Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
Courageous!https://www.al.com/news/2025/07/alaba...
Alabama library leader calls out ‘censorship’ amid push to remove books with ‘positive portrayals’ of transgender people
“I’m afraid that Alabama Public Library Service is being used as a platform to boost your own positions to the detriment of the libraries of this state,” said Ron Snider, the former president of the board.
He referenced board member Amy Minton’s current run for state Senate and rumors of chairman John Wahl’s intention to enter a political race.
“While you make an elegant statement that you’re not in favor of censorship, in fact, what you have done and what the majority of this board is supporting is censorship.”
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Snider also said he was not notified about a recent meeting rescheduling and that he didn’t receive a copy of a letter Wahl sent to library directors Wednesday.
Wahl told Alabama libraries he would prohibit them from having materials in their collections pertaining to what he called "gender ideology.” He said that a failure to comply with his directive and President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on gender ideology would jeopardize their funding.
Wahl did not define what he means by “gender ideology,” a charged term. The phrase is “commonly deployed by anti-trans commentators and activists that implies trans people, merely by being trans, are participating in a political activity or have a political agenda,” according to the Trans Journalists Association.
The board voted to discuss further restrictions on gender ideology from the teen and children’s sections of libraries by starting the process of changing the library state code.
Minton proposed at the May meeting to restrict children from reading “any library material that encourages, promotes or contains positive portrayals of transgender procedures, gender ideology or the concept of more than two genders.”
Minton advanced this proposal in response to Alabama’s new “What is a Woman” state law.
The last library code change occurred in March when Gov. Kay Ivey mandated libraries must relocate “s--ually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.”
Local libraries, including the Huntsville-Madison Public Library, are now figuring out how to implement those changes.
The state change generated more than 6,000 public comments, according to Wahl.
Snider was the sole “No” vote to starting a new code change process for books that promote “gender ideology.”
The public comment portion of the meeting was again dominated by Alabamians who said they support free speech, allowing librarians to make decisions regarding content and keeping LGBTQ books in the children’s and teen sections.
“Several groups seek to control library content by banning books containing transgender issues,” Sharon Freeman said. “Banning books does not serve the community at large. Additionally, banning transgender and or LGBTQ topics from libraries erodes rights and equality and can lead to banning people, and that resembles fascism.”
Sarah Sanchez with Clean Up Alabama praised the board’s efforts to protect children.
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This week's round-up from Book Riot's Literary Activism Newsletterhttps://bookriot.com/running-for-offi...
... A librarian in Iowa who, fired up after seeing the right-wing legislation targeting libraries throughout her state, is choosing to run for the Iowa House of Representatives.
https://mayforiowa.com/
She writes:
"When I was in elementary school my babysitter worked after school at the public library. I was left to my own devices in the stacks long enough that I caught the “reading bug” and fell into a lifelong love of literature. Now I work as a library director and I love the challenges of the job: finding the perfect book to recommend, arranging eye-catching book displays, helping job seekers spruce up their résumés, and watching the kids in my summer reading program catch the reading bug themselves. When I saw the legislation against libraries in my state, I turned to the group chat with my other Chickasaw county library directors. We had to speak up at a town hall hosted by our senator, Sandy Salmon, and representative, Charley Thomson. I could never have anticipated the interaction I had that day.
There were three anti-library bills in the Iowa Legislature—bills that would criminalize educators for sharing “obscene” material, ban books that depicted s-x at all, and strip funding from libraries that are members of a library association. These bills were unconstitutional and, frankly, completely untethered from how libraries actually work. All accredited Iowa libraries already have existing procedures for handling disputed material within our library boards. But when I spoke up to explain this to our lawmakers, I was met with a blank stare from the sponsor of these bills. When I asked Senator Salmon about the basis for this legislation, she said, “I don’t know anything about that.” Worse, I learned that same day that Iowa had just repealed civil rights protections for trans and nonbinary people. I was crushed. That day, we became a state where trans folks can be fired, evicted, or denied care. Senator Salmon and Representative Thomson stood behind these laws without offering any rhyme or reason. They didn’t need a reason. Their minds were made up. I walked out of that town hall with a fire in my chest. I called Representative Thomson later, but he doubled down, claiming that “the American Library Association has an agenda to queer the catalogue.” I ended this call as politely as I could manage. I couldn’t get through to these lawmakers on their crusade to “save the children” from the boogeyman they claim is at the library or in the women’s restroom. So, as librarians do, I set to work on research.
I was lucky enough to attend an in-person local library event hosted by Annie’s Foundation, which is an Iowa-based nonprofit that protects the right to read and supports library workers and educators facing political targeting. I learned about groups like The FAMiLY Leader, which openly advocates for Christian nationalism, and Moms for Liberty, a far-right group known for demanding bans on books about race, gender, and history—especially those by LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors.
I used to believe that if I stayed out of politics and focused on my work, then I could avoid ostracizing anyone and things would just work themselves out. But now, the work of helping my patrons feel safe, informed, and free is itself political, whether I want to participate in politics or not. Now, I’m willing to take the risk of being misunderstood. For context, I’m a librarian and a writer. I’ve published a couple of middle grade ghost story novels that are friendship-focused spooky stories about kids processing grief, autonomy, and curiosity through folklore. To Christofascists, those stories will be seen as nothing more than witchcraft. I’ve seen them call books like mine demonic simply because they contain spirits or non-Christian cultural traditions. My stories are wholesome and written with my whole heart (and a bit of ancient Iowa lore about effigy mounds).
The pressure is only mounting. I’ve spoken up on these topics to encourage others to take our leadership back and fight against this misinformation. Every person I turned to (organizers, former candidates, patrons, friends) urged me to run for office. Under normal circumstances, I never would have considered it, but I know what’s at stake. I am blessed with the bandwidth to take this risk, and as a public servant, I have many of the skills I need to win this race and to fight against these injustices.
Librarians are trained to research, research, research. (If only we expected the same degree of veracity from our lawmakers. Maybe they’d read the books they want to ban.) Librarians know how to stretch a dollar, to do more with less, and to accommodate for surprises. We center service, care, and personal freedoms every day. We solve problems and connect people with resources because we believe that everyone deserves the safety of a clean, well-lighted place. Our doors are open to all. That’s the mindset I want to see in public office.
The fight for the future of our democracy is right here in our communities. Book bans aren’t about “protecting kids.” They’re about silencing challenging ideas. Defunding libraries and stripping civil rights are assaults on public life, and they start with local and state policy. As the immortal words of a letter from some jailbird once stated, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
I’m running for Iowa House of Rep because I refuse to let the loudest, most hateful voices dominate the story of our beautiful state. I’m running because our communities deserve better. I’m running because we deserve public servants who still believe in the public good.
Here’s my plea: If you love your library, run for something! Join an advocacy group. Speak up at a school board meeting. Volunteer for a campaign. Say the quiet part out loud: that people will die when civil rights are revoked, when healthcare is cut, when libraries close, when communities are denied access to the lifelines they need. I believe we still have time to write a different ending—if we’re brave enough to turn the page.
If you’d like to connect with me, visit www.mayforiowa.com. Keep up the good trouble, and read more banned books!"
Back to Alberta. What happened to "do your own research?" and "community standards"?Alberta used lists of America’s most banned books and a controversial database to identify ‘inappropriate’ material in schools
https://www.thespec.com/news/canada/a...
Internal emails throw light on the sources used by Government of Alberta staff to search for “inappropriate” materials in school libraries, including an index of America’s most banned books and a website linked to the rise in attempts to ban books in the U.S.
Alberta’s Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced in May the province planned to bring in new standards to ensure explicit and “age-inappropriate” books were kept off school library shelves, and said the policy “is not a question of banning specific books or specific titles but rather establishing clear policies and guidelines for all school divisions to follow.”
However, emails released through a freedom of information request show Nicolaides’s staff did create lists of specific books and titles they used to search Edmonton Public Schools (EPSB) and Calgary Board of Education (CBE) library catalogues.
In a Nov. 4 email, James Johnson, chief of staff for education and childcare, shared a link to an article about literary and free expression organization PEN America’s report showing a nearly 200 per cent increase in book bans in the United States, and its launch of a searchable database of banned and challenged materials.
“Can we see which books are banned the most and see if they’re in [our libraries] where appropriate?” Johnson asked Alberta education ministry staff.
It also appears the department checked for titles censored by book bans in Austin, Texas, specifically, and found most of these novels were available in Alberta’s public schools. “Only 16 per cent of books banned in Austin weren’t found in EPSB and roughly 19 per cent weren’t found in CBE,” ministerial assistant Elizabeth Harper informed Johnson in a reply.
Jonathan Friedman, managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America, objected to the use of PEN’s database by the Government of Alberta.
“The use of our index as a tool of possible censorship is disappointing and wrong,” he told the IJF in an email.
Friedman said that all the bans documented by PEN were instances of books that were removed after they had been placed in libraries by professional educators, based on a collection development policy or a curriculum expert, for use with young people.
“These are works with literary and artistic and scientific merit. And perhaps most important, these books contain stories and information that make a difference in the lives of students.”
In addition to titles from these lists of banned books, the emails show that Harper searched EPSB and CBE libraries for novels featured on the controversial amateur content rating system BookLooks.org.
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The IJF asked Nicolaides whose decision it was to use BookLooks in the education ministry’s research, but he did not answer.
“To be clear — I have no authority to ban books, I am not banning books, I do not plan to ban books, and the rhetoric around this being a book ban is flagrant and irresponsible,” Nicolaides said in a statement.
“I asked my staff to gather information on books that show explicit s--ual content and if they were in schools in Alberta. They located books of concern on shelves in Edmonton Public and Calgary Public schools.”
Edmonton Public Schools said it already has existing rules and regulations to support the selection of teaching and learning resources, and that these rules have been in place for a number of years.
A spokesperson for the CBE told the IJF it also has “rigorous processes to ensure that library resources are age-appropriate and relevant for students,” and clear mechanisms in place for any member of the school community to bring forward concerns about specific resources.
