, I would not be surprised if homophobic crazies started to deliberately target and kill albatrosses, penguins etc. in zoos and also in the wild.
Manybooks wrote: "Considering that a lot of sea birds have same sex relationships, I would not be surprised if homophobic crazies started to deliberately target and kill albatrosses, penguins etc. in zoos and also in the wild.."They can't really get away with that until they're successful in overturning all the laws in place that protect animals. When I was a kid and young adult, people flocked to the zoo and watched animals mate. Kids giggled and laughed and parents just smiled. No one fussed over THAT back then. Tango doesn't even have mating! There's no sex ed teaching involved in reading this book. They might ask questions about Ray and Silo and Tango but probably not about human reproduction based on this book.
Plus kids are used to seeing Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street and Arthur's teacher, Mr. Ratburn and his husband Patrick (Marc Brown) on PBS so it's not a big deal to anyone except the single-minded control freak adults.
U.S. Book Challenges Update: April 2025 EditionI <3 Libraries
https://ilovelibraries.org/article/u-...
Texas students say K-12 DEI ban and other anti-LGBTQ+ bills threaten their safety, voice, and mental health
LGBTQ+ students and their allies in Texas worry the proposed DEI ban on public schools and the other state bills threaten their mental health and sense of safety in schools, reports The Texas Tribune. They are concerned the legislation could silence supportive teachers, dismantle safe spaces, lead to overenforcement, and prevent honest conversations about identity.
One such bill, Senate Bill 13, would give school boards and parents more control over what books can be put in school libraries, as well as ban books that have “indecent content or profane content.” Anti-censorship advocates say the bill could lead to the removal of books featuring gender and sexuality content from school libraries.
Elisha Rurka, president of Dignity For All Texas Students, said there’s no need to ban LGBTQ+ books because students are already aware of different sexual preferences and gender identities, even if those topics are being limited in school libraries and classrooms.
“There’s always been a process to challenge a book. But it was so rare because parents trusted the librarians,” Rurka said. “There isn’t a lot of harmful content. But now the mere existence of a queer character is seen as a threat.”
Rurka warned that these bills could lead to widespread self-censorship among school staff, beyond what the laws require.
“The laws do enough damage by themselves, but the teachers, the administrators, their jobs are hard enough already. It’s a lot easier to just err on the side of caution,” Rurka said. “Removing even the representation of the LGBTQ experience…doesn’t even fit with what our current country’s laws and values are supposed to be.”
Cameron Samuels, executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a youth-led movement that advocates for students’ rights, warned that the potential impact of the bills could extend beyond LGBTQ+ youth.
“We’re going to grow up feeling that race and racism are topics that we don’t touch, and we only allow racism to grow,” said Samuels. “We grow up not being able to question authority, to dissent, which is crucial to a healthy democracy. We won’t have the outlets for advocating not only for ourselves, but for others, when the predominant narrative is that the government is right, that oppression is the way it has to be.”
AHH New Hampshire! The ONLY state in the region that is Ok with book banning. What the heck?New Hampshire lawmakers OK school book 'banning' process
https://www.aol.com/hampshire-lawmake...
New Hampshire Republicans are advancing a proposal that would authorize citizen-led efforts to ban books and other "inappropriate materials" from the state's public schools.
The legislation, which passed the GOP-controlled state House of Representatives last week, would create a new process for banning books in New Hampshire schools by allowing parents and other individuals to file complaints challenging specific titles in libraries they believe are inappropriate. The measure was approved by a 183-148 party-line vote, with Democrats opposing it.
Under current law, local school boards and committees have oversight of book complaints, which are reviewed by school administrators who ultimately decide whether a title is removed from the shelves.
...
[blah blah blah usual argument "we're not banning books... we're protecting children!" blah blah blah]
the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Glenn Cordelli, R-Tuftonboro"
...
