Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
An opinion piece but posting it because of the good examples of books banned in TennesseeTN Govt. Saves School Children From Smut Like Magic Tree House, Calvin & Hobbes, & A Light In The Attic
https://abovethelaw.com/2025/07/tn-go...
Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne, children’s poet Shel Silverstein and Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson have joined Judy Blume, Sarah J. Maas, Eric Carle and Kurt Vonnegut on a mind-boggling list of hundreds of books purged from some Tennessee school libraries.
The removals are the result of a growing political movement (Opens in a new window) to control information through book banning. In 2024, the state legislature amended (Opens in a new window) the “Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022” to specify that any materials that “in whole or in part” contain any “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse” are inappropriate for all students and do not belong in a school library. This change means books are not evaluated as a whole, and excerpts can be considered without context, if they have any content that is deemed to cross these lines. This leaves no room for educators and librarians to curate collections that reflect the real world and serve the educational needs of today’s students.
Oak Ridge Schools, where a significant number of the bans target art history books, even removed Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, a collection of works by the artist, who graduated from Oak Ridge High School.
“Regarding the book written by Mr. Jolley, we were thrilled to feature a book written by an ORHS alumni on our shelves and were equally disappointed to have to remove it,” Molly Gallagher Smith, an Oak Ridge Schools spokeswoman, told WBIR (Opens in a new window). “Unfortunately, as an artist, Mr. Jolley’s book features depictions of the human body that are in direct violation of the law.”
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Another right wing party might well split the vote and help the Democrats. And considering that Elon Musk was born in South Africa, even if he did form a new political party, he himself would not be legally allowed to run for president anyhow.
Manybooks wrote: "https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/05/politi...Another right wing party might well split the vote and help the Democrats. And considering that Elon Musk was born in South Africa..."
He doesn't have to be elected to be president. He just has to get his puppet elected. Which is what DOGE was all about.
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Another right wing party might well split the vote and help the Democrats. And considering that Elon Musk was bo..."
True, but it would be great if Musk and Trump split the vote (would be fun to see their and their supporters' heads exploding).
Manybooks wrote: "Ivonne wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/05/politi...Another right wing party might well split the vote and help the Democrats. And considering that E..."
That would be a hilarious sight to see, indeed.
A few more stories I found last week. Still doom and gloom. Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Will Devastate Public Schools. America’s Kids Will Pay the Price
https://time.com/7299514/bill-will-de...
According to Senator Ted Cruz, school vouchers are "the Civil Rights Issue of the 21st century.” The Texas Republican argues that vouchers are key to providing educational opportunities for young people. On the contrary, expanding vouchers and eliminating public education will actively harm young people—especially Black, Latino, and Indigenous students.
President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” currently includes a provision hidden in the tax code that offers an unprecedented 100% tax deduction for donations to third party organizations that hand out private school vouchers. The push to create a national private school voucher program is part of a long legacy of efforts to return to the separate and unequal educational landscape of the pre-civil rights era. Since the 1960s, white segregationists pushed for private school vouchers to avoid the desegregation mandates of Brown v. Board of Education and maintain a discriminatory and unequal system of education.
This private school voucher plan to strip millions of children of their opportunity to access free public education directly mirrors Project 2025. The issue with such a policy is that private school vouchers subsidize wealthy families who can already pay for private school, while decimating public schools for everyone else by diverting resources away from public education.
Opponents of free and accessible education argue that voucher programs give families more choice. In actuality, school vouchers go toward private schools that choose which children to enroll, reject, or kick out. Public schools cannot choose which students to provide an education to. By law, they cannot discriminate against students based on their gender, race, disability, religion, English fluency, or LGBTQ identity.
But by design, private schools selectively allow admission to a small number of students. They also routinely deny students enrollment for other reasons like grades, behavioral record, and ability to pay. The latter of which is particularly significant because research suggests most families can’t afford the gap between the voucher and the rest of tuition.
Families who can’t access elite private schools, whether because they are discriminated against or can’t pay the difference in tuition, are often preyed upon by predatory schools that have popped up in states that passed vouchers in recent years. Horror stories abound of strip mall schools where no learning happens, where doors shutter mid-year, and where students don’t have teachers.
Meanwhile, public schools, which serve 90% of American students and 94% of students of color—are forced to do more with less. Students learn from outdated textbooks and old computers while overworked teachers are tasked with educating children who aren’t getting the resources they need. A choice between a private school that can reject or discriminate against your child and an under-resourced public school is hardly a choice at all.
The draconian cuts to public education caused by vouchers are even leading to a new wave of school closures, disproportionately impacting schools in Black and Brown neighborhoods, and forcing students to start over in unfamiliar environments, often traveling farther from home and adapting to new teachers and peers. When neighborhood schools close, Black and Brown communities lose community centers, polling places, access to services, and vital civic infrastructure, and in some cases lose their communities altogether.
Senate Passes A Different Version Of Federal School Vouchershttps://www.forbes.com/sites/petergre...
The federal voucher is proposed as a tax credit scholarship, meaning that every dollar taxpayers put into the voucher program is a dollar of revenue the federal government does not collect (and for which each donor gets a dollar for dollar tax credit, a deal unlike any available for other donation credits). The House version has a cap on the amount of tax revenue the government will give up; the Senate version has no such cap.
However, the House version allowed donors to give up to 10% of their income to the voucher program, the Senate version limits donations to no more than $1,700.
The House version would impose school vouchers on states that do not have voucher programs of their own. The Senate version allows states to opt in to the program. Scholarship granting organizations would only be able to administer the program in their own state; the House version left open the possibility that an SGO could fund programs in other states.
The House version included a typical voucher disclaimer that the government could not exert any sort of control or regulation of private and religious schools that accept the vouchers. The Senate removed that language.
The Senate version gives the Secretary of the Treasury authority to oversee the scholarship granting organizations that would administer the voucher funds. That comes with broad powers to oversee and regulate the program, which could also translate into oversight of schools receiving vouchers.
Public schools are turning into Christian Nationalist schools in Oklahoma.OSDE partners with Today Foundation to improve US history curriculum
Oklahoma State Department of Education announced its partnership with the Today Foundation.
https://www.newson6.com/story/6867f05...
The Oklahoma State Department of Education announced its partnership with the Today Foundation to improve history and literacy curriculum for Middle and High School Students.
OSDE said the Today Foundation's Amira Learning program introduces Bill Bennett's "Story of America" to middle and high School students.
The program will be an online program, according to the department.
"I could not be prouder that Oklahoma students will have this extraordinary resource so they have fact-based, pro-America education," said State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
*sigh* All the stories are going to be about this for a long time to come.Chipping away at democracy’: authors fear outcome of US supreme court’s LGBTQ+ book ruling | US book bans
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
...
Jodie Patterson “It is imperative to have experiences that are beyond the belief you might hold at that moment, so that we can be a talented country with critical thinkers that can move America forward,” Patterson said. “And I do believe that all the progress that we’ve seen in America has been through collaboration through thought, through bringing opposing opinions together and finding a space that is not necessarily one or the other but a combination.”
If parents can choose to opt their children out of subjects that they don’t believe in, she said, “does that also allow for people like Native Americans to opt out of a story about Christopher Columbus or Black families to opt out of what we call American history, which is often unjustly told through the eyes of white men?” Patterson sees it as dangerous for people to not be exposed to ideas that they disagree with, because it makes them singularly informed.
In the dissenting opinion of the ruling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the decision “threatens the very essence of a public education”, adding that it “strikes at the core premise of public schools: that children may come together to learn not the teachings of a particular faith, but a range of concepts and views that reflect our entire society”.
Robin Stevenson, the author of Pride Puppy!, a story about a queer family attending a Pride parade, thinks that allowing students to leave the classroom will also make queer families invisible. The ruling “segregates books about queer people, books about families like mine, and treats these books differently from other books, and in so doing, it sends a terribly harmful message to all kids, but particularly to kids who are LGBTQ+ themselves, and kids from LGBTQ+ families”, Stevenson said. “It also has the potential to accelerate this epidemic of book bans that we are already in the midst of.”
As the US supreme court deliberated on the case, DeShanna Neal, a Delaware representative and co-author of My Rainbow, worked with their legislative colleagues on a bill to protect book bans in the state of Delaware. In My Rainbow, Neal makes a rainbow-colored wig for their trans daughter, Trinity, to help her express her gender identity. The Freedom to Read Act passed on 30 June, which Neal sees as a sign that they and their colleagues are working to keep the state safe. After it passed, Neal received a text message from a colleague that read: “You will never have to worry about My Rainbow being banned in Delaware.”
Supreme Court Fails Students in Mahmoud v. Taylor Decision — Advocates Vow to Keep Fighting for Inclusive Education https://www.thesentinel.com/communiti...
"We are devastated—but we are not defeated,” said Phillip Alexander Downie, CEO of the Montgomery County Pride Family and Co-Chair of the Coalition for Inclusive Schools. “The Court may have failed us today, but we will not fail our students. Our resolve has never been stronger.”
The Mahmoud v. Taylor decision comes just weeks after hundreds gathered outside the Supreme Court for the Rally for Inclusive Education on April 22, 2025. Hosted by the Montgomery County Pride Family, Live In Your Truth, and the Coalition for Inclusive Schools & Communities, the rally served as a powerful demonstration of community, culture, and unwavering resistance to the growing wave of censorship and erasure.
“On that day in April, we rallied hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder with students, parents, educators, and advocates from across the country,” Downie reflected. “We sang, we danced, we spoke truth to power—and that power still lives in us, no matter what the Court says.” said Robyn Woods, Inclusive Education Rally Organizer from Live In Your Truth.
The Court’s decision underscores the urgency of grassroots organizing, community building, and policy advocacy in protecting inclusive practices at the state and local levels. While this ruling is a setback, it is not the end of the story.
The Montgomery County Pride Family, alongside our partners in the Coalition for Inclusive Schools & Communities, calls on every advocate, educator, parent, and student to rise up and recommit to the fight for fact-based education and curricula that are inclusive of all identities:
Organize: Join or create local coalitions protecting inclusive education in your schools.