The list of objectionable materials in public schools compiled by Alberta’s education ministry appears to contain more than two pages of books. However, a copy of this list released through a freedom of information request was entirely redacted except for the four graphic novels previously named by the ministry: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Blankets by Craig Thompson and Flamer by Mike Curato.
When Nicolaides first revealed plans in May for province-wide content policy and guidelines, he told media concerned parents had brought examples of “extremely inappropriate” materials to his ministry last November.
These examples of books from Alberta school libraries were in fact provided to Nicolaides by conservative activists from the groups Parents for Choice in Education and Action4Canada, as first reported by the IJF.
The IJF also filed a freedom of information request for records of meetings Nicolaides or his staff had in November and December last year related to age-inappropriate and graphic s--ual content in school library books, but the search returned no records.
Months before meeting with Nicolaides, Action4Canada’s Kim McBride was invited to speak at a United Conservative Party constituency association event in Calgary in March 2024 on Alberta’s parental rights policy. During her presentation, McBride told the audience that comprehensive s--ual education, s--ual orientation and gender identity education were part of a campaign of indoctrination in schools and media, and that the “political trans LGBT agenda” is to target children and use them as agents of change.
Parents for Choice in Education’s executive director John Hilton-O’Brien also spoke at the same UCP event.
Nicolaides said he had not met McBride or others from Action4Canada before their meeting about school library books.
“Action4Canada was one of the groups that provided a list of books to me that were of concern to them, once during my only meeting with them in November, which prompted us to investigate the situation further, through various avenues,” Nicolaides said.
Book bans seemingly continue after being prohibited in MinnesotaPublic librarians say calls to remove or challenge books are increasing, despite a 2024 statute prohibiting book bans.
https://mndaily.com/294761/uncategori...
Minnesota recently prohibited book banning in a 2024 statute, one of several Democratic-leaning states that have recently banned book bans. Some librarians are saying a combined rise in challenges related to interest groups and their fight against LGBTQ+ content as well as a lack of enforcement is leading to challenges against certain books across the state.
University of Minnesota English professor Lianna Farber said book banning is not a law that is enforced, and is a spectrum that gets confused quickly.
“A public library must not ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to a book or other material based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys,” Farber said.
Books can also be “challenged,” meaning a person or group attempts to remove or restrict materials based upon personal objections, according to the American Library Association.
“Some people would say if a book is removed from the library shelves, that that’s a ban,” Farber said. “At the extreme end, some people say as long as there’s not an actual government action against people who can’t read a book, it’s not a ban.”...
In Minnesota, the Minnesota statute, 134.51 Access to Library Materials and Rights Protected, protects teachers and librarians from being in trouble for having certain books.
According to the statute, a governing body of a public library must adopt a policy that establishes procedures for selection of, challenges to, and reconsideration of library materials by a licensed specialist, an individual with a master’s degree in library science, a professional librarian or a person trained in library collection management, the statute reads.
In Minnesota, every public library needs a collection development policy and a book challenge policy and procedure, which they refer to when a book challenge occurs. A collection development policy is a statement of guidelines for library staff members to follow when selecting, acquiring, and building library collections.
“When people challenge books, then you have a policy to go back and say, this is why we collected this book,” Minnesota Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair Ann Kaste said, “It’s representing members of our community.”
Quiet banning refers to libraries not purchasing certain book titles that they believe may cause conflict and negative reactions from the community.
Kaste said she believes in the freedom to read and the necessity of combating censorship in libraries.
“A form of banning that we’re seeing this year is called quiet banning or self-censorship, where libraries just don’t buy the books that may cause problems,” Kaste said. “They may even remove books that they think may cause trouble.”
Authors may participate in self-censorship practices and modify what they want to write because they don’t want to have a controversy, according to Kaste.
“The American Library Association collects the numbers of book bans per year, and it was way down,” Kaste said. “We are thinking that that is because of quiet censorship.”
According to Kaste, there are special interest groups that convene to make a plan for how to ban books. They make a list of books they disagree with and send it to local groups around the country.
Earlier this year, St. Francis Public Schools settled two book policy lawsuits where the district removed librarians and teachers from the book approval process and replaced them with a website called BookLooks.org.
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“You can challenge the books if you don’t like them,” Kaste said. “But the school board can’t come in and make a new system for what goes in the library, because it’s a publicly funded institution.”
Prattville, Alabama Library lawsuit moving forwardThe activity should clear procedural hurdles as both sides await a ruling on plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction.
https://www.alreporter.com/2025/07/10...
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“First, this one-sentence addition merely reiterates the overbroad, vague, and discriminatory language of which Plaintiffs already complain,” lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote. “If anything, the new sentence further curtails minors’ access to materials ‘containing obscene or s----ally explicit content, or other content deemed inappropriate for children or youth.'”
Counsel for the plaintiffs further argue that the board’s reliance on the APLS requirements for state aid does not absolve its actions.
“The Board has not shown that it is impossible to comply with both the APLS rules and the Constitution. As Plaintiffs have previously explained, APLS left the determination of what material would be considered ‘s--ually explicit’ or ‘deemed inappropriate for children or youth’ to the discretion of library boards; it is the Board, not APLS, that has chosen an unconstitutional definition … and this revision does nothing to alter that definition. If APLS truly were to blame for the Board’s unconstitutional policy, the Board’s recourse is to implead APLS as a defendant—not to evade liability altogether. But the Board has not elected to do so. And even if the Board were correct about APLS’s requirements—and it is not—case law addressing the balance of the equities makes clear that the Board can ‘ha[ve] ‘no legitimate interest’ in enforcing an unconstitutional law.'”
Despite the APPL board requesting to notify Thompson of the additional policy revision, its response Wednesday does not call for an amended complaint.
If an amended complaint were required, it could further drag out the case which has already been ongoing for more than a year.
“Plaintiffs have now been suffering the loss of First Amendment freedoms for seventeen months,” counsel for the plaintiffs wrote. “Restarting that clock, when the Board has taken no steps to rectify its unconstitutional Policy, would only further the irreparable harm Plaintiffs continue to experience and incentivize the Board to frequently enact minor amendments to its Policy to evade this Court’s jurisdiction.”
Here’s how one school board in Wisconsin flipped to being a far-right majority in only six months. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/e...
Sumner County Library, Tennessee board members can’t seem to pass their policy banning trans books from the public library collection.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news...
St. Charles City-County, Missouri library officials are considering changing their book banning policy to make it a little harder to ban books in the collection. Thank you to Kelly Jensen for this story.
https://archive.ph/Jw1FP#selection-38...
St. Charles City-County library officials are revising a proposal that some patrons worried would give the system’s trustees too much power to ban books.
The proposal allows library patrons who have requested that a specific book be removed from the shelves appeal to the library board if a library staff committee declines the request.
After reviewing all information regarding the appeal, under the new plan the board’s decision would require a supermajority of six of the board’s nine members to ban a book.
“The board doesn’t have any interest in banning books or creating a roadway to censorship,” said John Greifzu, the library’s CEO.
Instead, he sees the library trustees signaling that requiring a supermajority vote is “an assurance to the public that the board recognizes this as an important decision.”
He said few other decisions the trustees make, including approving the annual budget, require a supermajority vote. The budget passes with a simple majority vote.
St. Charles area residents were worried at last month’s meeting that a bloc of newly appointed library board members could lead to books with LGBTQ characters and themes being targeted by conservative patrons and ultimately removed by the library board, who are appointed instead of elected to their positions.
While the library board is non-partisan, county leaders have said they have felt pressure to appoint “avowed conservatives” to the library board in recent years, following a series of culture clashes connected to the library.
“You should not be able to determine or define or dictate what is available to the rest of the community simply it does not appeal to you as an individual,” Sara Hemmann, of St. Peters, said at last month’s meeting. Hemmann, a mother of three, said one of her children is LGBTQ.
Since November 2023, the library district has fielded 11 requests from patrons to have books they personally considered inappropriate removed from the library’s collection. Only one book was ultimately removed.
Many of the books that have been challenged deal with sexuality, gender, puberty, and LGBTQ-culture.
The other aspects of the library’s policy toward book challenges remain unchanged.
Each challenge will still reviewed by a committee of library personnel from across the district. The committee will send its recommendation to the library director for a decision.
The director’s decision typically has aligned with the committee’s recommendation, but could be appealed to the library board.
Under the draft proposal, the library board members will also need to complete a series of trainings, including receiving instruction from the American Library Association on such things as the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read statement, and Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights, according to the library district.
Sad news for library patrons in Idaho.Regional library consortium members vote to dissolve Cooperative Information Network
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/202...
Members of North Idaho’s interlibrary loan consortium have decided to dissolve the Cooperative Information Network that has shared materials with patrons across the region for more than 40 years.
Amid disputes with its largest member, the Community Library Network, the boards of each of the other 14 libraries in the last month have voted to dissolve the consortium, Cooperative Information Network Chair Meagan Mize said.
The Cooperative Information Network’s board, comprising each library’s director representing their library board by proxy, will meet Wednesday to make the vote official. The organization is expected to dissolve Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The Cooperative Information Network has library members from Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties in Idaho, as well as the city of Liberty Lake and Pend Oreille County in Washington. If the consortium dissolves, patrons from these libraries would no longer be able to borrow books from the other libraries in the network. Many of these libraries are small and rural, so losing access would greatly diminish the number of available titles in their catalogs.
The Osburn Public Library board first proposed dissolving the CIN as a way to avoid a potential lawsuit it believes the Community Library Network is planning to file against CIN, Osburn Library Director Jamee Sperry said at CIN’s June 18 meeting in Coeur d’Alene.
“I just wanted to bring forth the idea that since we are in the place that we’re at, where we have so many things going on and we’re picking up the paper and we’re reading things about one group wants to sue us and we’re going through all of these things that are rather contentious,” a recording of the meeting shows Sperry saying.
The Community Library Network oversees libraries in Kootenai County outside of Coeur d’Alene, as well as Pinehurst Library in Shoshone County. CLN Director Martin Walters requested to reschedule a phone interview with The Spokesman-Review on Friday afternoon, but did not answer at that time or call back.