Public schools would be required to respond to parent complaints within 10 school days under the proposal. If the parent doesn't agree with the principal or school board’s decision on a complaint, they could file an appeal to the state Board of Education. The seven-member board, appointed by the governor and Executive Council, would have the final say about which books are banned.
The bill specifically lists materials they deem "harmful" to minors, including (view spoiler), as well as other "patently offensive" subject material that lacks "value" to students. [translation LGBTQ+]
....
The New Hampshire chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said the proposal would "undermine our right to education by throwing open the floodgates to ban books based on personal preference and encourage self-appointed censors, including the state board of education, to impose their beliefs on all Granite State families."
"Students have a right to learn from a diverse range of materials — including library books by and about marginalized communities — and we must support that right," the ACLU said in a statement.
...
This is sickening.Trump Seeks Stay in IMLS Injunction; Sonderling Bashes IMLS Employees in Declaration
https://bookriot.com/trump-seeks-stay...
"As covered yesterday, the Trump administration is appealing the injunction ordered by Judge John J. McConnell, Jr in one of the lawsuits related to the dismantling of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). More information has come out about this appeal.
Trump and his lawyers are seeking a stay pending the appeal in Rhode Island vs. Trump. This would allow the administration to continue doing nothing to bring back workers, services, or grants as ordered by the Judge. Although there is currently a temporary restraining ordered ordered the court in the other IMLS lawsuit, ALA vs. Sonderling, that halts further dismantling of the agency, given the history of the administration following legal precedent, seeking this stay is likely an opportunity to do more damage while the case is in court.
In addition to the request for a stay of the injunction, Acting Director of the IMLS Keith Sonderling submitted a declaration to the court. It includes 19 points about his role in the agency, as well as claims about how the agency itself has operated since his installation on March 12, 2025. Among the statements Sonderling makes:
Confirmation that three states lost grant money from the Grants to States program (we know them to be California, Connecticut, and Washington); Sonderling claims the money has been reinstated as of May 1.
1,200 grants were terminated and only about 100 remained following the Executive Order requiring that the IMLS be set to only its statutory functions.
Suggestion that allowing IMLS employees to return to work is being tied up both in time and money by the union representing those employees.
Indication that Sonderling believes IMLS employees who were terminated were aiding those still in the office in sharing information related to litigation and to the press–including the suggestion that if IMLS employees were to return to office, they wouldn’t follow the new marching orders to be but a wing of the administration’s propaganda arm (recall “We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations” from the press release about Sonderling’s new role).
Claims that re-employing 57 staff members would cost the agency $900,000 a month, which they cannot afford due to the nature of the Continuing Resolution budget passed earlier this year.
Complaints that having to reinstate grants that were already promised to institutions would be financially untenable to the tune of $78.5 million and “counter to the administration’s priorities and that cannot be recovered.”
The contempt this administration has for public institutions is palpable. Sonderling’s statements show a lack of knowledge, experience, or care for the role he’s been given. Lives and livelihoods are on the line, as is the future of an institution whose job it is to serve the whole of America–not just the parts that constitute this administration’s view of American citizens.
The longer that Trump can kick the legal can down the road, the more opportunity he and his affiliates have in making both of these legal proceedings moot. Recall that Trump’s proposed 2026 budget would slash IMLS all together, effective October 1, 2025."
These people are absolutely evil. Who are M4L to demand to control personnel in libraries? That's the job of the library director and HR. Plus non-compliance with their demands is the legal and ethical thing to do. Caving in goes against all their training, knowledge, experience and the value of libraries. There IS NO "harmful to minors" material in the library! Parent your kids and get lives. They should try actually READING Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race but then they would learn that race is a social construct their ancestors invented long before they were born and how people used to read bumps on your head to tell who was intelligent or not! All lies. All made up long before we were born. Time to get over it. Moms for Liberty calls for APLS board to help get librarians fired
Moms for Liberty of Madison County is urging the Alabama Public Library Service to develop a policy to terminate noncompliant librarians.
https://www.alreporter.com/2025/05/19...