Advocate: Show up to school board meetings, write your representatives, and demand policies that protect all students.
Donate: Support grassroots groups, community legal defense funds, and organizations on the front lines.
Educate: Continue to share banned stories, celebrate erased identities, and teach truth in your communities.
“We will not be erased. We will not be silenced. And we will not stop fighting,” Downie affirmed. “Today’s decision may have closed one door—but our movement will open a thousand more.
Already they have questionsI’m a teacher. What books will the Supreme Court let me show students?
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2...
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Excellent, and this should be happening everywhere in the USA!!
https://www.newsweek.com/ice-immigrat...
Hope the bill passes, but Donald Trump (who is monarchial and becoming more and more like a combination of Fascism and Stalinism) will probably veto this even if the bill does pass.
SCOTUS Ruling Misses the Point of Reading | National Columnists | journal-news.nethttps://www.journal-news.net/opinion/...
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Since Donald Trump's own paternal grandfather was an illegal immigrant to the USA and a cowardly draft dodger from Bavaria, Donald Trump should maybe SELF DEPORT (but I also would not want to saddle Germany with Donald Trump and his family either).
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American Republican politicians are whining toddlers who obviously collectively deserve a darn good spanking.
Oh boo, hoo, hoo, Americans are having their summer ruined (well, according to many Republicans there is no such thing as global warning, no such thing as droughts and considering that the majority of wildfires are caused by lightning, the blame Canada refrain is kind of ridiculous, but perhaps the signees think we in Canada control lightning).
And honestly, considering how many Canadian First Nations villages have had to be evacuated due to wildfires, I really do not at all care about Americans whining about their summer supposedly being "ruined" due to wildfire smoke.
Supreme Court ruling wasn’t the final word, as debate on LGBTQ books opt-out goes onSupporters say parental rights reaffirmed, opponents say it ‘burdens’ on schools and will lead to erasure of LGBTQ history; attorneys prepare to talk
https://marylandmatters.org/2025/07/0...
Bulson’s not the only one grappling with the fallout of the court’s June 27 ruling — which merely granted a preliminary injunction in the case and ordered it back to lower courts, which have yet to hold a hearing on the merits of the case, only on motions.
Attorneys for both the parents and the school system told a federal district judge Monday that, pending paperwork from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, they hope to sit down to see if they can work out an agreement on a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds.
The court’s 6-3 ruling in the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor said that while the case is being heard, the Montgomery County School Board “should be ordered to notify them [parents] in advance whenever one of the books in question or any other similar book is to be used in any way and to allow them to have their children excused from that instruction.”
Suzie Scott of Harford County said the court’s decision represents “a huge win” for parental rights.
“It’s crazy that the Supreme Court had to weigh in on something so common sense,” said Scott, who serves as chair of Moms for Liberty Maryland Legislative Committee. “The parents that brought this case are not trying to tell the school what they can and can’t teach. They’re just saying, ‘I don’t want my child to be exposed to certain literature that is opposed to my moral viewpoint.’”
But Phillip Westry, executive director with the LGBTQ advocacy group FreeState Justice in Baltimore, said the ruling could eventually le[a]d to removing aspects of certain historical figures. He points to the late Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran and one of the first openly gay elected officials when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977: On the day of the court’s ruling, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on his social media page that the Navy would the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.
“There is a concern from FreeState Justice that this ruling will create an erasure of LGBTQ people from areas in history, in government, in literature, in science,” said Westry, who’s also an attorney. “It makes for a messy situation to educate our kids in a public setting.”
Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion for the court, said the school board’s “introduction of the LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks into the literature curriculum, along with its decision to deny opt-outs as it does for other topics, “places an unconstitutional burden on the parents’ rights to the free exercise of their religion.” He said the parents have “shown that they are very likely to succeed in their free exercise” of religion claims, and ordered the preliminary injunction.
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor — joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — wrote the majority’s ruling would create “chaos” for the nation’s public schools, which will be required to “provide advance notice and the chance to opt out of every lesson plan or story time that might implicate a parent’s religious beliefs.”
The case will eventually go back to the U.S. District Court of Maryland in Greenbelt for a full hearing.
“Now that the court issue has been decided [and] the parents are entitled to a preliminary injunction, our hope and expectation is that the parties and the District Court can work to implement the court’s decision and finally resolve the case,” said Michael O’Brien, one of the attorneys for the parents.
...
State law allows parents to opt their children out of instruction that deals with “family life and human sexuality instruction.” But Montgomery County officials eventually ruled that the policy did not apply to the LGBTQ books and materials that were part of the school’s literature program, which they called part of an inclusive curriculum that also helps teach civility and respect.
So a group of county Muslim, Jewish and Catholic parents filed a suit that to challenge use of the books that feature some same-sex or transgender characters in classes as early as prekindergarten.
Lindsey Smith, who isn’t part of the suit, is credited as one of the first people to speak out against the Montgomery County school board’s decision more than two years ago to incorporate the books into classroom instruction.
Smith, who had two elementary-school aged children in the school system during that time, founded the county’s Moms for Liberty chapter established in January 2023. She’s no longer a part of the organization.
In an interview, she recalled how some parents who complained were called “bigots” and told to “shut up and be silent.”
“My kids were not mature enough to handle some of the books,” said Smith, whose children now attend private school. “The parents have the sovereignty and the right to have their voices heard and to be able to have their voice used in the public school education. We’re the ones that pay for it.”
But educators worry that the ruling “will impose impossible administrative burdens on schools,” as Sotomayor put it.
David Stein, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, agrees with Sotomayor’s opinion on how the ruling “will impose impossible administrative burdens on schools.”
“If one child needs to opt out on Monday for this book, but another child needs to opt out on Wednesday for another book, it’s unworkable and it’s just an incredible burden on that teacher,” said David Stein, president of the Montgomery County Education Association.
“I’m worried about what happens in high school biology class,” said Stein, who taught high school math for 30 years. “We want to talk about evolution, or we want to talk about vaccines. Teachers are going to have to keep track of all these different these objections that various families may have.”
Bulson said it’s impossible for school systems to anticipate everything that’s objectionable. He said one of his main focuses is to simply communicate with parents in his district, which he said has experienced few opt-out requests from parents.
“I do have a pretty firm line, which is I’ll talk to you about what affects your children, but I would equally defend the importance of sustaining a line where individual parents don’t get to speak for other families’ children,” Bulson said. “I still think schools have an important role to play in ensuring all students feel included.”
Montgomery County mom Taylor Tuckerman said she and her husband read various books to their son, who turns 3 this month, including those that include LGBTQ+ themes. One her son has become engaged with is “Plenty of Hugs,” which features a family with two mothers.
“It’s just really upsetting to me to think that in two years, he and his friends are going to go into kindergarten and not have these same books available to them,” said Tuckerman, a vice president of finance and shared services with Catholics for Choice.
“The Supreme Court decided that it’s OK for other parents to teach their children to discriminate and judge people who are different from them and to force that same judgement into my son’s public classrooms,” she said. “We believe people of all faiths should feel welcomed and included and that includes LGBTQ families of faith.”
Trump signed an executive order telling the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to end funding for PBS and NPR. Congress has already fully funded the CPB through September 30, 2027, but Trump has asked them to rescind that funding. On average, it only costs each American $1.50 a year to fund the CBP. Trump is also trying to fire three CPB board members who were nominated by President Joe Biden to serve six-year terms.The head of the FCC, Brendan Carr, who is an author of a chapter in Project 2025 about the FCC, is investigating PBS and NPR (as well as ABC, CBS, and NBC) and supports defunding them and removing their Noncommercial Educational Broadcast licensing status.
https://redwine.blue/project2025/?emc...
REALLY? After the students protested and they promised to put books back. Is there anything LEFT for these poor kids to read? https://www.islandpacket.com/news/loc...
15 books removed
More books challenged in Beaufort County School District. Board mulls options
Fifteen books, including 'Thirteen Reasons Why,' face removal in Beaufort County. Critics and officials clash over review laws shaping book access.
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Good for Manitoba premier Wab Kinew shooting back and calling the ignorant Republican lawmakers who penned that inflammatory letter pathetically whining and having a silly toddler-like hissy fit about wildfire smoke disgusting and horrid ambulance chasers and that they are also trivialising a dangerous wildfire season in Manitoba where people have died. They really should apologise, but of course they will not because they are too full of themselves, too ignorant and too horrid to do that (just like their even more sad and pathetic boss, the so-called POTUS).
Hope American tourists going fishing in Manitoba will not be making the same kind of moronic and putrid comments, but if they do, I hope that Manitobans approach this and them with the utmost contempt.
Gundula I thought you were going to come on and report the most RIDICULOUS news from Alberta!!!not about banning books? rriiiiggghhtt...
Demetrios Nicolaides is a liar. Of course there are standards for determining what is age appropriate for the school library! That's what librarians and teachers and professionals are for!
And all this in spite of the fact that NO explicit books have been found and in spite of the fact most parents don't want someone else to decide what their kids can and can not read? Despicable and very Floridian. AND HOW are the schools supposed to review all these books without additional funding for you know the trained professionals to do their jobs? Wait wait don't tell me... they'll rely on citizen volunteers from... Florida! (and Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Utah, South Carolina). That database is gone but I'm betting someone has a list of all the books on it they're sharing on social media.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar....
Alberta bans school library books it deems s--ually explicit
Education minister says province's new standards aren't about banning books
Alberta's education minister says material the province deems s-ually explicit must be gone from school library shelves as of Oct. 1, but says the announcement is not about book banning.
Demetrios Nicolaides says the move is about putting rules in place for schools that until now have had no standard for selecting age-appropriate books for its libraries.
"This was never about erasing particular narratives from school libraries," Nicolaides told a news conference in Calgary Thursday.
"This is simply about ensuring young students are not exposed to content depicting (view spoiler) or other very inappropriate content."