A May 16 article in the Coeur d’Alene Press reported CLN trustees mentioning discussions in executive session about possible legal action against CIN.
Sperry said she believes the potential lawsuit might be based on CLN’s interpretation of Idaho’s Children’s School and Library Protection Act. The new law went into effect last year and requires libraries to relocate “materials harmful to minors to an area with adult access only” within 60 days of a minor or their parent or legal guardian requesting the material be relocated.
Officials from other CIN libraries say CLN’s new policies go beyond what the law requires. Sperry said that distributing obscene materials to minors was already illegal and none of CIN’s members are violating the law.
Meanwhile, CIN had been attempting to rewrite its joint powers agreement after learning last year that its original incorporation in 1984 made technical legal errors that might make the organization invalid as a legal entity.
The consortium planned to reincorporate with a new joint powers agreement and rebrand as “Inland Northwest Libraries.”
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Walters argued in previous meetings that these changes do not restrict other CIN members, but are simply meant to prevent CLN from directly distributing harmful materials to minors. CLN minors could still check out books from other CIN libraries as long as they visit those libraries in-person.
Other CIN members said they were blindsided by the policy and that it violated the spirit of the current joint powers agreement of sharing equal access to each other’s materials. CIN members in Washington took particular issue with the restrictions because they said they are not bound by Idaho law.
Several directors at the June CIN meeting said avoiding the risk of a patron suing CIN for apparent complicity in CLN’s overly restrictive policies is another reason to dissolve.
Over recent months, Walters and the CLN board resisted signing off on the new joint powers agreement, saying the new draft language is substantially different from the old agreement.
Other library directors expressed similar concerns and had planned to ask their boards to suggest edits to the agreement over the coming months. But the minor card policy and reports of litigation exacerbated worries that CLN was not acting in good faith.
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Sperry said at the meeting that dissolving would be simpler and fairer than individual libraries withdrawing. According to the current joint powers agreement, if a library withdraws it must give 180 days advance notice and would not be entitled to recover money it paid into CIN.
Mize, who is also the director of the West Bonner Library District in Priest River, said if CIN dissolves, money remaining in its bank account would be equitably redistributed to each member. CIN owns no physical assets, she said.
The CLN board was the only member library board that has not voted on whether to dissolve, Mize said. Walters has abstained from voting in previous CIN meetings because he said CIN’s current joint powers agreement states that the library boards make up the governing body of CIN, not the library directors.
The Cooperative Information Network board is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library to officially vote on the dissolution and discuss plans for redistributing assets.
New Jersey - an anti-book ban state!Roxbury School District is restricting access to Gender Queer. It won’t be on library shelves but behind the desk so students have to ask for it. That’s still censorship.
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/roxbury...
The decision overrides a recommendation made by a committee that reviewed the book, and others with content related to homosexuality and gender identity. Roxbury Schools Superintendent Frank Santora confirmed at the meeting that "the recommendation of the committee was that the book stay in circulation."
The vote was 5-4. It came after the board members who voted no – Mirna Hernandez, Carol Scheneck, Edwin Botero and Kim Hopkins – argued that hiding the book not only made the committee’s work meaningless but also violated board policy. The board members who voted in favor of keeping the book behind the counter were Board President Chris Milde, Anne Colucci, Kathy Purcell, Sharon MacGregor-Nazzaro and Valerie Galdieri.
The debate centered heavily on board policy. Hernandez raised a point of order, noting that a board regulation requires a "statement of reasons" for any action to "limit access to the work." She argued that moving the book behind the counter was a limitation of access and that the board was acting improperly without a formal statement documenting its reason for doing so.
Scheneck supported this, calling the vote a "slap in the face to the committee" and a violation of the board's own policy.
“I respect the work of the committee,” she said. “They did a lot of work. I don’t think any of us here, unless we have read the book and also looked at the list of criteria - the educational criteria and the sociological criteria - I don’t know how we can pass judgment on this book.”
To address the procedural concern, Milde amended the resolution during the meeting to state that the request to limit access was being made because the book "was deemed to be developmentally inappropriate."
Those voting against the measure argued that "developmentally inappropriate" was a personal preference, not an educational reason. "We are not educators," Hernandez said. "How do any of you gauge what is developmentally appropriate?"
Hopkins, who served on the review committee, defended the book's overall value. "People keep referring to a single page in the book that is a concern,” she said. “I thought that, as a book overall, it had a lot of good parts to it. It talked about growing up, and the character really went through a lot to discover who they are."
Some of the members who voted to restrict the book's access offered their own reasoning.
MacGregor-Nazzaro asserted the author, Maia Kobbe, said the book was "intended for an audience 16 and up," while the high school serves students as young as 13.
“I don't know if there's a way to limit 14- and 15-year-olds, but we do have 13, 14 and 15-year-olds in the high school, which is part of the audience that it was not intended for,” she said.
Purcell took issue with the idea - expressed by some on the board and in the audience who wanted the book to be out on the shelves - that the board must think of "all children" in making decisions.
“I’ve been saying this for years,” she said. “How does anyone make a statement that we are doing this for all the children? There are many, many children that are not accepting this. I really have a problem with people who keep saying the statement ‘we’re doing this for all the children.’ It is not a true statement."
The committee reviewed Gender Queer (which was on the shelf without limitation) and This Book is Gay (which was behind the shelf with parental consent needed). It determined both should be on the shelves without limitation.
Last month, the board voted to overturn the committee’s findings on This Book is Gay, meaning it remained behind the shelf.
“Nothing changed with Gender Queer until tonight,” said Milde after the meeting. “We specifically voted tonight to move Gender Queer from the shelf to behind the counter, requiring parental consent … Let’s call a spade a spade: This has nothing to do with LGTBQ (rights); (view spoiler) This has nothing to do with gender. It’s about responsibility with content that minors have access to.”
The issue of challenged books, along with the district's policy related to transgender students, have been highly contentious in Roxbury, leading to arguments at school board meetings going back to 2022. The divisive topics played a big part in recent school board elections, contests that were non-partisan but nevertheless pitted conservatives against liberals.
Our old friends in Escambia County, Florida (two people got lots of books removed)Escambia County Schools (FL) can’t have their board members shielded from testifying in the lawsuit brought about over their book banning.
https://news.wfsu.org/state-news/2025...
A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected an attempt to shield Escambia County School Board members from testifying in a long-running legal battle about removing or restricting access to books in school libraries.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal that the board filed after U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell ruled in November that board members must testify because they are not protected by what is known as “legislative privilege.”
Tuesday’s 13-page decision did not focus on whether board members were entitled to legislative privilege. Instead, it said the Atlanta-based appeals court did not have legal “jurisdiction” to consider the case because the school board — not the individual board members — has been the party in district court.
“The board cannot appeal because it lacks standing: the legislative privilege belongs to its members and not the board itself,” the decision shared by Judges Elizabeth Branch, Nancy Abudu and Embry Kidd said. “And the board members failed to participate in the case below (at the district court), meaning they do not fall into the limited circumstances under which a nonparty may appeal an order. We therefore lack jurisdiction to hear this appeal and must dismiss.”
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“According to plaintiffs, the removals were purely based on ideological disagreements with the contents of the books,” Tuesday’s appeals-court decision said. “Such removals on ideological grounds, plaintiffs argued, constitute a government invasion of protected speech rights. Given their theory centered on the motive for the removal of the books, plaintiffs sought to depose the individual members of the board regarding their motivations for their actions.”
But the school board contended that the concept of legislative privilege should shield members from having to testify about their decision-making.
In his November ruling against the board, Wetherell pointed to previous court rulings establishing guidelines for determining whether board members’ decisions to remove or restrict books were legislative acts that should be shielded.
“Under those standards, even though the school board’s decision to remove or restrict a book has some hallmarks of a legislative act (e.g., voting after debate at a public meeting), it is functionally an administrative act,” Wetherell wrote.
A book-removal or restriction decision is “based on specific facts (the content of the book)” and is “more akin to a permitting or employment termination decision,” which courts have held to be administrative acts, because officials are following already-established guidelines, the Pensacola-based judge wrote.
The school board quickly appealed Wetherell’s decision. The underlying lawsuit has been on hold while the appeal was pending.
This is INSANE! WHY would you do that? They essentially want minimum wage workers or volunteer drones and clones to check books in and out and not trained professionals to teach and develop collection policies, develop collections of materials students WANT and need.Florida’s State Board of Education has changed the requirements for school library workers, reducing them from things like understanding teaching and learning to adhering to state standards.
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news...
Media specialist rule changes by Florida education officials draw First Amendment concerns
Critics say media specialists serve to protect students' First Amendment rights.
Florida's State Board of Education voted to reduce competency requirements for educational media specialists, who manage library books in schools – and who some say are defenders of students' First Amendment rights.
In a meeting in Orlando July 16, board members approved a motion to adopt new requirements, which brought down the 25 listed competency requirements to eight.
The old guidelines included knowledge of national and state standards and understanding of teaching and learning principles with the continually changing school curriculum; the newer guidelines focus more on adherence to state standards and to stay updated with current curriculums.
University of Central Florida lecturer Jane Aman said that "well-trained medial specialists are a fundamental part of a healthy school ecosystem." Such specialists in Florida are tasked with controlling library materials and reviewing books when a complaint is submitted by a parent for any concerns about its content. Aman said the new rules reduce their certification requirements and "tear them down."
"While the process takes time, it also protects our children's First Amendment rights (and) ensures one citizen ... cannot dictate the reading boundaries I get to set for my children," said Stephana Ferrell, who is with the Florida Freedom to Read Project, an organization advocating for book access.
These rule changes come a month after board members criticized media specialists and the school superintendent in Hillsborough County for library books they called "p---graphic."
More than 600 books were removed from circulation in mid-May after officials, including Attorney General James Uthmeier and then-Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., pressured school districts.