Librarians in Alabama have been under fire, and now Moms for Liberty of Madison County is calling on the Alabama Public Library Service to push terminations for librarians who oppose their agenda.
A letter from the local M4L chapter to APLS Chairman John Wahl and the board, obtained by APR, calls upon the board to take three specific actions:
Ensure library systems comply with relevant federal executive orders
Create a mechanism for parents to report noncompliance directly to APLS
Create policy to hold noncompliant employees accountable
That third action is further detailed to request that the APLS develop a policy outlining how library boards are to terminate librarians who do not “comply” with the state administrative code.
The letter notes that the legislature has unsuccessfully considered bills that would “ensure accountability of librarians” by charging them with a misdemeanor if they failed to remove material that a citizen believed is “harmful to minors.” [unsuccessfully being the key word here!]
...
The letter also calls on the APLS board to write policy to “standardize board composition” across libraries. The Madison County chapter had been largely involved in changing the board composition of the Athens-Limestone Public Library board to include appointees from the Limestone County Commission and not just the Athens City Council.
The point about complying with relevant federal laws and executive orders includes the group citing “Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race” as an example of “continued efforts to push radical ideologies onto children.”
The other directive of the letter is to allow citizens to directly report perceived noncompliance with the APLS code by local libraries to the APLS. Moms for Liberty supporters have already brought concerns to the board about the Fairhope Public Library, leading the board to suspend Fairhope’s state funding, despite numerous libraries in the state shelving the same challenged books in sections for minors.
More from Alabama- the GOOD peopleAlabama Library Association slams APLS board's "dismissive" tone
https://www.alreporter.com/2025/05/19...
ALLA also questioned the board’s procedure for defining “s--ually explicit” and urged them to withdraw the memo.
“The Alabama Library Association finds it necessary to address the Alabama Public Library Service board’s dismissive and discourteous treatment directed at library professionals and library supporters at the May 8, 2025, meeting,” the ALLA executive council said in the statement. “Several speakers were publicly reprimanded or spoken to in a condescending manner for raising legitimate concerns about the politicization of library governance, the need for consultation with subject-matter experts in decision-making, and the protection of federal funding vital to rural libraries.”
The tone started immediately at the meeting on May 8 when Craig Scott, director of the Gadsden Public Library and immediate past president of the ALLA, criticized the board’s politicization.
APLS chair Nehemiah “John” Wahl told Scott that he found his comments “offensive” and criticized Scott for not thanking Wahl for his efforts to secure backstop funding from the state legislature if federal funding is unavailable.
That wasn’t the only terse exchange between Wahl and librarians, as Wahl responded to several public comments, including telling Mandy Moore Broadhurst, then director of the Guntersville Public Library, that the APLS board represents the people of Alabama and not librarians.
“The board’s responses were often dismissive, prioritizing ideology over informed discussion, choosing to ignore the voices of nearly thirty community members who expressed opposition to the board,” the ALLA statement continued. [Since when is 30 a majority?]
The statement also addresses a May 12 memo sent to librarians, including a definition for the term “s--ually explicit” that the board voted on during the May 8 meeting. That memo ordered librarians to audit their collections and move any materials with content meeting the definition out of minors’ sections.
“The memo doesn’t explain the process the APLS board will take to codify these new definitions so they are valid and binding rules in the APLS administrative state code,” the ALLA said in its statement.
The ALLA is calling on the board to rescind the memo and delay any vote on a proposition by board member Amy Minton to make all materials “promoting gender ideology” deemed “inappropriate” for minors.
“Instead, we request that the APLS board properly codify these new rules by following the established legal procedure for amending the Administrative Code, as detailed in the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, Code of Alabama, Title 41, Chapter 22, Sections 1-27,” the association said.
The ALLA also wants the APLS board to address the “current climate of hostility and spuriously false narratives targeting library professionals fulfilling their public service.”
They won't stop here though. The chairman of the Alabama GOP is also the chairman of the Alabama library board and he's dead set against the libraries.https://www.alreporter.com/2025/05/20...