As part of the announcement, Nicolaides issued a list of specific s-x acts that can't be explicitly described in library books alongside new rules for what students can read.
Explicit s--ual content, defined by the province as detailed and clear depictions of s--ual acts, including (view spoiler) will not be accessible to students in any grade.
Non-explicit se--al content, which refers to depictions of s---al acts that are not detailed or clear, will only be accessible to students in Grade 10 or higher.
Non-sexual content, such as information about puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, biological functions, kissing or hand-holding, will be accessible to all students.
Religious texts, such as the Bible, will be allowed on the shelves.
School boards must review library materials, and school officials will be tasked with supervising students to make sure they are reading appropriate material.
No additional funds will be allotted for this work.
Other deadlines will follow.
By Jan. 1, new school board policies must be in place dictating how books are selected and reviewed. School divisions will also need to publish a full list of available materials.
The new policy stems from an announcement Nioclaides made in May that four inappropriate coming-of-age graphic novels were found in school libraries in Edmonton and Calgary.
He said each of the books contain graphic s--ual material as well as depictions of molestation and drug and alcohol use.
Critics have said the province seems more concerned about engaging in culture-war politics than student well-being, as most of the books Nicolaides said he was looking to take off shelves deal with 2SLGBTQ+ subject matter.
Nicole Buchanan, chair of Red Deer Public Schools, who was also at the announcement, endorsed the new rules and said it's important to know that content and resources are age appropriate.
"Take substances like alcohol and tobacco, for example. Some students in our schools may be of the provincial age to consume them," Buchanan said.
"But that doesn't mean that we put them in our vending machines."
Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling said in a statement that he opposes the ministerial order, saying it may make students believe "some expressions of their gender and s--ual identities are shameful and should be hidden away."
"This ministerial order accomplishes little other than adding to teacher workload, politicizing a non-issue and targeting vulnerable students," he said.
Schilling called it an "overreaction that highlights a lack of resources for school libraries," adding that schools are unable to afford their own teacher-librarians to effectively manage library resources.
"The sweeping scope of this ministerial order will result in the removal of valuable and inclusive resources from our libraries. It will also discourage teachers from seeking out materials that interest and engage students," he said.
Laura Winton, past president of the Library Association of Alberta, said the policy is confusing but the result is clear. "Titles will be removed from school libraries. That is censorship," she said.
Winton said professional librarians, teachers, school boards and administrators who have expertise in children's literature and age appropriateness should be the ones deciding what should be on the shelves.
The Calgary Board of Education and Edmonton Public Schools said in separate statements they already have processes in place and their practices are guided by principles such as those published by Canadian School Libraries.
The Calgary division also said they have clear mechanisms in place for people to bring forward concerns about specific resources.
Julie Kusiek, board chair for Edmonton Public Schools, called on the minister to reconsider the Oct. 1 deadline to give teachers the time they need to catalogue classroom collections - or remove that requirement.
"Compiling a catalogue of potentially hundreds of books during this crucial time puts significant and unnecessary pressure on staff, who are already managing increasing classroom complexity and insufficient funding," said Kusiek.
Opposition NDP education critic Amanda Chapman said in a statement there are more urgent issues the United Conservative Party government should be focused on, including overcrowded classrooms and a lack of educational assistants.
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/th...
Trump Aims to Spread Florida Book Ban Strategy Across U.S. https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/tr...
Commentary piece
South CarolinaBook ban battle heats up in Beaufort County
https://www.wsav.com/news/local-news/...
A battle between one Beaufort County woman and people all over South Carolina about book banning in schools is heating up.
In 2024, South Carolina passed a new regulation that allows people to appeal to the State Board of Education when their proposed submissions for books to be banned in schools are rejected locally.
Now, a local woman who submitted more than 90 books for removal from public schools in 2022 is resubmitting the books for removal under the new rule, and she’s winning.
“In the fall of 2022, we had two individuals who challenged 97 titles in our public schools in Beaufort County. One person challenged 96. One challenged one,” Mary Foster, a Board Member with Families Against Book Bans, said.
At the time, the book review process was confined to the local level.
Additional book ban requests made in Beaufort County schools
“The district had a method to follow, to review books, and basically, they had review committees for each book. The committees were comprised of a librarian, a school administrator, a district employee, a teacher, and community members,” Foster said.
Under that process, only five books were removed from Beaufort County Schools.
2024 is when the new rule went into effect.
“A policy was proposed by the State Board of Education, and, ultimately, a regulation was passed that allowed books to be banned statewide,” Foster said.
Under the newly adopted statute, anything containing “depictions of se--ual conduct” was no longer allowed, no matter the context.
Suddenly, the person who had challenged 96 books was now granted a path to submit appeals for the 91 that were still on shelves, and she’s already done so with more than 30.
“Twentyish of those books, Beaufort County said we’ve already reviewed these and passed them on to the state, and, unfortunately, the state decided to ban most of them,” Foster said. “But then there were fifteen more books, five that were challenged in March, five in April, five in May that came from that original list of 96. Beaufort county presumably did the same thing, but the state school board said y’all have to take some action.”
Foster said the State School Board has mandated that the Beaufort County School Board rule on the remaining fifteen submissions locally before passing them on to the state. It is unclear when they will rule on the resubmitted books or if they will stand by their original decision.
FloridaState BOE Member Byrd recommended districts skip the review process and go right to removing every title on their shelves that has appeared on the state’s annual removal lists.
Well, it appears Volusia County listened. Here are 10 of the disappeared titles we have been monitoring, now banned in Volusia.
https://bsky.app/profile/flfreedomrea...
Last month, the Florida SBOE made national news when they accused media specialists of intentionally trying to harm our children. They ordered the immediate removal of 55 titles based on excerpts alone - which ignored district policy and state law that sought to involve the community in these decisions.
Florida is passing a new rule for state school librarians and health educators.
The latest edition of the certification requirements reduces the categories of required competencies & skills from 25 to 8.
Among those removed is an understanding of intellectual freedom.
No need for an MLIS/MLS
Authors and Illustrators of Books in Mahmoud v. Taylor Case Respond to Supreme Court Rulinghttps://pen.org/press-release/authors...
Fear, Uncertainty, Distress Settle Over Black History Classrooms [on Juneteenth]
https://pen.org/fear-uncertainty-dist...
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not about banning books? rriiiiggghhtt...
Demetrios Nicolaides is a liar. Of course there are stan..."
I just read this right now, but I am NOT at all surprised since Alberta is a Donald Trump province (with also the most Canadians wanting to be annexed). So why is sex worse than violence?
If I were still a student (and I grew up in Alberta), I would buy lots and lots of books with "questionable" contents and keep bringing them to school.
Oh and when I was a teenager at school in Alberta and our school tried to impose draconian book rules after a few parents, we ALL brought in copies of Forever (but of course, the provincial government at that time, albeit Conservative, was not yet the combination of Fascism and Stalinism it is now and did not collectively try to impose rules regarding what can be read and what cannot be read like Hitler and Stalin did).
Manybooks wrote: "I just read this right now, but I am NOT at all surprised since Alberta is a Donald Trump province (with also the most Canadians wanting to be annexed). So why is sex worse than violence?"Both are OK if it's in the Bible. Violence is probably OK if it's directed towards the LGBTQ+ community and in general, violence and mental health are also on the hit list so watch for new rules in Alberta soon. They seem to be copying/pasting from Florida IN SPITE OF parents NOT wanting this AND no obscene books found in the libraries! The list from the Florida state education department is so absurd.
How do they feel about guns in Alberta? In Texas they love their guns so books about gun violence are... banned. Nineteen Minutes
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I hate guns, but I do understand that farmers and ranchers in remoter regions of the province do need guns at times and also often hunt (and eat what they hunt). But there is no reason to have assault weapons and especially in urban areas (Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer).
Really stupid to ban books on gun violence ...
Like LGBTQ+ books, the censors fear their kids will want to copy what they read in the book! I am sure the books are not written with sympathy for those who go on mass shooting sprees but for the victims and those they leave behind, for the students grappling with this enormous thing that just happened to rock their world. Nineteen Minutes is banned not for violence but for ... off page s-e-x?! Fantasy violence is apparently a no no and violence against women is a no no too. Memoirs of girls who have been kidnapped and assaulted/raped? BAN! Novels about girls raped and murdered? BAN! Oh and if you're an author who says something against gun violence on social media, your author visit to the nearby school is history.
Time for BookRiot's weekly round-up of doom and gloom.Kelly Jensen reports Pride is disappearing in libraries now. Not mine, thankfully! Too many neighbors would complain about not seeing themselves represented, including city politicians!
But in Ohio, "In April, the state’s House Republicans introduced their budget bill, calling for fundamentally changing the ways that libraries are funded in the state. It called for any and all materials “related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression” be removed from view of anyone under the age of 18 in libraries statewide. Lobbyists and activists took to legislators nearly immediately, but their focus was solely on the budget changes, leaving LGBTQ+ people and their stories in the wake. When that push to save how libraries are funded in the state became a losing battle, the focus then turned to the LGBTQ+ book provision.
That was late June, months after the provision was well-known.
Fortunately for the state of Ohio and its libraries, Governor DeWine heard the demands to squash that part of the budget bill. It’s no longer there–but libraries across the state should wonder where or how LGBTQ+ people they purport to serve (and LGBTQ+ people who work in those libraries) will show up for them in the future, after they were ignored for months. "
There were far fewer Drag Story Hour and similar events offered at public libraries across the country.
Where there were such events, they were not without increased security and pressure from far right instigators.
It happened in places which have been targeted less, which is a reminder of where and how the energy and efforts of complainers has had to shift. They have to go further and further out to challenge events because there are simply fewer events.
Chicago Public Library saw not one, but two, attempts to choke out their drag queen story hour programs. One happened in the Edgewater neighborhood, where police had to monitor the situation; one arrest was made after a protester pushed an individual in support of the event. The event in the Beverly neighborhood also saw protesters.