The new competency requirements were meant to have a greater focus on adherence to rules and regulations from the last several years by the Florida Legislature and by board members, said Juan Copa, the deputy education commissioner in the division of accountability, research and measurement. He said it also focuses on complementing and collaborating with school instructional staff.
"In essence, this is about aligning competency skills for our teacher certification exams with all the K-12 changes content standards for our students," Copa said.
Education Commissioner Anastasios "Stasi" Kamoutsas promptly defended the department's view of media specialists, highlighting that the 2024 Florida Teacher of the Year, Adrianna Swearingen, was a specialist. Kamoutsas replaced Diaz, who is now president of the University of West Florida.
"To suggest that the department or the commissioner, whether it was Manny Diaz or myself, don't value the work of media specialists is just a false narrative," Kamoutsas said in the meeting.
Sara Pellier, a parent who spoke during public comment, accused the board of "unjust attacks on our media specialists." She said the jobs of these specialists is to match materials to unique school needs and protect First Amendment rights, which is why she criticized efforts to "lower the standards for becoming a media specialist."
"That doesn't just diminish their role, it sends a message that experience, education and constitutional principles no longer matter in Florida schools," Pellier said.
North CarolinaFontana Regional Library addresses upcoming issues ahead of split
https://smokymountainnews.com/news/it...
As the Fontana Regional Library sizes up a monumental change coming into the focus over the hill like a band of Vandals looking to sack Rome, its outgoing attorney, Rady Large, offers a simple piece of advice.
“You guys need to have counsel from a multi-partner firm that is going to be able to possibly field potential lawsuits that could possibly come from all this,” he told the board during its July 8 meeting.
The "all of this” Large referred to is the complicated process the board has now been forced into as it prepares to lose one third of its libraries, including the employees that have operated those institutions for decades.
The FRL board meets six times per year, once at each of its libraries that span Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. The July 8 meeting was at the Nantahala Community Library, the system’s smallest, which serves a community with little to no cell phone access, meaning the services it provides, including free WiFi access, are all the more vital.
The meeting was the board’s first since Jackson County Commissioners voted 4-1 late last month to withdraw from the agreement it’d had with the system for the last 81 years. At the June 3 county commission meeting, held at Southwestern Community College, County Manager Kevin King informed the board that the move will cost the county about $300,000 initially and about a half-million per year thereafter.
“… we see that Fontana has policies in place for child safety, for content, for all of the things that we’ve brought up as concerns,” Commission Chair Mark Letson, the lone dissenter, pleaded ahead of the vote.
“Just from what we’ve gathered initially, it’s going to cost us more in the long run than it will if we remain within Fontana,” he added. “We’ve got some immediate things that are going to have to happen, and it may leave us short-handed at the libraries.”
FRL Chair Cynthia Womble said that while she received the physical, “wet-ink signature” copy of the letter from Jackson County officially notifying the board of its withdrawal from the system on July 2, she’d received a copy via email on June 30. Jackson County has also already notified Macon and Swain, the two other county members of the system, according to Womble.
For FRL, the letter triggers actions that must be taken by both the library system and the county before the split.
“The latest I have read is that Jackson County is exploring hiring a consultant to assist with that process because it will form a new department,” Womble said, adding that FRL Director Tracy Fitzmaurice is playing a key role in making sure nothing is overlooked by either party.
Regional Library Systems across the state were established during a time decades ago when counties didn’t necessarily have enough resources to provide library services, so they created multi-county systems. While counties still provide the funds, the regional library boards handle administrative functions.
...
a large movement led by Christian conservatives has challenged local and regional libraries across the nation, accusing them of pushing LGBTQ and other progressive ideologies and offering books that some consider offensive. As the book bans began, so too did the lawsuits.
...
Ahead of Jackson County’s vote to withdraw, public comments at commissioner meetings reflected an overwhelming desire among residents to see the county stay in library system. At last week’s FRL meeting, Womble noted that board members received 43 emails and handwritten letters, the majority of which voiced support for the library system and/or shock at Jackson County’s decision to withdraw.
Those sentiments were echoed in one sense or another by the four people who addressed the FRL board at the Nantahala Community Library. Some offered praise for Womble’s performance when conducting meetings; others chastised Jackson County commissioners and even some of the members of the library board.
Jackson County resident Tom Downing passionately read a prepared statement. His ultimate point was to elaborate on a relatively simple fear. It’s wasn’t that he’s concerned about banning books now; he’s concerned about freedom dying a slow death in area libraries.
“I have a feeling that challenging books, which is what was talked about by the Jackson commissioners, based on alleged p---graphy grounds, is just the beginning with our new members that we have from some of the counties” he said.
Downing said that some board members, whom he referred to as “the morality police,” will simply change policies to stop buying books that don’t conform to their views.
“I think we’re in a world of trouble, madam chair, because you have some zealots on this board right now,” he said.
During a discussion on the budget, Womble noted that the upcoming changes require the board to look closely at its own financial future. FRL operates on a tight budget with $4.03 million in revenue against $3.98 million in expenses.
Perhaps the biggest budgetary concern regards personnel, considering salaries, compensation and benefits for its 81 listed employees account for $2.85 million annually.
“That’s very difficult because Jackson County literally has until June 30 (2026) to decide whether they’re going to go through with it, so we can’t let people go ahead of time,” Fitzmaurice told the board. “We can’t just walk in and say, ‘you don’t have a job anymore’ on July 1, so that will be up to the board to figure out the best way to do that.”
The abrupt end of the partnership could create a mass exodus of employees, which puts the board on the hook for paying out a lot of leave and vacation days, as well as potential unemployment for several people, all at once.
...
“That will impact service,” Fitzmaurice said.
While Jackson County could hire the current employees to work at its future county-run library system, that isn’t guaranteed; in Yancey County, none of the employees of the AMY (named for Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties) were kept onboard. An idea was floated that the board could approve some kind of bonus for employees in Jackson County that stick it out until June 30, 2026, but there was hesitation, and the matter was ultimately referred to the personnel committee.
...
Another concern that is easier to address is the booking of events at the Jackson County Library in Sylva. According to Fitzmaurice, finding the right performers and musicians is like finding “gold,” and they must be booked about a year in advance, meaning the process has already begun for summer 2026. However, that shouldn’t be too big of a deal since Fitzmaurice, in conjunction with King, is now booking acts with the caveat that the county will have to pay them if it indeed completes its planned withdrawal from FRL.
Only two board members have served the entirety of the last year, Womble and Tony Monnat, who both represent Swain County. Last week’s meeting was the first for board member Cheryl Taylor, of Swain County.
One of the newer members is Marva Jennigs, who was appointed by a unanimous vote of Jackson County Commissioners, including her brother, Commissioner Michael Jennings. Following the July 8 meeting, she confirmed to The Smoky Mountain News that Commissioner Jennings is her brother but that she didn’t think he voted; however, meeting minutes indicate that the commission vote to appoint her was unanimous.
At the July 8 meeting, the board elected new officers. The two most experienced, Womble and Monnat, were appointed Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, and Macon County’s Bill McGaha was voted in as Secretary.
In addition to naming officers, the board established six committees to handle a number of different issues, including items that newer members wanted to tackle, such as amending the ethics statement, the collection development policy and the circulation policy. But this means that board members are all on multiple committees, which can eat up quite a bit of time, and Fitzmaurice must attend all committee meetings.
During the July 8 meeting, Monnat leaned back in his chair and marveled at how many committees have been formed. “I don’t know how you all have so much time,” he said with a chuckle. By the time the vote came around to form the final committee of the night — which will aim to amend the public comment policy — the vote was 8-1 with only Monnat opposing.
In light of all the upcoming changes, toward the end of the meeting, Womble asked for Large to offer his advice, first thanking him for his pro-bono service over the last couple of years. His donation of time also helps FRL because it can be considered an in-kind donation, which helps when applying for grants.
Large, who said it had been an honor to give legal services to FRL, put it bluntly. With all the moving parts — personnel issues, dividing property and resources and potential First Amendment issues that could come with moving or banning books, should the board choose to do that — high-level legal services are necessary. He said he’d be happy to make some recommendations.
“My biggest piece of advice at this point would be about legal counsel,” he said. “You guys, as a board, have a lot of issues that normally an attorney that would be representing a library board would not address. There’s a lot of municipal law and constitutional law that you guys are going to be advised on, and so my biggest piece of advice is, it would be in your best interest to get on retaining legal counsel ASAP.”
Go Massachusetts! I think they'll get it done. They won't want to be the only state in the region that doesn't have an anti-book ban bill. Mass. bills aimed at protecting librarians, preventing book bans get hearing |
https://www.wamc.org/news/2025-07-24/...
PEN America Testimony in Support of Massachusetts Freedom to Read Act
https://pen.org/pen-america-testimony...
There's also Bill H.3594 and Bill H.3598 that last one is the PRO book ban bill. Booo!
All have been referred to Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development
Both bills have been considered and even merged in the past, clearing the Joint Committee in 2024, only to languish after being sent to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
Yes we know. This article is misleading. Two Plains states- Illinois and Minnesota have anti-book ban laws! Efforts to restrict or protect libraries both grew this year
https://stateline.org/2025/07/22/effo...
Between January and July 2025, lawmakers introduced 133 bills that the organization deemed harmful to libraries, librarians or readers’ rights in 33 states — an increase from 121 bills in all of 2024. Fourteen of those measures had passed as of mid-July.
At the same time, legislators introduced 76 bills in 32 states to protect library services or affirm the right to read, the report found.
The geographic split among these policies is stark.
In Southern and Plains states, new laws increasingly criminalize certain actions of librarians, restrict access to materials about gender and race, and transfer decision-making power to politically appointed boards or parent-led councils.
Texas alone passed a trio of sweeping laws stripping educators of certain legal protections when providing potentially obscene materials; banning public funding for instructional materials containing obscene content; and giving parents more authority over student reading choices and new library additions.
Tennessee lowered the bar to prosecute educators for sharing books that might be considered “harmful to minors.”