Read Freely celebrates legislative wins as bill to criminalize librarians dies
A bill that would allow for more local government control of library boards also failed to gain any traction during the session.
Tt the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, it appeared that a bill to criminalize librarians who shelve controversial content had considerable momentum.
Nearly every Republican in the House co-sponsored the bill—practically a majority of the voting body had the bill, House Bill 4, reached the floor for a vote. Sponsors included House leadership.
HB4 never made it to the House floor, however, and in fact never even made it onto an agenda for the House Judiciary Committee for which it was assigned.
“Our devoted and beleaguered librarians will not have to worry about being handcuffed and jailed for refusing to censor books under House Bill 4, the ‘Jail the Librarians bill,’ which never made it out of its House Committee,” Read Freely leadership said in a statement Friday. “Furthermore, the bill, which would have politicized our library boards even more (SB 6), once again died before making it to the Senate floor.
...
Although legislation went nowhere, the focus of the library wars has shifted primarily to the Alabama Public Library Service, which now boasts a majority of members who have either publicly supported or expressed sympathy for the agenda of groups, including Moms for Liberty and Clean Up Alabama, calling for censorship of certain materials.
“And even … as this session closes, opposing forces are already crafting legislation for a chosen representative to prefile, and are regrouping to continue their assault on our freedoms and beloved public institutions at the next legislative session,” Read Freely leaders said in the statement. “But we have seen over and over again that the majority of Alabamians are with us, and we will not let our home, a state whose motto is ‘We dare defend our rights,’ be taken over by those who stir up fear and hate in order to convince citizens to hand over their rights and their freedoms. We will not allow the rights of marginalized communities to be trampled at the demands of hate groups. And we will not stand by as librarians are terrorized.
QNPoohBear wrote: "And South Carolina can't let Utah surpass their book ban count. I doubt there will be any books left for kids to read next year and the teens are fighting this!https://www.thestate.com/news/local..."
Seriously getting whiplash... NOW the book is allowed back on the shelf. Yeesh.
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/e...
Back to AlabamaFlorence woman launches ‘My Alabama Library’ for library lovers across the state
https://whnt.com/news/shoals/florence...
A new platform for library lovers across Alabama has officially launched on Thursday.
Founder, Jennifer Butler-Keeton, is from Florence and has loved public libraries since she can remember.
Butler-Keeton said she wanted to create a platform for people that allows them to share positive stories or experiences at their local libraries.
Butler-Keeton said there are 200 public libraries in Alabama, and she wants everyone to share stories from all over the state.
Here’s how it works. Anyone who wants to share their story or experience can go to the My Alabama Library website, type in their name, their public library and then share their story.
https://myalabamalibrary.org/
I do not think any books are left in Florida. I have a few to send them.More books pulled from Hillsborough classrooms after state pressure
Attorney General James Uthmeier called the materials “patently p_____graphic.”
https://www.tampabay.com/news/educati...
A fresh round of books — more than 600, by one estimate — have been taken out of circulation from Hillsborough County classrooms after a letter from state officials ramped up pressure on school district officials.
Those books include Margaret Atwood‘s The Handmaid‘s Tale, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Ari Folman’s Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation.
In a letter last week, Attorney General James Uthmeier asked the Hillsborough County School Board for the “immediate removal” of materials he called “patently p----graphic.”
His letter echoed one from Florida Board of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz on May 9. Diaz asked district Superintendent Van Ayres to tell the state board next month in Miami “why you continue to allow p_____graphic materials in your school libraries.”
Uthmeier’s letter pointed out excerpts from the books “Call Me By Your Name” by Andre Aciman, previously available in three high school libraries, and “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)” by Lev A. C. Rosen, available in two high school libraries. He also pointed to excerpts from “What Girls Are Made Of” by Elana K Arnold; “Beautiful” by Amy Reed, available in middle schools; “Breathless” by Jennifer Niven; and “Choke” by Chuck Palahniuk, available in some high schools.