An hour and a half southwest of Chicago’s city limits sits La Salle, Illinois. That library saw a surge in complaints when they shared they would be hosting a family friendly drag story hour. The event required three police officers to monitor from outside the library–and it also drew a crowd of champions of the event who showed up not only in support of the program but who helped attendees arrive safely and in love.
In California, two separate drag story events were shrouded in complaints and fears of protests. For Rohnert Park-Cotati Regional Library, north of San Francisco, the worries were allayed when no protestors showed up to the event. Rumors had been circulating online about what could happen, and the library prepared itself by bringing in extra staff and seeking supporters to help guide attendees inside the building safely.
The Monterey Public Library and Monterey Peninsula Pride cohosted a drag storytime in a local park, which quickly saw complaints rise from the Monterey County Republican Party. Though their opposition was loud and parroted the same tired, misinformed talking points shared by the right elsewhere, the event itself sold out and saw a joyful crowd. Something of note in this story is what the Monterey Public Library’s director said when asked about the controversy and complaints: “”Our LGBTQ community are taxpayers as well, and all community members deserve to have their taxpayer funds represented in programs that reflect them here in our community.”
Another California library in St. Helena, saw their Drag story event complained about in the local newspaper, but as far as can be seen, the event happened as planned.
Other complaints about drag story events happened in Brooklyn Public Library, where one library worker reported that “the State Assembly Member who gave us programming funding wanted us to remove his funding credit from the flyer due to constituent complaints.” In Lafayette Public Library (CO), one patron claimed she single-handedly canceled the library’s Drag Queen Story Time. She did not–but she certainly was able to spread plenty of misinformation.
Tangi Library in Louisiana saw their author event with popular queer romance author Casey McQuiston canceled. The cancellation, which was overturned following pushback for the decision, came due to “subject matter.” Such on again, off again events create confusion for patrons, especially as it was clear these complaints were likely not even coming from the community itself but from elsewhere across the country.
Augusta County Library in Fishersville, Virginia, canceled its Pride events following pushback from library and county officials. ... events were initially nixed ... by the far-right members of the library board. A day long event was planned by the library, to include a photo booth, cookie making, and a movie that would play after hours. Just four days in advance of the event, the library shared that it was being canceled, thanks to a demand from the county board of supervisors. A county board member claimed it was about the movie being shown, the title of which that individual could not even remember. When the library director offered to cancel the movie, he could get no response from the county board who’d told him the entire thing was done. Who knows if this is the truth though: one of the earlier stories on the incident notes that a retired police officer said that there was a “possibility” of something going bad and thus, it should be canceled. Whatever the reasons behind the cancellation, the fact is it was canceled.
In New Hampshire, the Rye Public Library made plans to host an “Allyship 101” event in the days leading up to Pride month. But following complaints from the local Republican Town Committee, the library board elected to “postpone” the event. Of note is that this event wasn’t being put on by the library itself, but rather, it was being supported by the library and was being run by a local nonprofit whose work is to serve LGBTQ+ youth. This is an important note, as the library board then decided in a cowardly move that the event could go on, the library would offer a room for it, but there would be no endorsement from the library itself.
Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library in Zionsville, Indiana, saw complaints begin to pop up about their programming. Among the complaints was the inappropriate nature of their “Pride Speed Dating with a Book,” intended for adults. The event intended to introduce readers to LGBTQ+ books available in the library–but the facts don’t matter. The complaints were loud, misinformed, and intended to spread further bigotry. It also wasn’t the library’s first experience with this crowd, who spewed similar lies and hatred during Pride last year.
A branch of the Monmouth County Public Library in New Jersey saw one of their Pride events canceled. The Pride Pin event, which would allow teens to create pins related to Pride, was promoted on social media and quickly saw nasty comments pile on. This got the attention of the county, leading to the event’s cancellation. The same county saw book recommendations made for Pride receive online scrutiny, leading to the posts to be pulled down as well.
Although the event was able to proceed, a New York City elementary school librarian reported being told that they’re being required to change the name of a long-running program they’ve held that brings LGBTQ+ books into the school, with an author visit supported by Lambda Literary. What was once LGBTQ+ Writers in Schools received some pushback this year on account of rumors about the content of the age-appropriate books now faces the reality of a name change. The librarian will need to call future iterations of the program an “author visit,” putting them in the position of not only erasing the power that such identity holds for the author and attendees but then also being put in a position to handle the blowback from it. This is yet another example of where and how Pride is being blatantly erased.
That erasure of Pride was perhaps most noticeably seen and felt inside libraries across the US, where both internal and external pressure led to erasure and/or removal of LGBTQ+ book displays and flags. ...
[Library workers] were either told from the start they could not create such displays, were informed that the displays needed to be removed and they complied, or–perhaps most commonly, if least documented–library workers simply complied in advance and chose quiet/silent censorship in not creating such displays at all.
Display complaints weren’t limited to public libraries, either. At least two instances of Pride book display erasure and/or removal occurred in academic libraries, where nearly every user is a legal adult. Northwest Nazarene University, a private college in Idaho, was targeted on social media by State Senator Brian Lenney for having such a display. The institution caved to the pressure and removed it.
Two different individuals reported that South Texas College in McAllen, Texas, barred any Pride displays in the library. One noted that the decision came last year out of fear that state laws about LGBTQ+ material, deemed “inappropriate” and “sexually explicit” by legislators on the right, applied to them. “[The Associate Dean] is also now over-complying to the point where we are not even allowed to mention Pride Month in the staff newsletter which is an internal-only newsletter,” wrote one, while another noted, “Pride events tend to not get a lot of pushback here. This seems to be over compliance at the cost of academic freedom on behalf of admin.”
Reports on book display censorship from Ohio were the most common in response to a call for stories about Pride attacks in libraries this year. ... Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library shared that they were asked by their administration “not to have Pride displays in kids or teen areas, because we’re facing budget cuts and they don’t want to divide or “distract” our supporters.” It was okay to have a Pride display, but it could not be in or near areas where young people may be. “This feels like complying in advance/sacrificing queer youth for money,” they wrote, adding that “the slope feels slippery.”
The same directives landed in suburban Columbus. “My library director told the Youth department not to do Pride displays this year. When ... [the] department pushed back a little, the director said [they couldn't] do ANY displays related to “heritage,” which apparently means Juneteenth, Women’s History, etc. They added that other libraries in the area were not only continuing to do their Pride displays as usual, but that those libraries were pairing it with action. They are encouraging their patrons to call representatives to fight this legislation. It’s upsetting and confusing to the staff ...
In Villa Park, Illinois, a suburban Chicago library, 23 people signed a petition complaining about book displays. Only eight of the signers who delivered the petition to the board were village residents. “Language was essentially the same as in the “Hide the Pride” template, dropping out a paragraph stating that the signers would be checking out books from the displays and holding them until the displays were removed — perhaps because there were only days until the displays would be rotated out for July displays,” wrote one library worker.
Tonasket Public Library in Washington became a target at the city council meeting over their display of a Pride flag, while a pastor stoked outrage over a Pride book display at the Waupun Public Library in Wisconsin. So much for love thy neighbor. North Kawartha Public Library (Aspley, Ontario) saw rainbow colored posts outside the facility vandalized as well. "
One of the most notorious anti-Pride campaigns in libraries was Catholic Vote’s “Hide the Pride.” It began in 2022, with repeat efforts in 2023 and 2024. “Hide the Pride” encouraged visiting local public libraries, seeking out LGBTQ+ book displays and titles, and borrowing them with no intent to return them to the library. Catholic Vote would celebrate the efforts of those partaking, sharing photos and numbers about how successful the campaign was. The group launched a fundraising campaign for “Hide the Pride” June of last year, asking for support of the initiative and noting that for every $5 donated, two books could be removed. It is unclear how much money, if any, was raised. Zero stories in the media this year referenced “Hide the Pride” in libraries, nor did any libraries report being targeted by the efforts. Did it happen at all this year? The answer appears to be no, and not because the group decided to stop efforts to promote their own agenda.
Indeed, this year it looks like Catholic Vote encouraged what should be the response to events that an organization doesn’t like: promotion of alternate celebrations for those who may wish to partake with no reference to other ongoing celebrations. Throughout the country, billboards promoting “Sacred Heart of Jesus Month” popped up, and the group eagerly shared the celebration. It will come as little surprise how much energy was still dedicated by followers to making crude and wild statements related to Pride.
Is it likely “Hide the Pride” still happened but under the radar? That the event was no longer outwardly promoted so that it could happen more quietly? Yes. But given how quiet Pride has been in libraries, the chances of knowing the scope here is lower than in the previous three years.
Two really powerful pro-Pride, pro-LGBTQ+ stories popped up over the course of June that are worth including to round out this look at how Pride has been disappearing from libraries. The first comes from Airdrie Public Library in Alberta, Canada, explaining where and how the library develops its book displays. They create more than 100 a year and yet, there is only one display that seems to correlate with an increase in material theft: the Pride display. It’s a straightforward story with a potent message. Only one group of people seems to attract ire within the community, and the library notices because they highlight the voices and stories of thousands of various people annually in their displays.
https://www.airdriecityview.com/commu...
The Wisconsin Historical Society elected this year to not put up a Pride flag for the first time since 2009.
Oh good gravy. Don't these people have anything better to spend money on... like housing? Food? Florida lawmakers approve bills to remove 'Gulf of Mexico' from state laws, school books
Sen. Nick DiCeglie, an Indian Rocks Beach Republican, called the gulf’s name change 'patriotic'
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/fl...
DiCeglie’s bill was approved in a 4-2 vote by the Senate Community Affairs Committee after a similar measure (HB 575) was approved 13-4 by the House Government Operations Subcommittee.
The proposal would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in 52 sections of state laws. If approved by the Legislature and signed by DeSantis, the changes would take effect July 1.
Separately, the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee backed a measure (SB 1058) by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, that would require state agencies to update geographic materials to reflect the name change. Also, county school boards and charter school governing boards would have to begin acquiring instructional and library materials that reflect the Gulf of America name.