A New Hampshire bill likewise would’ve made it easier for parents or the state attorney general to bring civil actions against school employees for distributing material deemed harmful to minors, but it was vetoed by Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
In Nebraska, a new law allows for real-time alerts for parents every time a student checks out a book. South Dakota requires libraries and schools to install filtering software. New laws in Idaho heighten the requirements to form library districts and mandate stricter internet filtering policies that are tied to state funding.
In contrast, several Northeastern states have passed legislation protections for libraries and librarians and anti-censorship laws.
New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island and Connecticut have each enacted “freedom to read” or other laws that codify protections against ideological censorship in libraries.
Letter shows SC education board asked school district to follow ‘book ban’ guidelineshttps://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/l...
The South Carolina Board of Education and the Beaufort County School District are in a standoff.
In a July 18 letter, obtained Monday by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette through a public record request, the state board asked the school district to manage any new book complaints internally instead of forwarding them straight to the state. The request is being mulled over by the district’s board of education, and district Board Chair Richard Geier said they have 90 days to respond.
“As we move forward, the State Board of Education believes it is time for your local board to resume the lead in reviewing additional complaints, using the framework outlined in Regulation 43-170 and the orders corresponding to the materials we have reviewed,” the letter, signed by state Board of Education Chair Merita Allison, read.
Under Regulation 43-170, school districts must publicly review and vote on any instructional material complaints — including classroom and library books — that contain descriptions or images of s--ual conduct. Parents or legal guardians may file up to five complaints per month, provided they have made a good-faith effort to resolve their concerns with school or district staff.
Beaufort County School District maintains that books already reviewed — even those reviewed before the regulation took effect — do not require another vote. Instead, the district forwards those titles directly to the South Carolina Department of Education when challenged again.
At a district school board meeting earlier this month, Geier said no action related to the letter came out of executive session due to the school board needing more time to craft a unified response back to the State Board of Education.
However, once a decision is made, it could mark a turning point not just for Beaufort County, but for the state. If the board reaffirms its position, it will likely continue bypassing public votes on previously reviewed titles — a decision that has contributed heavily to South Carolina’s lead in book removals nationwide. If the board agrees to change course, it could reintroduce public oversight and slow the pace of removals.
That decision carries added weight because at least 14 of the 22 books banned or restricted statewide this year were challenged by one Beaufort County parent, Elizabeth “Ivie” Szalai. Her influence has sparked growing debate about whether one individual should have the power to limit access to books for students across the state.
The rise in challenges traces back to Szalai, who helped spearhead the wave of complaints under and before Regulation 43-170. Szalai submitted over half of the 22 complaints that resulted in statewide bans or restrictions this year. Before the new regulation, she asked the Beaufort County School District to remove 97 titles, five of which were removed at the time.
“We recognize that the prior model policy, while well-intentioned, led to inconsistency across districts in determining age-appropriateness,” the state board letter wrote. “In response to growing concerns across the state, the State Board initiated a collaborative process in 2023 to create a more uniform and transparent standard.”
Szalai is currently asking the school district to review 15 more books. The school district forwarded the request to the state before receiving the letter.
While supporters of the book removals argue Regulation 43-170 protects students from inappropriate content, critics have called the law vague and overreaching...
Following South Carolina’s May State Board of Education meeting, the state leads the nation in school book removals. As of now, no books are under review at the state level, and the next board meeting is scheduled for August 5. The next district school board meeting is also scheduled for that same day.
How the book removal process works
Under Regulation 43-170:
Parents or guardians may submit up to five formal complaints per month using a standardized form.
The school board must publicly review and vote on each complaint within 90 days.
A complaint must be based on depictions or descriptions of sexual conduct — not political or social viewpoint.
Books may be removed, restricted by grade level, or made available only with parental consent.
Complainants unhappy with the district’s decision may appeal to the State Board of Education, which must issue a decision within two meetings.
Also in South CarolinaCharleston chapter of League of Women Voters to host banned books documentary screening, panel
https://www.postandcourier.com/educat...
What: Screening of the documentary "Banned Together" followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session.
When: Sunday, July 27, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
Where: Queen Street Playhouse, located at 20 Queen St, Charleston, SC.
Cost: Tickets are free, but attendees are required to RSVP to reserve a seat. You can RSVP at www.tickettailor.com/events/leagueofw...
Florida's Escambia school district removes 400 bookstory/news/education/2025/07/18/florida-book-bans-escambia-school-district-removes-400-books/85255247007/
The Escambia County School Board banned more than 400 books earlier this week as it updated its policy on banned books and has now, by default, become the school district with the most books banned by a vote of the school board.
Last month, the Escambia County school board voted to remove “p---graphic” books from school libraries without further review during a school board workshop, ending the previous process of committee reviews and appeals to the board.
This week, the board unanimously adopted a list of books to ban under that policy without further review based on a list published by the state of Florida.
The list is “Florida Department of Education's book removal list,” however, the list is simply a report of all the books removed across the state by county-level school districts and not by the Department of Education itself.
The move by default makes Escambia County the county with the most books banned via board action. Other counties have had more books removed temporarily for review, but the list published by the DOE is of titles for final removal by each school board.
...
The result of the action is that more than 409 titles will be removed from Escambia County schools and will stay removed unless the superintendent brings them back to the school board for individual approval.
The list includes 253 books that had not previously been challenged or removed from school library shelves. Most of those titles are only available to to high school students and to middle school students whose parents have signed a permission form for them to access the young adult library. Only 17 books were removed from elementary schools.
Fourteen of the elementary school books have never faced a challenge in Escambia County. They include “Antiracist Baby” by Ibram Kendi, “Christian the Hugging Lion” by Justin Richardson, and “Little Rock Nine” by Marshall Poe.
Titles removed include many popular fiction books such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand, “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline, “Jaws” by Peter Benchley, and “Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin.
Popular author Stephen King had 47 titles removed, including well-known titles like “The Green Mile,” “Pet Sematary,” “Carrie,” and “It.”
Escambia's school district had hundreds of books challenged under its previous book review policy, and 219 challenges were active with many of those books unavailable to be read by students. Of those active challenges, 143 titles have now been banned with the board's action, and 11 of those books were supposed to remain available during the review process.
The remaining 76 books not banned but previously challenged will now have to be reviewed by school library staff and then the superintendent, who will decide whether to recommend it for approval to the school board.
Under the previous policy, school district committees made up of parents and staff had completed 66 challenges and had decided that 25 of those books should stay in school libraries, in some cases with age restrictions. Now, at least nine of those are banned again, including “The Freedom Writers Diary” by Erin Gruwell and “Looking for Alaska” by John Green.
Three of the books have already gone through the entire county’s previous review process and were voted to be kept available in some form to students by the school board, so they can be exempted from this policy. Those titles are “Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “Drama” by Raina Telgemeier, and “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed.
Some of the titles are required reading for advanced college-level classes, but under the new policy, all of them will have to be brought back for consideration to the school board and will remain banned until that happens.
Escambia County Superintendent Keith Leonard informed the board during a July 10 workshop that he would expedite the process of obtaining any required exceptions to the policy and return them to the board for a vote as soon as possible.
Read at your own riskThe mind of a Florida book-banner is a delusional place – Orlando Sentinel
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/...
QNPoohBear wrote: "Read at your own riskThe mind of a Florida book-banner is a delusional place – Orlando Sentinel
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/..."
Dang! Paywall!
Mod
Kudos to South Park and to Trey Parker, but I bet petulant toddler Donald Trump will probably try to strip Parker of his citizenship and deport him.
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I wonder how long before Fascist transphobic and homophobic Alberta premier Danielle Smith will make this camp either illegal or cut all funding.
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I do at least partially blame Donald Trump and company for promoting and encouraging this. And yes, if students make those kinds of comments, there needs to be punishment and that punishment needs to be uncomfortable and have consequences (and if the students are hearing this at home, for the parents, for the family as well).
Manybooks wrote: "https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...I do at least partially blame Donald Trump and company for promoting and encouraging this. And yes,..."
It goes deeper than Trump and traces to social media extremists targeting young men who are already angsty and disaffected. They're given encouragement and someone to blame for their problems. The alt-right got Trump elected.
https://redwine.blue/read-this-turnin...
quoting from Red, Wine and Blue
"One of the most insidious actors is Turning Point USA, an extreme-right organization run by Charlie Kirk that targets youth across the country. Kirk’s goal is to recruit young people into the far-right movement by making conservatism seem “cool.” They project a clean-cut, straight-laced image in an effort to appear less threatening than other far-right extremist groups, hoping that they can draw more people in and make their radical ideas seem normal.
Turning Point’s messaging is not really “conservative.” Instead, it centers around white male “grievances,” claiming to be victims of liberal values like equality and inclusion. They want to return society to what they consider to be “traditional” values, but what the Anti-Defamation League has identified as sexist gender roles and racist and antisemitic goals. Kirk knows this rhetoric appeals to young men who are feeling disrespected and isolated because it validates their feelings. Turning Point USA offers them a community and a sense of belonging. Once they lure in vulnerable followers by talking about these issues, they expose them to their more radical ideas. Their end goal is to promote a more authoritarian, anti-democratic government in the U.S."
The UK PM mentioned a Netflix show, "Adolescence" he watched WITH his teens so they can discuss it and have conversations about the issue.
The ladies at Red, Wine & Blue discuss the issue of extremism and book bans and other topics
https://redwine.blue/podcast/
This is pure tripe. How dare they whine about "indoctrination"! Why is it "indoctrination" when it's something they disagree with but not "indoctrination" when they push their religion on people and in direct violation of the Constitution. https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:salu...
“God Bless” and the Gospel of Government Control: How Florida’s “Letter to Parents” Reveals the Project 2025 Blueprint
Florida’s education letter echoes Project 2025’s agenda—masking religious control, censorship, and exclusionary policies as “parental rights,” while silencing diverse families and public school voices.
On July 14, 2025, Florida’s Commissioner of Education, Anastasios Kamoutsas, issued a letter to public school parents across the state. At first glance, it reads like a welcome-back message filled with praise for students, families, and educators. But scratch beneath the surface, and it becomes clear: this is not just a school-year kickoff. This is a thinly veiled manifesto for a sweeping ideological transformation in American public education.