“It’s shocking that the district is making these materials available to its students,” Uthmeier’s letter said.
He said the state’s newly created Office of Parental Rights plans to give parents more say in what books could remain.
In a letter to Diaz, Ayres said all titles mentioned in the letters, plus five others, had been removed from the county’s schools. He also said all titles on the state’s 2022-23 and 2023-24 lists have been taken out of circulation and will be reviewed, even though no objections to them have risen through the district, to “err on the side of caution.”
In a letter responding to Uthmeier, school district attorney Jim Porter said that since 2022, Hillsborough County has removed 389,073 books from its collection of more than 2 million books, and will continue to “actively review” its collections.
The district will also consider changing policies to “strengthen the selection process and weeding of library materials,” Porter wrote.
Stephana Ferrell, co-director of the Florida Freedom to Read advocacy group, estimates around 622 titles were pulled out of circulation as a result of the state’s recent directive.
She called it “a horrible state overreach.”
Until now, Hillsborough County has had a process in place to review objections to materials originating at the school level.
Ferrell called the state’s position hypocritical. In response to a lawsuit filed by book publishers about a 2023 law that regulates library materials, the state has argued that the law itself doesn’t ban books, but individuals at the district do based on their interpretation. Ferrell said that implies the acknowledgment of districts’ abilities to make those decisions.
Diaz’s letter acknowledged that, but chided Van Ayres for not removing those books sooner.
Ferrell pointed out that while no objections over the titles mentioned in the state’s letters arose in Hillsborough, complaints over “Breathless” came up in Polk and Flagler counties, where committees decided the book was appropriate for high school students.
“It is very scary, the amount of power that they are using to just completely negate the voice of the people — the people that have actually taken the time to thoughtfully review, reread the books, review them, debate them, discuss them and come to a decision about where they believe the books to be appropriate, if they’ve decided to leave the books within their community,” she said.
Knox County Schools (Tenn.) pull 65 more books under new law https://www.wbir.com/article/news/edu...
Brevard Schools: Investigation shows no recommendation to oust teacher who used student's chosen namehttps://www.floridatoday.com/story/ne...
A parental complaint initiated an investigation, revealing Calhoun was the only teacher out of four interviewed who admitted to using the student's chosen name.
Calhoun stated it was an oversight, having taught the student before the rule was implemented, and that she had no malicious intent.
Despite a recommendation for reprimand, Superintendent Mark Rendell chose not to renew Calhoun's contract, citing uncertainty about the state's response to the incident.
Calhoun, who taught AP English and has been with the district for about 12 years, is the first known Florida educator to lose her job as a result of a 2023 Florida Board of Education rule that says parents must give written permission before an educator can use any alternative to a student's legal name, whether that be a nickname or a name related to their gender identity. In this case, the student was using a name related to their gender identity, records showed.
The district’s own investigation into the situation, which included multiple conversations with Calhoun, other teachers, the parent of the student in question and several of their classmates, ended with a recommendation that Calhoun should be reprimanded for alleged violations of state statute, an administrative code and a board policy.
The decision to not renew her contract was based on a lack of clarity regarding how the state would respond to a violation of the 2023 Florida Board of Education rule, a district spokesperson said.
"The decision was made by Dr. Rendell based on uncertainty surrounding the states response to the incident," Janet Murnaghan said in a May 15 email to FLORIDA TODAY. "We do not have any historical data to guide us on a FLDOE response to this violation. We do not want to start the 2025-2026 school year with a teacher whose license may be revoked by the state, leaving us without a teacher midyear. Ms. Calhoun is welcome to apply to work at the district when the issue is resolved with the state."
The voluminous investigative document also shows that Calhoun repeatedly said it was unintentional that she used the teen's chosen name without parental permission. She immediately expressed willingness to abide by the rule and told the teen — a 17-year-old senior also dual-enrolled at Eastern Florida State College — she could no longer call them by that name.