Before the vote, Gruters removed part of the bill that sought to rename Tamiami Trail, which is U.S. 41 from Miami-Dade County to Hillsborough County, the “Gulf of America Trail.”
Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, R-Miami, has filed the House version of Gruters’ bill (HB 575).
Woah scary! Book challenges in Kentucky rose 1000% in 2024
https://archive.ph/lNfC8
... local librarians say they believe the majority of last year’s challenges occurred in just two counties — Daviess and Bourbon. Conservative protesters frequently targeted children’s and teens’ sections books on the subjects of human sexuality generally and LGBTQ+ themes specifically.
The counties responded very differently to the book challenges.
In Bourbon County, a local family with a few supporters protested 102 books over a roughly six-month period, said Mark Adler, director of the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library.
Adler said the community vocally united behind the library as it declared itself Kentucky’s first “sanctuary” library, or First Amendment library, which means it’s formally committed to defending freedom of expression and providing “a safe space for ideas.”
Book challenges have stopped for now, Adler said.
“We’re basically drawing a line in the sand and saying the First Amendment is here for everybody,” Adler said. “We recognize there are materials on the shelf that might offend you. There are certainly things on the shelf that offend me. But that doesn’t give me the right to have them removed.”
In Daviess County, however, advocacy groups continue to fight bitterly over the library’s contents as well as control of its five-member governing board, which is now appointed by the county judge-executive.
The chairwoman’s seat, scheduled to come open in September, could flip the board’s majority over to the library’s critics, who want new restrictions put in place over materials available to minors.
Opponents of the library also have gone to the state legislature with proposals to give county politicians more authority over how libraries are run statewide, continuing to strip them of the relative self-governing autonomy most enjoyed until recent years. The state senator from Daviess County, Republican Gary Boswell, sponsored the latest library board bill in the 2025 General Assembly, although it fell short of final passage.
And the opponents filed an obscenity complaint against the library with Daviess County Attorney John Burlew. The prosecutor sent a letter to the library board on Dec. 13, 2023, advising it that “some of the literature I reviewed” could, in fact, violate Kentucky’s obscenity statute, although he expressed no interest in pursuing a case.
“I am not sure that the legislature envisioned public libraries when the obscenity statutes were written,” Burlew wrote to the library board. “I would guess the target was, rather, businesses or other entities.”
“While being mindful of free speech rights,” he added “I cannot imagine the legislature intended to grant public libraries an exception, so to speak, regarding minors viewing obscene material. I would not want an unwilling or unknowing minor to stumble upon sexually explicit material, unwittingly, while at the public library. It is my hope that the library and the complainant will arrive at a reasonable compromise in this matter.”
Advocates on both sides in Daviess County say they get yelled at and insulted for taking a stand in the debate over the public library’s fate.
“If you came to a library board meeting, you would be shocked. It’s just chaos. Every month, it’s just total chaos,” said Cheryl Brown of the Coalition for an Inclusive Daviess County, which supports the library and argues against censorship. “And these are meetings that used to be boring. They’re supposed to be boring.”
“They call us homophobes and racists and Nazis, and nothing could be further from the truth, but that’s the kind of vitriol that that happens anytime we make an objection,” said Jerry Chapman of Daviess County Citizens for Decency, which has demanded changes at the library. “It’s just this childish name-calling."
Chapman’s group began in 2023 by protesting drag shows at the RiverPark Center, a publicly funded venue in Owensboro. It went on to conduct “audits” that identified hundreds of books it found objectionable in Daviess County school libraries and the Daviess County Public Library.
The group focused on what it calls p___graphy.
For instance, in the teens section of the public library, the group found copies of All Boys Aren’t Blue [and complained because BookLooks said it was pr0n]. Many other public library books identified by Daviess County Citizens for Decency also contain explicit sex scenes, but they are available to any minor browsing the teens section, Chapman said. The library should shelve racier books in the adults section so parents can keep their kids physically separated from them, he said.
“The motivation is simple: We want to protect children,” Chapman said.
“It’s irrefutable the damage that — and some people object to this word, but it fits— p---graphy damages young minds,” he said. “The human brain is not fully developed until right around the age of 25 years old. If we’re feeding pornography to 12-, 13-, 14-year-old children, we’re creating a generation of damaged people.”
Using internal documents obtained through the Kentucky Open Records Act, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer last year revealed that the Daviess County school district quietly cooperated with Citizens for Decency.
Daviess County schools culled a “handful” of books from library shelves, and school leaders agreed to review others for their appropriateness, including Kurt Vonnegut’s celebrated anti-war novel Slaughterhouse Five, the newspaper reported. That book contains criticism of Christianity and descriptions of violence, among its other flaws, according to Citizens for Decency’s link to booklook.org.
Daviess County Public Library Director Erin Waller was less willing to acquiesce when Citizens for Decency presented its demands to her.
“They brought us a binder of over 250 titles that they had found in our catalog by using a list created by a national organization,” Waller told the Herald-Leader last week. “This is not stuff they stumbled upon, not stuff their children found.”
“It went from board books for babies all the way up through books in our young adult section, and they had a variety of different topics,” Waller said. “We’re talking about race, gender, identity, sexuality, anatomy books, just stuff like that. And their request was that these books be moved to the adult section immediately, and that I be fired because I purchased these books for the library.”
Waller said she pulled the challenged titles into her office and carefully reviewed them over several months. She decided to move a few books by fantasy author Sarah J. Maas from the teens section to the adults section, where other Maas books already were kept.
“But the majority of them — I would say 98% of them — actually more than that, probably 99% of them — we said we’re going to keep them where they are,” Waller said.
That didn’t end the debate, though, she said. Following the established protocol, Citizens for Decency has been appealing Waller’s decisions to a library review committee and then upward to the library board itself.
“This latest one, the board voted 3-to-2 to move a book to the parenting collection,” she said. “So it’s looking like things are going to start moving, potentially, depending on what happens with my board members.”
The Daviess County Public Library did make two policy changes.
It renamed its teens section the “young adults” section to more clearly define the expected maturity level of that readership.
And it created a more restrictive library card for teens, if parents choose, that would limit them to checking out books from the children’s section, which serves kids up to age 12. Few families have expressed interest in getting this new type of library card, Waller acknowledged.
Chapman said he wasn’t impressed by the new “young adults” label, and he dismissed the idea of a children’s library card for teenagers.
“So if you don’t like the p---n in in the teen section, we’re going to restrict you to pop-up books,” he said. “Now, that seems heavy-handed to me.”
The problem with Citizens for Decency is that it wants to impose its political and religious views on an entire community that shares a public library, rather than deciding what its own kids can check out, said Brown of the Coalition for an Inclusive Daviess County.
“There’s a lot of Scripture verses read at our library board meetings these days. There’s a lot of use of the words ‘obscenity’ and ‘p----graphy,’” Brown said.
“A common theme is they have lots of children and they can’t keep up with them, and they’re afraid the kids will come across a book they don’t want them to see in the children’s section,” she said. “But the response to that is, the library people aren’t there to babysit your children. It’s your responsibility to watch and see what your children are looking at and make sure it’s not something you wouldn’t approve of.”
Books that candidly discuss sexuality or race might shock some adults, Brown said. But they can be a lifeline for teenagers who want to learn about someone else experiencing the same feelings they have, she said.
“A lot of those kids, they start questioning things in puberty, and they need to have resources to understand what they’re going through,” Brown said. “Not all of them are comfortable speaking to their parents about issues when they’re going through that type of thing. And so those are resources that they need to be able to access in the young adult section of their local library.”
Both sides in the Daviess County debate say they won’t be surprised if other Kentucky communities soon are caught up in their own book battles.
...
Back in Bourbon County, Adler, the public library director, said he was grateful to have community support when he faced a long list of book challenges. But he doesn’t believe the fight is over.
“I think we’re probably in a pretty dangerous time right now, because if the reports I’m reading are right, it’s becoming far more underscored and supported by large money from organizations that have a link to politics. I think they have a political agenda to run,” Adler said.
“For any people in our country to be stripped of our access and our ability to make the basic decisions for ourselves of what to think and what to read, I mean, that would be a pretty terrifying country to live in,” he said. “That form of authoritarianism is something I’ve never personally dealt with or seen.”
Georgia - Columbia County Libraries are considering withdrawing from their regional library system–blocking access to more materials for their users–and creating their own book banning committee “tailored to the specific requirements of Columbia County.” They dissolved their board, too.
https://www.augustachronicle.com/stor...
https://www.wfxg.com/news/columbia-co...
Columbia County dissolves library board and establishes new county library system
Residents voicing their concerns at the Columbia County commission meeting after they officially established their own county regional library system and voted to dissolve the library advisory board.
The county tells Fox54 it “to streamline governance and eliminate overlap, since the regional board is the sole board authorized to make decisions under state law.”
But this does not go into effect until January next year, and residents can still go before the current board between now and the end of the year to share input and raise concerns.
This all started over an explicit book found in the teen section, but books have already started to move around.
We went straight to the library and found this book in the nutrition section, which depicts nude children and adults. It was previously in the picture book section for toddlers.
We found this book which shows s-- between two women and features topics like gender dysphoria in the adult biography section. It used to be in the graphic novel section. [Actually the author of Gender Queer is non-binary and that's right where it belongs! It's an adult graphic memoir.]
And we found this one currently in the juvenile section, which details how men and women have s-x.
A difference of opinion when it comes to age-appropriate reading has gotten a lot of attention from residents -- some of whom believe the library is overstepping parents' boundaries.
“This is a public library. It is not a church or a political platform. Each family should be able to go into the library and find books that represent themselves and their own children, and these guidelines seem to negate them,” said Karin Parham, the CEO of Freedom to Read Coalition of Columbia County.
Others are feeling more divided when it comes to protecting children in the library.