With echoes of Project 2025, a strategic initiative launched by the Heritage Foundation to reshape federal institutions and policies along hardline conservative and Christian nationalist ideals, this letter provides a case study in how state education systems are being quietly re-engineered under the banner of “parental rights.”
To understand the implications of Kamoutsas’ letter, we must examine the influence of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and primary architect of Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership. This multi-pronged policy plan outlines how a future Republican administration could dismantle key federal agencies, defund diversity programs, and implement sweeping changes that align with the Christian Nationalist’s vision of American life.
In fact, Kamoutsas explicitly cites the Heritage Foundation’s praise for Florida, celebrating the state’s #1 ranking in “Education Freedom.” But that freedom is narrowly defined: it prioritizes voucher expansion, private school subsidies, and the policing of school content under a rigid moral and religious framework. It's a ranking system not built on student success or equity but on how well a state aligns with Heritage's culture war agenda.
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The Florida Department of Education’s letter invokes “parental rights” over two dozen times, listing a cascade of legal privileges ranging from reviewing textbooks to directing “moral and religious training.” At first glance, some of these rights appear reasonable, even admirable. But the devil is in the details.
This version of “parental rights” is highly selective, designed to center a particular demographic: conservative, often religious, parents who oppose inclusive education. In doing so, it deliberately marginalizes the voices of countless other families, especially Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, immigrant, and secular parents, who want schools to reflect the full diversity and complexity of American life.
As one Florida parent put it in response to the letter:
“My parental rights don’t matter to them unless I want to ban a book, remove a rainbow flag, or pretend racism doesn’t exist. If I want my child to learn the truth about history, to see families like ours represented, to be safe and welcomed — they have nothing for me.”
This parent is not alone. Across Florida, and the nation, many families feel betrayed by a system that no longer sees them, that uses the language of “rights” to promote conformity, exclusion, and fear.
Kamoutsas closes the letter with “God bless,” a sign-off that may seem benign. But in the context of a state-led, public education directive, it takes on deeper significance. This is not just a personal expression of faith; it’s a signal of the increasing entanglement between government and religious doctrine in a space that is supposed to remain free of an established religion.
The letter specifically promotes a mandatory moment of silence in schools “to reflect meaningfully,” subtly encouraging prayer and personal religious contemplation. While not unconstitutional on its face, the encouragement from a public official to “talk with your child about how they might use that time in a meaningful way” edges toward state-sponsored religiousness, especially when you consider the language in the title of Florida statute 1003.45 requiring this time, “Permitting study of the Bible and religion; requiring a moment of silence.” This moment of silence also may not seem like much, but over the course of the year, it adds up to a full day of lost instructional time. This is not insignificant when combined with the amount of instructional time lost to progressive state mandated testing which will begin in the first few weeks of school.
Furthermore, the document explicitly states that students “must not be required” to use preferred pronouns that do not align with “biological sex,” and that school employees cannot be compelled to respect a student’s gender identity. These directives are not grounded in scientific consensus or respect for individual dignity. They are cultural edicts rooted in a specific religious worldview, one that refuses to acknowledge LGBTQ+ existence as valid or worthy of protection.
...
The policies outlined in Florida’s letter mirror many of the goals listed in Project 2025, including:
Dismantling DEI Initiatives: The rejection of “indoctrination” and refusal to acknowledge systemic racism or LGBTQ+ identities is central to Project 2025’s plan to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from federal and state systems.
Restructuring Public Education: By steering families toward vouchers and homeschooling, and promoting religious or private schools, the aim is to defund and destabilize public education entirely.
Policing Curriculum Content: From banning discussions of gender identity to removing books from school libraries, these policies enforce a sanitized, censored version of history and identity.
Expanding Government Power in the Name of “Freedom”: Ironically, the call for “parental rights” actually creates new layers of surveillance and restriction. Teachers are micromanaged, students are denied privacy, and families who don’t conform are left unprotected from such infringement.
The harm of these policies is not theoretical, it’s personal. Teachers are afraid to teach the full truth. Librarians are removing books out of fear of punishment. LGBTQ+ students are being erased from their own classrooms. And public school families who believe in inclusive, fact-based education are left with no recourse.
By labeling entire topics, like race, gender, and identity, as “controversial,” these mandates redefine education as a battleground, not a place for growth, understanding, or community.
The letter brags that “Florida has become a standard-bearer for educational excellence.” But real excellence doesn’t mean silencing students or whitewashing history. It means fostering critical thinking, compassion, and a respect for every student’s story.
...
More from the Florida Freedom to Read ProjectBroward County Public Schools overturned three decisions by the Superintendent’s Review Committee to retain certain texts for HS students as a result of “directives” (threats) from the FLDOE.
Also any “adult fiction” is off limits? So, Shakespeare and Milton are YA now?
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:salu...
Florida bans Beanstack, a platform that offers summer reading challenges for kids and adults through libraries but doesn't link to any e-books or materials. This is because Beanstack offers a Pride 365 reading challenge for teens. Letter from Florida Ed Commissioner putting districts “on notice” for using Beanstack to meet the classroom library catalog requirements.
The letter alleges that the platform “provides access to material that is not age or developmentally appropriate” though the platform does not offer access to read materials at all.
Beanstack provides a thumbnail image and description of the materials available in a particular school, grade, or classroom collection, offers ways to encourage reading and test comprehension, and expands reading initiatives into the community.
https://bsky.app/profile/flfreedomrea...
If searching for "inappropriate" materials on a library summer reading challenge website wasn't bad enough...
Florida just signed a contract to pend $15 million to build searchable database of classroom materials!
https://www.cfpublic.org/education/20...
The Florida Department of Education has entered into a $15 million dollar contract with Maryland-based Trinity Education Group to build the database, which will be used to make sure that books and other resources comply with state laws.
It will allow K-12 teachers to upload materials to the site. Parents, residents and state officials can then search and review for compliance with state laws like HB 1069, which restricts sexually and age-inappropriate content.
Parents and residents will also be able to submit challenges to books on the site.
“It seems that the state has decided that it's not enough to ban thousands of books,” said UCF political science professor Aubrey Jewett. "We have to make it easier and spend millions of dollars to help people ban even more apparently."
Jewett said he’s surprised by this decision. The governor and state legislature attempted to restrict the number of unnecessary book challenges that have been made earlier this year.
...
Jewett said this new database could have the opposite effect.
“Not only are they going to encourage more people to challenge books and remove books from Florida schools, but the taxpayers are going to get to pay $15 million to have them do that,” said Jewett.
In a statement, Florida’s Department of Education said the database will help school districts comply with the law and allow parents to review materials accessible to children in schools.
“The department firmly believes that parents have the fundamental right to know what materials their child is accessing at school," the statement read.
The state has already doled out $3 million for the service.
[The tool is] being supplied by a vendor who hired a lobbying firm run by one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top fundraisers shortly before landing the contract from his administration.
https://bsky.app/profile/flfreedomrea...
Love how the head of the company getting the contract is a big DeSantis donor. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
More from Florida Freedom to Read:Pinellas, Pasco schools remove books after state threatens Hillsborough
https://www.tampabay.com/news/educati...
Just weeks after the State Board of Education discussed punishing Hillsborough County school officials over library books deemed “p----graphic,” leaders in several other Florida districts began pulling those same items from their shelves.
Pinellas County schools, for instance, had 38 of the 55 titles in their media centers on the day after the State Board told Hillsborough superintendent Van Ayres to remove the identified material. This week, all were gone.
Twenty of the titles appeared in Pasco County school library catalogs in the days following the June 5 State Board meeting. They’re all removed now, too.
The State Board of Education was ‘very clear’ about wanting the material out of schools, officials said.
“The State Board was very, very clear with their concerns,” Pasco superintendent John Legg said. “They sent a signal to the whole state.”
During that June meeting, State Board chairman Ben Gibson told Ayres he wanted the offending books out of Hillsborough schools within two weeks. If they weren’t, Gibson added, he intended to ask the Education Department and Attorney General to “use every tool within their disposal” to make it happen.
Other board members voiced their agreement. They did not vote to formally deem the book list as p----graphy or take any official action regarding the books.
... Within days, some school boards began reacting to the possibility of being treated like Hillsborough.
Some, such as Escambia, St. Johns and Orange counties, spoke publicly about their concerns and voted to treat the list as official literature non grata. The Orange board had approved keeping some of the titles just weeks earlier.
The Columbia County school district put its views in writing after directing schools to pull the books “without engaging in the process set forth in statute, rule and policy.”
“In order to ensure the protection of our faculty and administration, the District is requiring that any of those books found on the attached list be removed from classrooms or personnel collections regardless of the source of funding of such collections,” the memo stated.
Many districts, including Pasco and Pinellas, acted similarly to Columbia. They quietly removed titles without any board action or public discussion.
School board members in both Pasco and Pinellas said this week they were unaware that their district administrators had done anything with regard to the books. They also said they did not request action.
“I didn’t know,” Pinellas board member Dawn Peters said. “The superintendent has the discretion to make those choices and I support that. If constituents are concerned about any books, I am willing to ask those questions.”
Pinellas board member Eileen Long said she would have liked the administration to tell the board it was acting in response to the State Board’s comments.
“I feel like they’re giving in, but I don’t know that because I don’t know what books are on the list,” Long said. “The state never sent us the list. I’d like to know what (superintendent Kevin Hendrick) thought the urgency was, and why he didn’t tell us.”
Donnika Jones, the district’s chief academic officer, told board members in an email late Tuesday that the district looked at the books as part of an annual review of library collections.
“The state identified inappropriate content and book titles in school libraries,” Jones wrote. “As a result, PCS is committed to ensuring our media offerings reflect thoughtful decisions based on the needs of our students and align with current compliance requirements.”
On June 19 — two weeks after the State Board meeting — Pinellas provided a list of 70 titles it said were the subject of its summer book review. None of the titles mentioned by the State Board appeared on that list.
Pasco County officials made no bones about their actions.