The student's parent did not respond to repeated requests for comment. FLORIDA TODAY is not naming the parent to protect the privacy of the student.
The investigation kicked off after the student's parent complained to Board Vice Chair Matt Susin about teachers using the student's chosen name, according to the investigative report. On March 6, Susin relayed this information to Satellite High School Principal Courtney Lundy, saying that the parent expressed concerns that DeLaura Middle School, the student's previous school, and Satellite High faculty members had been "influencing and grooming" the teen to "transition and be gay," according to the report.
Lundy and the parent also spoke that day, records show, with the parent relaying similar concerns, as well as worries that the teen was participating in the school's gender and sexuality alliance club, the report said.
The district immediately launched an investigation into the parent's allegations. This involved interviewing multiple teachers and other members of staff. Over the course of the next four days, several key parts of the case were determined, including that Calhoun was the only teacher who admitted to using the teen's chosen name. One teacher said the teen wrote their chosen name at the top of their assignments, but she never referred to them by that name.
On March 11, Calhoun was given a predetermination letter notifying her of a possible policy violation and that she would need to attend a meeting with human resources. She refused to sign it.
Following Calhoun's initial meeting on March 10 with Lundy, during which she said she used the teen's chosen name because she had been their teacher since 2022, two additional meetings were held with Calhoun and BPS Manager of Professional Standards Jacqueline Saxenmeyer.
Calhoun told Saxenmeyer she was aware of the Florida Board of Education rule but that it did not exist when she first met the student. Because the teen did well in class and didn't suffer from behavioral issues, she hadn't communicated with the parents, according to the report. She added that she hadn't checked to see if the student had a completed parent permission form in FOCUS, the academic platform BPS students, teachers and parents use, saying it was a "complete oversight."
A faculty meeting was held after the rule first passed in 2023, Calhoun said, but no refreshers or updates had been provided since then. Additionally, she said she was previously unaware of how to find nickname information in FOCUS. Following her informal meeting with Lundy on March 10, during which they discussed FOCUS, Calhoun said she did a complete search for all her students' confirmed nicknames.
The same day as her initial meeting with Lundy, Calhoun told the student she could no longer use their chosen name, offering them little detail as to why, according to investigative documents. Calhoun said she was not given specific instructions regarding whether or not to speak to the student about the situation, and Lundy said she had not provided her with guidance on how to move forward.
Calhoun said she wasn't using the student's chosen name with any "political intent" or "malicious intent." She added that she was "shocked" when she learned what the informal meeting was about and made a comment saying, "I can't believe that this is what I go down for." She also said no conversations regarding transitioning genders had ever taken place between her and the teen.
At the end of her investigation, Saxenmeyer said that Calhoun should receive a letter of reprimand stating she had violated Florida State Statute 1000.071, which relates to the use of personal titles and pronouns; Florida Administrative Code 6A-1.0955, which relates to allowing parents to specify if an educator can use a deviation from their child's legal name; Brevard Public Schools board policy 3210, specifically the section relating to the use of personal titles and pronouns; and The Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida State Board Rule 6A-10.081(2)(c)(4).
Saxenmeyer did not suggest terminating Calhoun or otherwise removing her from her position. But on April 1, Rendell issued a letter of reprimand with a notice that Calhoun's contract would not be renewed.
...
The board reaffirmed his decision at an April 22 board meeting. Board member John Thomas made a motion to retrain Calhoun on the 2023 rule and renew her contract, but none of the other board members supported that idea, citing concerns about parental rights and the uncertain status of Calhoun's teaching certification.
...
On April 11, about a week and a half after Calhoun was told her contract would not be renewed, Saxenmeyer sent her a letter informing her that the district would be reporting her to the Florida Department of Education's Office of Professional Practices due to her use of the teen's chosen name.
Records from the same day show Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Services Ryan Dufrain filled out the form to report Calhoun to the state department of education. He included "all supporting documents," including a summary of the situation, witness statements, emails/letters/correspondence and copies of the rules the district said she violated.