“I don't want books banned, but they're not really banning them. They're just trying to put them in a place where small children can't get to them,” said Tannis Hillis, a resident. “I know that my daughter could go in and get whatever book she wanted. and I don't necessarily think that's great. But I also don't want the government telling me what I can and cannot read, so yeah, I’m in the middle.”
But who will be overseeing this new library system?
The county tells us there will be a newly established board, but at the moment, it has not been determined.
ArkansasEx-library director sues Crawford County for defamation
https://www.5newsonline.com/article/n...
Former library director accuses Crawford County of damaging her reputation in lawsuit
Deidre Grzymala claims she was pressured by county officials to move LGBTQ+ children’s books, then blamed for the federal lawsuit that followed.
The former Crawford County Library System director is suing the county and a current library board member for defamation and breach of contract related to the ongoing dispute over the placement of LGBTQ+ books in the library.
Deidre Grzymala, who served as director until Feb. 24, 2023, filed the lawsuit May 30, 2025, in Washington County. The complaint claims she was being "actively pressured" by county officials and board member Tamara Hamby to relocate LGBTQ+ children’s books, and later forced out of her position.
The controversy stems from actions taken in late 2022 and early 2023, when certain books were moved from the children’s section to a separate “social section” in the adult area of the library.
That decision prompted a federal lawsuit from parents in 2023, who alleged their children’s First Amendment right to receive information was being violated. In September 2024, a federal judge ultimately sided with the parents and ruled that the library must return the relocated books to their appropriate sections and dissolve the “social section.” The judge found the book relocation violated constitutional rights.
Although Tamara Hamby was not a board member at the time, she and her husband, Dr. Jeffrey Hamby, had written a letter to the quorum court in November 2022 opposing the books about "alternative lifestyles." The letter claims the books were purchased with taxpayer money at the library director's discretion and asked the county to make the necessary steps to make sure "this agenda is not sponsored by our tax money."
Grzymala's lawsuit says she was urged by county officials and Tamara to reach a compromise about book placement, under the threat of defunding the library. In one December 2022 quorum court meeting, Justice of the Peace Jayson Peppas allegedly warned Grzymala that if no agreement was reached by May, he would begin voting to withhold funding. The suit says a tentative agreement was reached, but characterizes it as an “ultimatum,” not a compromise.
Grzymala says she faced increasing pressure through January 2023, the same month Tamara had been appointed to the library board, and ultimately agreed to move the books. The lawsuit claims that shortly after the move, she was pushed to resign or be fired.
"The county's actions amounted to wrongful termination motivated by behavior and goals that a federal court later held to be unconstitutional," the lawsuit says.
Grzymala eventually accepted a severance package that included a non-disparagement clause that says the employee and employer agree to not criticize each other, which the lawsuit claims was later violated by county officials.
The complaint includes an April 20 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article, which covers the county's discussion about how to pay the $112,978.31 in legal fees for the 2023 federal lawsuit. During a meeting on April 18, 2025, the article said that Tamara, who was there in her capacity as a library board member, accused Grzymala of lying to her and causing the lawsuit.
Grzymala argues those statements were false, malicious, and damaging to her professional reputation.
....
Texas State Representative Daniel Alders is proposing another anti-book ban bill for a potential special session of the state legislation.https://www.cbs19.tv/video/news/local...
The bill would BAN books in public libraries. Didn't they say it was "just schools?" hmm?
Commentary on Alberta book ban lawAlberta’s Book Ban Is a Blatant Act of Cultural Vandalism
The push to sanitize school collections erases what literature is for: knowledge, discovery, the freedom to think
https://thewalrus.ca/albertas-book-ba...
Florida 'Public education is for all': Duval parents voice concerns on DEI policy changes and book bans
Parents and students rallied against changes to DEI policies and book bans at a Duval County Public Schools meeting.
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/articl...
...
Many families expressed outrage and deep concern over what they see as a threat to inclusive education and student rights.
Back in April, the U.S. Department of Education announced that local school districts must comply with federal non-discrimination requirements, which include the DEI ban.
Despite this, parents at Tuesday’s meeting said they are worried about the district’s direction and the potential impact on students.
“We’re here to remind the board they were elected to represent every child and every family in this community,” one parent said.
During the meeting, one community member addressed the board, saying, “Learning about things that make us uncomfortable is okay. Sometimes the truth hurts, but washing our history books clean of rugged and difficult past truths is suppressing our future leaders. Shame on all of you. Shame on you. When people on this board talk about people they deem different from them, they refer to mental health. But what I saw on this board today—I believe all of you could benefit from some mental health services.”
Despite strong opposition, at least one speaker praised the board for considering the removal of DEI language and certain books from classrooms.
“I applaud them once again for looking after our children's mental health and protecting themselves from their own immaturity. By deselecting books like ‘Identical’ for school use, the board understands that safety for our children goes beyond the physical. Psychological, social, and developmental safety is also paramount,” the woman said.
Several states are backing Iowa in its law that bans LGBTQ+ books–sorry, books with “s-x acts”–from public schools in an amicus brief to the Eight Circuit.https://www.fourstateshomepage.com/ne...
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri have joined 17 states supporting a legal challenge that prohibits public school libraries from having books that describe s--ual acts.
The brief states that the First Amendment does not compel public school libraries to stock library shelves with graphic depictions of s--ual acts that elementary students can access without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
The district court’s refusal to recognize that public library curation decisions are government speech subverts the democratic process and will have significant negative consequences if affirmed, Drummond said in a prepared statement.
Drummond said accountable officials should decide the content of public school libraries.
The brief was also signed by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
In the brief, the coalition said the district court erred in issuing a preliminary injunction and freezing Iowa’s law.
ColoradoA look at the debate over school history textbooks in Mesa County Valley District 51
https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/20...
Inside a Colorado district’s debate about what gets taught in fourth grade social studies
A committee of fourth grade teachers in western Colorado spent months this past school year reviewing potential social studies curriculums. The one they chose was written by Colorado historians and is widely used in schools across the state.
But in April, the school board in Mesa County Valley District 51, a 20,000-student district based in Grand Junction, rejected that curriculum, called “The Colorado Story.” Some board members felt its mention of the Black Lives Matter movement was not age appropriate and that it portrayed historical figures such as Christopher Columbus in a negative light, among other concerns.
Barb Evanson, the District 51 board member who was most vocal in her opposition, said in an interview that she felt the curriculum wrongly portrayed Columbus as solely responsible for harm to indigenous people in the Americas.
“Were there people that were doing bad things? Were there people that were absolutely there with ill intention? Absolutely,” she said. “Was it Christopher Columbus? No.” [uhhh then who else was in the New World? Columbus, his men, priests. Bad, worse, worst.]
The controversy in District 51 echoes current culture war battles over how American history is taught and whether schoolchildren can grapple with challenging subjects like race, racism, and flawed historical figures. The Trump administration has joined the fray, too — launching an effort in May that asks national parks visitors to report signage that disparages past or living Americans.
Liz Wallace, publisher and president at Gibbs Smith Education, which publishes “The Colorado Story,” said what happened in District 51 was a first.
“Prior to this year, I have never had a board reject one of our books,” she said.
Instead of “The Colorado Story,” the District 51 school board chose a different fourth grade social studies curriculum in May. Called “Exploring Social Studies: Colorado,” it got lower marks from the teacher committee. The district will spend about $116,000 to purchase the second-choice curriculum, including textbooks, teacher guides, activities, and digital access. ...
The vote wasn’t unanimous. In a microcosm of national politics, both the board and the community were split over what fourth graders in Grand Junction should learn. The board voted 3-2 in April to reject “The Colorado Story.” In May, it voted 4-1 to adopt “Exploring Social Studies: Colorado.”
Board Vice President Will Jones, who ultimately voted to adopt the second-choice curriculum, expressed frustration with the process and said topics like Black Lives Matter are part of history and should be taught.
“Where I get frustrated is the committee that we put together chose the first book overwhelmingly,” he said. “And we’re taking the word of a few of us that may not like something.”
Board President Andrea Haitz said during an April meeting that she felt “The Colorado Story” discussion of Black Lives Matter, covered on two pages of the textbook’s 290-page third edition, would be too heavy for her soon-to-be fourth grade son.
“I don’t know that this activism stuff is really appropriate for him at fourth grade,” she said. “As a parent, I’m not ready to have that conversation with him.” [That's your problem then.]
But board member Jośe Luis Chávez, the only board member to vote against the second-choice curriculum, said it’s a fact of life in some communities.
“The activism stuff, my daughter knew that probably in first grade,” he said.
On April 1, when District 51 administrators recommended “The Colorado Story” during a school board presentation, there were no hints of controversy. A curriculum specialist talked about why the seven-member teacher committee thought it was the strongest contender. He described it as “visually stunning” and noted that community members at a public feedback session called it a wonderful curriculum that includes diverse perspectives and aligns well to state standards.
But weeks later, Evanson and other board members said they wanted a different option.
Evanson, who homeschools her two children, said at one meeting that because there is no bibliography in the “The Colorado Story” textbook, she considered it opinion-based. In an interview, she acknowledged that 9- and 10-year-olds might not consult a bibliography, but said parents like her would.
Wallace said it’s not typical for fourth grade textbooks to have bibliographies and that the teacher’s guide has links to a variety of sources, including materials from the Colorado Ute tribes and History Colorado, which runs museums and historic sites around the state.
“The Colorado Story” textbook is authored by Tom Noel, a former state historian whose nickname is “Dr. Colorado,” and Debra Faulkner, a historian at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. ...
Fourth grade is when Colorado students learn state history. In recent years, District 51 hasn’t had a uniform fourth grade social studies curriculum, instead cobbling together old materials.
Schools in about 100 of Colorado’s 179 districts use the second or third edition of “The Colorado Story,” Wallace said. The third edition came out a few years ago and aligns with the state’s 2022 social studies standards.
Wallace said those standards are among the most progressive in the country and that some of what board members objected to in “The Colorado Story” was included because of the standards.