Deputy superintendent Betsy Kuhn said she watched Ayres get grilled and asked the district’s two media specialists if any of the titles were in Pasco schools. She said the thought was simply to get ahead of any state orders and preemptively remove the books.
Board members, though uninformed of the move, were unsurprised.
“I think they said it loud and clear to Hillsborough,” board member Jessica Wright said, referring to the State Board.
Stephana Ferrell, co-founder of Florida Freedom to Read Project, said she expected the districts’ decisions to pull books without any formal state votes or local community input would snowball over time.
The Legislature refused to change the law regarding which books are harmful to minors, she noted, “yet they used threats and intimidation to make it their practice. They started with 55 books, and now there is nothing holding them to that constitutionally sound review process.”
Mod
I guess freedom of expression only counts for the ORANGE MENACE if it does not criticise him or mock the current US administration. Wonder how long before Donald Trump will unilaterally try to demand that everyone in Canada, Europe etc. not wear any anti Trump clothing, hats and say nothing publicly or even privately against him (or else, sigh).
Heinous news from Florida! (where Florida goes, the Trump admin follows so beware)from EveryLibrary.org
"In a brazen display of political intimidation, the Florida State Board of Education leveled shocking allegations against school administrators.
During a recent meeting, board members threatened Hillsborough County Superintendent Van Ayres with criminal prosecution if he did not immediately remove Forever... along with other award-winning titles, from school libraries.
From Librarians to “Child Abusers”: Florida Board Crosses the Line
Board member Dr. Grazie Christie was recorded saying,
“Have you considered firing all your media specialists and starting from scratch with women and men who can read or have a single shred of decency? These people that you trust to review these materials are abusing the children of your county. They’re child abusers.”
This unhinged, unsubstantiated, and incredibly harmful claim prompted Superintendent Ayres to concede to the permanent banning of more than fifty titles.
In doing so, he bypassed the district’s established review process, which includes committee evaluations and parental input, setting a troubling precedent for state-sponsored censorship in public schools.
Since the incident, hundreds of books have been removed or are pending review. Popular and critically acclaimed titles such as Sold by Patricia McCormick; Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky; What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold; and A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard are among those permanently banned or flagged for further scrutiny.
Crucially, none of these books were under review due to a formal complaint from a local parent. “What is unfolding in Hillsborough County is not the measured application of parental concern. It is a calculated effort to consolidate power through fear, to bypass legal precedent, and to silence diverse voices in Florida’s public schools,” wrote PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting freedom of expression.
This trend of politically motivated censorship is part of a broader pattern documented in The Censorship Acceleration report by EveryLibrary.
Further analysis revealed that none of the removed books met the legal definition of p----graphy as defined by the Supreme Court in Miller v. California (1973). In many cases, removal was based on themes involving LGBTQ+ characters, menstruation, birth control, or other so-called “mature” topics, despite no evidence that board members had read the books in question.
This extreme overreach of governmental authority has set a chilling example for future educators. The Florida State Board of Education disregarded district protocol, parental input, and due process to enforce personal religious and moral views on public school children. Such actions run counter to the principles of intellectual freedom and represent a malicious attack on teachers, librarians, administrators, and the rights of families.
Diverse reading materials foster empathy and broaden students’ understanding of the world, cultivating informed and compassionate citizens. The erosion of these freedoms threatens the foundation of equitable education in a democratic society."
Sign the petition Don't ban books in the U.S.
https://action.everylibrary.org/banne...
The news has been tough to read this week. It's so doom and gloom. I'm sure you all have heard by now the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has to close by the end of the year. The CPB which helped fund Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and other beloved shows- plus public radio and TV stations across the country. They lost funding when President Donald Trump rescinded $1.1 billion.Without CPB grants, some stations may be forced to reduce staff, cut programming, or shut down altogether. That could have a significant impact in smaller communities, where public media stations are often among the few remaining sources of local journalism. Researchers have classified many rural areas as “news deserts” due to the decline of local newspapers and commercial outlets. Public broadcasters have filled that gap in many communities by providing access to local news coverage, educational content, and emergency alerts.
Those stations may seek new funding from state governments or private donors, but these solutions are not likely to fully replace the funding CPB provided.
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-...
Hold the good news on the Ohio Gov.'s veto of legislation to ban LGBTQ+ books in public libraries. *sigh* It would be nice if people actually read the books and thought about what they're actually saying. Ohio GOP lawmakers eye override of budget veto to restrict LGBTQ+ library books
https://www.nbc4i.com/news/politics/o...
South CarolinaThe NAACP has filed a lawsuit over a provision in the budget related to classroom curriculum, arguing it censors educational content in classrooms.
https://abcnews4.com/news/state/its-u...
The legal action follows the statewide removal of an Advanced Placement African American Studies course and the censorship of books by Black authors.
...
Attorneys for the state argue that public school students do not have a constitutional right to receive specific information and that the AP course requires review due to its encouragement of certain racial perspectives.
They claim that without a recognized right, there is no harm.
The legal action follows the statewide removal of an Advanced Placement African American Studies course and the censorship of books by Black authors.
Charles McLaurin, an attorney for the NAACP, said, "The days are now numbered where if the course is not reinstated and the budget proviso is not enjoined by this court, if it’s taken and struck down by this court, students throughout the state including our student plaintiffs won't have access to the critical vital information that's in this course.
McLaurin contends that the budget proviso is unconstitutional and has deprived students of essential educational content for over a year.
He said, "It’s unconstitutional and it’s essentially trampled our student clients’ First Amendment rights.
Attorneys for the state argue that public school students do not have a constitutional right to receive specific information and that the AP course requires review due to its encouragement of certain racial perspectives.
They claim that without a recognized right, there is no harm.
Mary Wood, an English teacher at Chapin High School, expressed her concerns, saying,
I was upset and concerned, it felt insulting to my professionalism and relationship that I’ve developed with my students, but I think it’s really important to work against this proviso and try to make things better and education in South Carolina.
Wood noted that she had a book removed from her classroom and was instructed to revise her lesson plan.
She emphasized the importance of reinstating the course to prevent history from repeating itself.
Other teachers at Chapin High School echoed these sentiments, stating that the budget proviso impacts all educators in South Carolina.
...
The court has yet to announce when a ruling will be made.
Kelly Jensen of BookRiot reports "At least two Texas school districts have begun to develop their local parent groups who will decide which books are allowed in school libraries, per a new law. Pearland ISD is also prepping their pro-book banning, pro-parents make decisions, anti-librarians doing their jobs as skilled and educated professionals library policy."https://www.keranews.org/education/20...
North Texas school boards begin forming councils to recommend which books stay in libraries
Some North Texas school boards are beginning to discuss forming school library councils ahead of Senate Bill 13's Sept. 1 effective date.
North Texas school districts are beginning to plan for a new law that could ban books on the recommendation of some parents.
Called a “parental rights” bill, Senate Bill 13 says districts can create a school library council that would be responsible for recommending which books can enter a school library, and which need to be removed. Signed into law after the recent regular session, it goes into effect Sept. 1.
Both Coppell ISD and Grand Prairie ISD are set to discuss at their meetings Monday night the steps they’re taking to establish their councils.
If a district doesn’t opt to form a council, parents can petition trustees to create one. It would take 10% of a district’s enrolled students - or 50 parents total, whichever is fewer - to force creation of a SLAC.
SB13 also lets parents know which books their child checks out of the library and allows them to prevent their kids from reading certain titles.
Critics said SB13 takes library book purchases out of the hands of librarians and educators, and into those of trustees and their chosen members. The majority of voting council members must be parents with students enrolled in the school.
This handful of parents that are handpicked get to then have the final say on the books that can be in school libraries,” Laney Hawes, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, told KERA News in March. “It is going to be devastating for a lot of districts.”
But proponents of the bill, authored by McKinney Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, say it gives parents the power to control and approve what their children read.
In a statement earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement the bill keeps “s--ual content” and “woke ideologies” out of school libraries.
...
Once established, the councils would meet at least twice a year.
Pearland ISD board of trustees approve policy for library materials
https://communityimpact.com/houston/p...
Pearland ISD’s board of trustees approved at its July 22 meeting a new policy that changes how the district chooses and reviews books and learning materials.
Key updates in this policy—which are also from new state bills—include more parental rights, new procedures for public challenges and appeals, required board approval for certain materials and additional transparency provisions, according to board agenda documents.
The new policy, also known as Policy EFB (LOCAL), is driven by Senate Bill 13, which passed in the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023, and expands parental rights to review and question instructional materials used in the district, district documents note.
The proposed policy also includes House Bill 900, which passed in the 88th Texas Legislature but was blocked by a federal court just before taking effect in 2023 due to “unconstitutionally vague standards,” according to the Texas Library Association.
HB 900, also known as the READER Act, would regulate “s--ually explicit” and “s--ually relevant” materials in public school libraries by requiring library material vendors to rate and even recall books.
While the bill is currently blocked, the district is incorporating it alongside SB 13 for legal preparedness in case the bill goes into effect, according to district documents.
While PISD already had a policy for library materials, the updated version now allows any district resident—not just parents or employees—to challenge library content, according to district documents.
Other changes include the following:
Parents now gain expanded rights to submit lists of materials they wish to restrict their child from accessing.
Board approval is now required for all proposed or donated library materials after 30 days’ public notice.
Challenged materials are automatically restricted from all students during review.
The Texas Education Agency’s challenge form must be used and publicly posted on the district’s website.
See also Corpus Christi ISD (paywalled https://www.caller.com/story/news/edu...) and Celina ISD. (https://starlocalmedia.com/celinareco...) also paywalled
CaliforniaAnti-book ban state but Huntington Beach residents don't care.
https://laist.com/brief/news/politics...
... despite a special election last month in which voters rebuked the City Council’s conservative agenda for the public library system, controversies over Huntington Beach’s libraries ha[ve] put the city at the forefront of the so-called culture war battles taking place across the country.