...
About a month after she made the initial complaint, records show that the parent emailed school board members and Lundy, questioning why she hadn't been informed that teachers had previously been using her teen's chosen name.
"What is the consequence for these teacher (sic) in violation of the law?" she said. "Sending a strong message is imperative to stopping the culture."
Children's Books
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https://www.al.com/news/2025/05/what-...
Where's Waldo? I really had to hunt for the topless woman. I have to go find the box with the book and see if I can find anything explicit. (eyeroll)
In the Night Kitchen explicit? REALLY? I have NO memory at ALL of the little boy being nude, let alone it being shocking or explicit. He's a BABY!
__________________________________________
Library directors must move “s--ually explicit” content from children and teen sections to the adult section “effective immediately,” according to a May 12 letter from the state library board chair.
The Alabama Public Library Service board of trustees unanimously accepted a definition of s---ally explicit content on May 8. Librarians say the new definition means they will need to move some common children and young adult books that include nudity or risk losing state funding.
According to the new policy, “se---lly explicit” content is (view spoiler)[“actual or simulated sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex; Sexual excitement; Nudity; Bestiality; Masturbation; Sadistic or masochistic abuse; or Lascivious exhibition of the anus, genital or pubic area of any person.” (hide spoiler)]
The definition comes directly from the Alabama Code, Section 13A, which defines s--ual conduct for material in adult bookstores.
Board member Amy Minton provided AL.com this definition in March 2024.
The definition includes books such as “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel about the author’s exploration of gender identity. The book includes three scenes of intercourse, including a scene depicted on a piece of artwork. Several Alabama libraries moved the book to the adult section or removed it from the library entirely, even though it was shelved in the adult section.
Another book with s--ual content that has caused controversy across the state include “Sold,” a book about human trafficking by Patricia McCormick. A Mobile Public Library patron challenged the book in 2023, and it’s one of the books holding up funding for Fairhope Public Library.
Fairhope physician Dr. Caleb Whitehead works with child victims of sexual assault and was disappointed to hear that books like “Sold” were being challenged.
“I am thrilled that some have lived such comically sheltered lives to have found two to three sentences on sexual assault some of the most vulgar material they have ever encountered,” Whitehead said during the board meeting. “Unfortunately, however, most children live in the real world. In the real world, one in nine girls and one in 20 boys are or will become victims of sexual abuse.”
Librarians told AL.com that many books, especially in the teen or young adult sections, have nudity, including popular books like “Ender’s Game” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” But nudity in those books typically isn’t considered problematic, and is appropriate to the overall context of the book, they said.
Children’s books such as “Where’s Waldo?” could be deemed s--ually explicit because one book features a nude butt. “In the Night Kitchen,” written by famed children’s author Maurice Sendak, also includes a naked behind. Sendak’s book has ended up on banned books lists in several states, according to the American Library Association.
“Vast swathes of the collections in Alabama’s public libraries teen and children’s departments fit this vague definition of ‘s--ually explicit’ as outlined by APLS Executive Board,” said Matthew Layne, former president of the Alabama Library Association. “These books will thus need to be moved to the libraries’ adult departments thereby forcing young children to browse for titles amongst material very much intended for adults.”
“The lack of public discussion on the part of the board regarding the pros and cons of the implementation of this vague definition is sad and disheartening,” Layne said. “The APLS Executive Board time and again reveals that they are more concerned with injecting Alabama’s phenomenal public libraries with their personal biases rather than serving the greater good of the libraries and all of the state’s library patrons.”
At Thursday’s meeting board chair and GOP head John Wahl said that if libraries “are worried about defunding, there’s a very simple solution. It is in your hands. It is not us who are defunding you. It is your choice. To intentionally disobey state code is the only thing that would cause defunding. And I encourage you, strongly, any library directors out there look at the state code, comply with it, and there is nothing to worry about.”
The APLS board is now considering asking librarians to move any books with transgender characters to the adult section.