WyomingKelly Jensen announces : "Prepare to see a wave of book bans and restrictions hitting Fremont County Library System (WY) soon."
https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/ne...
Paywalled
New York StateAs a battle over books rages in Ken-Ton, the district is ready to establish a new set of procedures that, for the first time, would allow formal objections to school library books.
However, according to the proposal, the challenges would have a narrow focus based on how the books were selected − and not on their content.
If the district determines that Ken-Ton librarians stuck to proper procedure in selecting a book for their collection, it will remain on school shelves, officials said.
“So the whole point of that recommendation is to take out subjectivity and be very objective: Did it follow a process?” Superintendent Sabatino Cimato said after Tuesday’s School Board meeting.
In Ken-Ton, it all started when a parent in the fall lodged formal objections to 27 library books at Ken-Ton’s two high schools. She argued that the books feature explicit content that is utterly inappropriate for teenagers.
A Buffalo News report on the book challenges, published in May, sparked a flurry of reaction, with much of the response calling for them to stay.
Advocates for keeping the books spoke out at last month’s Ken-Ton School Board meeting, urging the board not to censor works that tackle important themes of race, gender and sexuality.
“Let’s trust our educators, our librarians and our kids,” Kenmore resident Eric Nagel said. “If you don’t like a book, don’t read it.”
The mother who filed the objections with the Ken-Ton district, Sara Carozzolo, crafted her challenges with help from a website, BookLooks.org, linked to Moms for Liberty. The site, which shut down in March, had entries for more than 500 books it said were found in school libraries.
...
Carozzolo emailed objections to Ken-Ton officials over 27 total books, arguing they were too offensive for students and should be removed from circulation.
Asked what parents should do if they wanted their children to access the books, Carozzolo said those parents can buy them from a bookstore or borrow them from a public library.
“We’re talking about school libraries,” she said in a previous interview. “They shouldn’t be there. They should have never been there. They should be taken out.”
District officials responded by forming a committee to review policies on book challenges in Ken-Ton and in other area districts. The panel included two parents − one, Jeremiah Dabolt, was selected by Carozzolo and shares her concerns − and two high school students.
Until now, the district has had a structure for challenges to instructional, but not library, materials.
Parents do have the ability to flag specific library books so that, if their children attempt to check one out, the librarian will see an alert and know not to let the child proceed.
The committee recommended that the district do more to make parents aware they already have this ability.
The district said another of the committee’s recommendations was creating a path for library book challenges that could potentially lead to books removed from shelves.
While the panel’s work continued, The News on May 25 reported on Carozzolo’s book challenges, an article that prompted widespread reaction online and within the Ken-Ton school community.
That same day, Cimato sent a note to Ken-Ton parents and other stakeholders stating that he needed to “clarify the district’s position” on library book challenges, given the “great deal of confusion in the community” that followed the article’s publication.
“Because these are not instructional materials, under no circumstances would books be reviewed based on personal opinions or political viewpoints,” the superintendent wrote. “This process will be guided by the library media specialist based on a well-defined selection criteria rubric.”
Eight people spoke at the June 10 Ken-Ton School Board meeting, all in favor of keeping a range of books available to students, especially if the material is written from a different point of view
.
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That night, Anne Martell, Ken-Ton’s director of K-12 education, reviewed the book-selection process that the district follows for its libraries, the committee’s work since late last year and the recommendations it made.
Then, Cimato said, as he sees it, the district has two basic options for a new library book policy. First, it can simply restate, library books are not instructional materials and, therefore, not subject to challenge. Or it can say books are subject to challenge, but only on the question of how the book was selected. If a challenge came in, a librarian would be asked whether the book was added to a school’s collection in a manner consistent with the American Library Association’s selection criteria.
If that is the case, the book stays, Cimato said. If there’s a question about the selection − say, the current librarian wasn’t in that role at the time the book was added − then the building principal would form a committee to review whether the book in question meets the criteria.
“If that was the case, then, and only then, would we form a committee. And that committee would simply answer this question: Does that book follow ALA’s objective standard for selection?” he said. “If the answer is yes, it’s done. I do not suggest that we start getting into content conversations.”
The School Board didn’t make a decision last month, and the matter returned for discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting. Carozzolo attended that meeting, but did not speak and declined comment for this article.
Board President Matthew Chimera then revived the discussion about the two library book options.
“I think it’s always good to have a review process, to always be able to look at what is going into our library. But on the other hand, I think we have to be very, very careful,” trustee Fred Floss said.
Trustee Paul Spors said the second option seems “the most comprehensive process.”
The board voted to direct the superintendent to draft a new library book policy, built on the second option, that will return for an initial review at the next board meeting.
Once the board approves the new policy, Cimato said later Tuesday, the district will address the 27 book challenges filed by Carozzolo.
“I think it’s fair that anything that has been submitted would then follow that procedure,” he said.
https://archive.ph/4tnMk#selection-38...
California - an anti-book ban stateRedlands Unified School District is one step closer to passing a policy against “obscene material” in the district, as well as limiting flags that can be flown.
https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com...
Jeannette Wilson, clerk on the Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) board, had a monument of blue paper rising beside her right hand. Four inches high, maybe more. It was close to 500 cards, said Redlands Superintendent Juan Cabral at the June 24 board of education meeting.
That stack wasn't just paper; it was six-months' worth of complaints and some praises, since Wilson and her colleague, Candy Olson, stepped into office in January. Olson submitted many of the new policy requests with language nearly identical to that at the Chino Valley Unified School District.
The content of speaker cards was mainly aimed at adding to a conversation that began in January: removing books from libraries, flag observances, and parent notification policies. A board majority narrowed the speaker time from 90 seconds to 40 seconds. Board of Education Vice President Patty Holohan and Board member Melissa Ayala-Quintero objected to the time constraint.
Cabral clarified that 500 cards don't necessarily mean 500 people, and agreed that everybody in attendance had the right to speak. However, he recognized the unique circumstance of the evening.
"I'm just trying to point out that it is uncommon for somebody to turn in cards that are not related to the topics that folks want to talk about, and so it is definitely a strategy to delay the board from doing its business. That is, I believe that to be true," Cabral said.
"My concern is that we've already limited our time from three minutes to a minute and a half, now we want to limit it more - limit the total time. I think this is more an indication of how unpopular these items are, and the community deserves the right to speak up," Ayala-Quintero said.
After four hours of public outcry, the Redlands Board of Education had its say on two debates. The dais majority voted to approve a first hearing of administrative regulations that alter instructional and library material access and restrict flags displayed in the classroom to two options: the American and the Bear Flag. Board members are slated to give final approval to the policies at a later date.
Changes to instructional and library material access, including the addition of language in two locations: the RUSD board principles and how they are carried out.
Under the "Concept and Roles" board policy, the following was injected:
"The district’s education program, including all of its instructional materials, shall also comply with legal requirements and shall not include pervasive [things that are not IN the library (view spoiler), graphic descriptions or depictions of s--ual violence, inappropriate vulgarity or profanity, or other obscene material, including material that is lewd or libelous. The district’s program and instructional materials shall be age-appropriate and course-related."
Language also states that the board understands that determining the suitability and adherence to the policy for instructional materials often requires an individual assessment based on context. To aid in the decisions, the board hopes to promote open dialogue among administrators, teachers, parents and board members.
Procedures for complaints concerning library or media center materials were amended to further its hoped-for "open dialogue."
RUSD's procedure for handling challenging or questionable material begins with a formal complaint to the principal of the school site. If the administration believes further action is necessary, it will inform the Educational Service Division and loop in the superintendent or a Governing Board designee. The complaint then heads to a school evaluation committee for deliberation. The committee, however, has been reduced from seven to five people, notably to include two non-employee community members. The updated policy makes all appeal decisions final. Olson, Rendler and Wilson opted to vote for each proposed policy. The trio did not contribute to any discussion during board comments. However, Ayala-Quintero and Holohan had plenty to say.
"I think we do need to take all of these policies back to the drawing board. We obviously have a lot of constituents in every area that feel there needs to be some more compromise on these policies, so I suggest bringing them back. But being that my opinion doesn't matter, I'm just stating my opposition for the record," Ayala-Quintero said.
Holohan called the changes "a slap in the face to our librarians who work really hard all the time."
Concerning flags, most of the board supported displaying the American and California flags on school grounds. Exceptions include school championship flags, higher education banners or pennants, and student club material, only when advertising or during club meetings and events.
The board discussion was brief but sharp.
"Your prejudice is showing, and you should all be embarrassed," Ayala-Quintero said, directing her ire at Olson, Board of Education President Michele Rendler and Wilson.
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Tennessee-A controversial collection policy in Sumner County is dead — for now.
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/...
On Wednesday, the library board in Sumner County reviewed an overhaul of what materials are allowed on shelves in each of their five public libraries. They previously tabled the policy change back in May.
“We believe that libraries are the ones that should be making these decisions. We are not willing to let this First Amendment right violation pass without resistance,” said Megan Lange, a local library advocate and chair for the Sumner County Democratic Party.
The policy change would have given the library board total authority in “curating” the collection items in libraries and remove any materials that could be seen as inappropriate for children, like anything with transgender or gender-fluid themes, or s--ual content.
An appeals process for materials was put back into the proposed policy, but all book appeals would have to go through the board itself.
In their last meeting on July 3, library board chair, Joanna Daniels, said “the buck stops with us” when it comes to book collections.
“It could impair state funding [for our libraries] as well,” said Daniels. “It is extremely important that we are compliant with state laws.”
The discussion came as the board itself has been at odds in recent months over key decisions, like appointing library directors, or how their libraries can fundraise.
“They’re taking away the ability of our trained librarians to make decisions about their own library collections, based on the needs of the public they are serving,” added Lange. “I believe that our library board should be held accountable to doing things that actually serve the community, not just serve their own interests.
Lange believes that Daniels will not stop until this new policy is passed. She, and other residents, think this is barreling towards legal intervention.
“If this policy passes, we are highly likely to see state level or national level lawsuits brought against it,” said Lange.
Two abstained from voting, but the policy is dead — for now.
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/...
South Georgia officials who fired local librarian over LGBTQ book face pressure to reverse decisionhttps://georgiarecorder.com/2025/07/1...
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At the start of June, former Pierce County Library Manager Lavonnia Moore said she approved a display of children’s books collected by young library patrons that included “When Aidan Became a Brother” by Kyle Lukoff, which is about a transgender boy whose family is expecting another child.
On June 18, Moore was fired over the display. A group called Alliance for Faith and Family, which called on followers to register complaints with Three Rivers Regional Library staff and Pierce County commissioners, took credit for the sacking on social media.
The Georgia Recorder filed an open records request for all communications received by library staff and county commissioners relating to Moore during the month of June.
The county produced 77 files, some of which were repeat copies of emails sent by the same person to multiple recipients in the government. Accounting for duplicates, about four times as many people contacted the government in favor of reinstating Moore than did firing her.
The emails, text messages and voicemail reveal more about the decision to let Moore go and the resulting backlash. That correspondence also shows that local officials are considering reinstating Moore but have not yet done so.
In text messages with Pierce County Manager Raphel Maddox and a human resources staffer from the day Moore was fired, Pierce County Library Board Member Lana Blankenship, who also works in the county finance department, reposted Alliance for Faith and Family’s calls to fire Moore.
“I am so mad right now,” Blankenship said with an angry emoji. “She needs to go immediately.”
The book display stirred back up a local conflict over other LGBTQ-related issues at the library. The Pierce County library left the Okefenokee Regional Library System last year, joining the Three Rivers system last July after controversies including over a Pride display and bathroom policies.
But in an email addressed to Pierce County’s library board members, Three Rivers Regional Library Director Jeremy Snell, who Moore said fired her, proposed a special called meeting to discuss bringing her back, citing an outpouring of support.
“It is within the power of this board to make action calling for reinstatement if that is a desired result of the executive session discussion,” Snell wrote. “At this point, I have received more communication regarding reinstatement (than) I did regarding the original issue earlier this week.”
In an email to the Recorder Thursday, Snell said the board was set to hold a regular meeting July 15 but since a quorum is not expected, a special called meeting will likely be held sometime in July. Snell said an agenda has not been set but the meeting could include an executive session.
On June 25, Snell received an email from an attorney representing Moore informing them of a wrongful termination suit and calling on them to hang onto any documents that may become evidence.
The next day, Laci Gillis Tippins resigned from the Pierce County library board, citing “recently developing political controversies” as well as time constraints and workloads in her private law practice. Tippins requested that her name be promptly removed from all websites and literature associated with the board.
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Some of the pro-Moore emails were form emails from pro-LGBTQ advocates not directly associated with the library. Some writers said they were from other parts of Georgia or other states.
Others, like Blackshear resident and Friends of the Library Treasurer Thomas Strait, said they had dealt with Moore personally.
Strait said he had asked around at multiple libraries and bookstores about a certain history book but had no luck tracking it down. He said he was delighted to come to the library and see a copy in the new books section.
“Unbeknownst to me, LaVonnia had tracked down the book and arranged to have it as part of our library,” Strait wrote. “This is not unique to me. She has done this for others. With limited funds, she focused on bringing books that patrons actually requested! That is only the bare tip of the iceberg as to what LaVonnia did for Pierce County Library. She has many exciting and creative programs that engage patrons, young and old, regardless of their religious affiliation or background, across the spectrum of race, color, creed, and, yes, sexual orientation. Libraries are for EVERYONE!”
Some in the anti-Moore faction largely made faith-based arguments that transgender people are the result of wickedness and expressed concern that the book could lead to children becoming transgender.
After Moore was fired, Pierce County Commissioner Troy Maddox responded to one local resident who had pushed for the book’s removal: “Situation taken care of. Thanks for bringing to light.”
Moore said she has received an outpouring of support from librarians around the nation and from people at home.
She said she was particularly touched by one person who reached out to say a class Moore held 15 years ago helped give her the knowledge to start her own business.
“You do your job because you love it, you don’t think you’re making big changes,” Moore said. “I didn’t know how much I was worth in the community. I just loved doing my job. And sometimes when someone comes up to me, I feel like an imposter. I’m so happy that I made a change in your life. I just didn’t know I was that change.”
She said she’s hoping for a happy ending, but she’s not sure what that might look like.
“Getting my old job back would probably be difficult for not only the library, the county, but also the library patrons, because if I do get my job back, that group would still be after me,” she said. “They would probably have me under a microscope.”
This happens when the law is deliberately vague and threatens librarians.https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/...
Some Virginia schools incorrectly using state law to remove library books
A new study from a nonpartisan government agency revealed that while most Virginia school divisions are not removing any books from their libraries, some are incorrectly citing a 2022 state law to justify removals.
The study, released Monday by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), found that 344 books (243 titles were removed, with some being removed in multiple school divisions) have been removed from school libraries by about one-third of the divisions that responded to survey.
The study found Hanover County Public Schools (HCPS) topped the list, accounting for 36% of all removals. Rounding out the top four were Rockingham, Goochland, Madison, and Spotsylvania County Public Schools.
Among the most commonly removed titles over the past five years were "Gender Queer: A Memoir," "Tilt," and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
Brown, who led the study, explained that "s--ually explicit content" was frequently cited as justification for removal. However, he noted that many divisions incorrectly referenced a 2022 state law that was actually designed to notify parents when their child would encounter s--ually explicit material in their instructional materials and allow them to request alternative material.
"That law didn't really contemplate it being used for removing books from school libraries, but some divisions did use it for that reason," Brown said. "There's a specific enactment clause in the bill that makes it very clear the law wasn't about censoring or removing books."
Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the misapplication of the law.
"It just is very concerning, because we do. I mean access to literature is important. Parents consent to access is very important, too, and so I am concerned about the our intendance of legislature, what we intended, it's not being implemented," said House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria).
However, Republican lawmakers and commission staff pointed out that school divisions maintain authority to remove books regardless of the 2022 law.
"To be clear, the Constitution in Virginia gives local school boards the authority to make a tremendous amount of decisions for students in those jurisdictions," said Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover).
In a statement provided to CBS 6, HCPS' Board Chair Whitney Welsh said the following:
"On behalf of the School Board, thank you for your inquiry. As is reflected in our adopted policy, the School Board believes in our libraries providing a wide range of age-appropriate materials. The deselection of these books fulfills the will of the School Board, our approved policy, and the accompanying regulation.
"We had many discussions as a Board regarding this topic over several years, the recordings and minutes of which can be found on BoardDocs. We do not have plans to revisit this policy."
HCPS added that its policy for removals did not cite the section of code highlighted in the JLARC report.
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https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/nx-s1-...Supreme Court says Education Department dismantling can continue
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Out of the Blue (other topics)The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink (other topics)
My Rainbow (other topics)
Butt or Face? Volume 3: Super Gross Butts (other topics)
The Day the Books Disappeared (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jodi Picoult (other topics)Sarah J. Maas (other topics)
Ellen Hopkins (other topics)
Jodi Picoult (other topics)
Scott Stuart (other topics)
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Backlash after trans books removed from children's library section
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62...
A council leader has been criticised after claiming the authority had removed transgender-related books from the children's sections of its libraries.
In a post on social media, Kent County Council's Reform UK leader Linden Kemkaran said the books were to be removed with immediate effect in a "victory for common sense in Kent".
However, the council said a single transgender-related book aimed at adults was relocated from a display at the entrance of a library to a section unlikely to be visited by children.
Labour MP for Chatham and Aylesford Tristian Osbourne has called the alleged removal of the books "unedifying gender baiting of the LGBT community".
The BBC earlier asked the Reform-led council and the Reform councillor who oversees libraries for a list of books which had been removed, but received no reply.
However, a council spokesperson said that one book had been moved.
The book in question was The Autistic Trans Guide to Lifeby Yenn Purkis and Wenn Lawson, the council said.
'Unsafe, unwelcome and silenced'
Steven Pullen, founder and director of Swale Pride, described the move as "deeply upsetting".
"It emboldens anti-trans rhetoric and contributes to a culture where marginalised people feel unsafe, unwelcome and silenced," he said.
Erin Strawbridge, the manager of the Folkestone Bookshop, an LGBTQ+ bookstore, told BBC Radio Kent: "Censorship does not stop people from learning information, but it does send the message, and it's sending a message to the young people of Kent that they're not safe and they're not welcome if they're LGBT or trans.
"It just pushes kids into the closet, into worse mental health situations. It's just going to scare young people."
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition at KCC, Antony Hook, said it was "bizarre" that the council leader made the announcement on social media rather than to the council.
Hook said he had written to the head of Kent library services to ask for clarification on the matter.
"The announcement made by Ms Kemkaran is vague. She does not specify what books she is referring to. This needs to be properly explained," he said.
Kent County Council said staff at all its libraries had been asked to ensure books were stocked in age-appropriate categories and that no adult literature was displayed in areas specifically aimed at children, or where children would be selecting books, such as the public welcome displays.
"It follows feedback from a resident who spotted a transgender book aimed at adults in a public display at the entrance of one library in Kent," a spokesperson said.
"The book has since been relocated to a section that is unlikely to be visited by children."
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Paul Webb, Reform UK's communities portfolio holder who oversees libraries, said the alleged removal of transgender-related books from the children's sections of the authorities libraries came after a "concerned member of the public" contacted him.
Defending the decision, Webb said: "In our society, children are quite rightly and properly protected from items and actions that could cause them harm – for example alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.
"My fellow Reform members and I believe that our young people should be protected from exposure to potentially harmful ideologies and beliefs such as those held by the trans lobbyists."
When the BBC asked if Reform UK had carried out an assessment to understand the impact of removing the books, Webb said: "As far as impact assessments are concerned, I would have thought that question should have been asked before these books were placed in the children's section to begin with."
Kemkaran added: "Telling children they're in the wrong body is wrong and simply unacceptable."