“In reality, there's a lot of things going on still, even since the election, that we're concerned about,” said Carol Daus, a volunteer and former board member of the group Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library, “certain areas that, again, could be involving book censorship.” These include:
Conservative activists filing formal requests for library book reviews, effectively taking books off the shelf, potentially for months.
The continued exile — to an isolated shelf in the city’s main library — of some books about puberty and sexuality that used to be available in the children’s section.
The city’s still-existing resolution that restricts minors’ access to books deemed to have “sexual content,” a term that is debated.
[A special election is coming up and the library is worried about censorship.]
One of two measures on the ballot asked voters if they wanted to repeal a board of residents with the power to decide which children’s books are appropriate for the library.
...
a pending lawsuit from several Huntington Beach residents and civil rights organizations, including the ACLU. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 22.
...
In the June special election, a solid majority of Huntington Beach voters rejected the city’s efforts to exert greater control over the content and management of the libraries. Just over 58% voted to repeal the library review board. And an even greater margin, nearly 61%, voted to restrict the city’s ability to privatize the libraries.
The proudly all-MAGA City Council quietly accepted the results of the election at its meeting earlier this month. “The people have spoken,” Councilman Chad Williams, who campaigned against the ballot measures, said in a phone interview. He said the point of the book review committee was to give the community more say over which books are selected for the library.
But as of Friday morning, more than a month after the election, the city’s website had yet to be updated to fully reflect the election results. The review board is still listed on the city’s website as one of the official advisory bodies, and it has yet to be removed from the city’s municipal code, as called for in the ballot measure.
Plus, the library’s website still links to a collection development policy — guidelines to help librarians select and maintain library materials — that cites the powers of the repealed “Community Parent/Guardian Review Board” and contradicts the new selection policy adopted by voters in the special election. Although, as of last week, the website now notes that pursuant to the results of the election, the city is “reviewing the Collection Development Policy.”
The City Council’s establishment of the book review committee, by way of a resolution passed in 2023, was just one part of its efforts to restrict access for minors to certain library materials. The resolution also states: “No city library or other city facility shall allow children ready access to books and other materials that contain any content of a s--ual nature.” The question of what that means is very much alive.
The issue will be discussed when Judge Lindsey Martinez hears oral arguments in the lawsuit that seeks to overturn the s--ual content resolution. The plaintiffs argue the resolution violates California’s Freedom to Read Act. The law, which went into effect in January, was squarely aimed at Huntington Beach. The city argues that it’s not subject to the law because it’s a charter city, which gives it more independence from the state.
Currently, the central library maintains a shelf labeled “Youth Restricted Books Section” for books that librarians have moved out of the children’s section under an evolving set of criteria intended to comply with the s--ual content restrictions. The mostly empty shelf sits between an art gallery and a study area. Minors are not allowed to check out the books without a parent’s consent.
The library posted its most recent list of books restricted to that shelf in December 2024. The list has seven titles, including It’s So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families, first published in 1999, and It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, first published in 1994.
A recent visit by LAist found just two books on the restricted shelf, It’s Perfectly Normal and The Care and Keeping of You, a book published by the American Girl doll company. The latter is not on the library’s list of books with restricted access under the youth s---al content resolution, raising questions as to how and why it was on the restricted shelf.
Other books considered inappropriate by some City Council members and conservative activists have been completely removed from shelves while librarians review them. The review policy, which has existed for years, allows library patrons to lodge complaints about books and ask that they be recataloged or removed altogether.
Until recently, librarians had only received official complaints about a handful of books. But in recent years, dozens of complaints have been lodged, including from City Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark and Carla Strickland, president of the group Huntington Beach Republican Women and the wife of Tony Strickland, a state senator and former mayor. ...
In a social media post following the special election, the Huntington Beach Republican Women vowed to “never give up this fight to keep our children safe from sexualized content, both in our HB libraries and schools.” The group wrote that its members had challenged more than 40 books that “have no business being in our taxpayer funded libraries.”
...
The person who filed a complaint about The Big Bath House wrote that the content included “s--ual [how on earth? Did theey even READ IT?] and obscene themes.” The complaint included drawings from the book depicting naked women at a communal bath with penciled pubic hair and sketched outlines of breasts. [GASP! Yes female bodies!]
...
At least one copy of each challenged book ... is currently unavailable for check out at the central library while the books undergo evaluation. Those evaluations could take up to a year, according to the library’s collection development policy.
“ We see that as making books inaccessible to readers who want to read them,” said Daus, from Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library.
Khloe Rios-Wyatt, chief executive of the group Alianza Translatinx, one of the groups suing the city over the sexual content restrictions, told LAist the actions of city leaders and their allies are “a direct attack on LGBTQ people's ability to access library resources that are self-affirming.”
Proponents of Huntington Beach’s book restriction efforts have said their goal is to protect children from age-inappropriate s--ual content. When asked whether those efforts constitute censorship, Williams, a City Council member, said, “ I think that we all believe in censorship to some degree. And I guess the question is, where's that threshold?”
Williams cited the book Let’s Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human as one of the books he thinks should not be available to minors without parental permission. The book, which the library catalogues as young adult nonfiction, contains a discussion about p---graphy and advice on how to explore it ethically, including that you should pay for it.
“ I think that [voters] weren't aware that that's one of the things that they were voting on,” Williams said. He said if his critics feel like restricting access to a book “that instructs its readers, minors, to go and watch p--n and pay for p--n, if they think that that's censorship … I guess that's on them. I guess that's on each individual community member.”
Ada Palmer, a University of Chicago professor who studies the history of censorship, said the goals and effects of censorship go well beyond the obvious target. “What they're going for is the chilling effect, side effect of censorship,” she said.
For example, “if you have a big, scary, public ceremonial book burning of Harry Potter books … a nearby school librarian will be more conservative with what she orders for the school library. A young writer will be more conservative with what she puts in her book if she wants to get published, right? It makes other people self-censor,” Palmer said.
Another potential effect in Huntington Beach: Nearly a dozen librarians and other library staff members have left their jobs since the book controversies started. One librarian was let go days after the June special election, despite being promoted in January.
“Everybody who I know who left, left because of the City Council and the resolution,” said Melissa Ronning, the former principal librarian and one of the first to announce her resignation. ...
There’s evidence that conservative national leaders want to elevate Huntington Beach’s library debate to a bigger platform. Last week, a nonprofit law firm co-founded by Stephen Miller, a top White House aide to President Donald Trump, signed on to defend Huntington Beach against the lawsuit that seeks to block the city’s library book restrictions. It’s a high-profile ally for a city that has emerged as a conservative darling in the so-called culture wars.
Helmick, from the American Library Association, said librarians have a duty to provide a wide variety of material for all sectors of the population. “It is the responsibility of credentialed library staff to offer a wide and robust collection of information for the community to pursue,” Helmick said, and to let people “make their own determinations” about what books to read or not read.
Otherwise, Helmick said, “I am afraid we will have a generation that is afraid to think and afraid to reason on their own.”
In Nevada, two bills designed to protect libraries were passed by legislators but rejected by the governor.https://nevadacurrent.com/briefs/neva...
Assembly Bill 445 and Assembly Bill 416 were both Democratic-sponsored bills that received some bipartisan support. Both were vetoed by Lombardo.
AB416, playfully described as a “ban book bans” bill, would have prohibited school boards, school employees and volunteers from limiting access to library materials simply based on content. It would have created a formal process for challenging library materials.
The bill also would have made it a felony to use force, coercion or intimidation to attempt to prevent access to library materials.
Lombardo, in his veto letter, said the bill would remove “critical decision-making authority” from schools, districts and parents. He also raised the issue of constitutionality, writing that the bill may prohibit protected speech because it bans “retaliation” but doesn’t define what that is.
The second bill, AB445, sought to shield staff at public libraries, including at schools, from criminal or civil liability for providing access to or assisting patrons n accessing library materials, so long as they were acting “in good faith.”
Lombardo, in his veto letter, called the bill “untenable due to its vague and overly broad language” and said it undermines oversight by removing accountability.
PEN America documented 10,046 instances of book bans during the 2023-2024 school year, marking a substantial increase over the prior three years.
Their database includes no instances of book bans in Nevada. Still, public schools and libraries in the Silver State have seen public outcry for having books with depictions of s-x, LGBTQ characters, or people of color. Last summer, Washoe County School Board saw a coordinated flood of public comments urging trustees to remove certain books.
This year’s legislative session also saw a group of six Senate Republicans sponsor a bill that would have required every public school to establish and maintain a list of all print and digital materials available in the school library, as well as all instructional materials. While not included in EveryLibrary’s analysis, and not explicitly about banning books, such databases are typically designed to make it easier for groups to identify and challenge materials they do not agree with.
That proposal, Senate Bill 248, was never given a committee hearing, an unsurprising outcome given the Democrats’s control of the state Legislature.
Anti-book ban hero Summer Boismier, who lost her teaching license in Oklahoma several years ago when she presented her students the QR code to access Brooklyn Public Library’s digital card and ebook collections, says she'd do it again!https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/25/...
Fighting for my students’ right to read, I lost my teacher’s license. I’d risk it all again.
I told my students about a digital library card. The fallout put my career on hold and left me traumatized.
...
Until recently, I associated post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, with literal soldiers scarred by the hell of war. Yet I’ve spent most of the past decade not on the battlefield, but in the classroom. I’ve learned, however, that the majority of PTSD diagnoses do not in fact stem from past military service. Apparently, standing up for students’ right to read can leave its own scars.
Despite the deep personal and professional costs, it’s impossible to convey just how little remorse I have. None at all, really. Because not every battle worth fighting is winnable. Because sometimes “Paycheck or principle?” isn’t a rhetorical question.
We are living through a near-constant deluge of crises that are designed to make meaningful teaching and learning unsustainable and undesirable — from efforts to dismantle the Department of Education to the wholesale retraction of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, from book bans in PK-12 schools to ideological litmus tests imposed on American universities.
In this era of renewed threats to civil liberties coming out of the White House, the statehouse, and the courthouse, I’d challenge all teachers in the schoolhouse to ask themselves: What’s your QR code?
To teach is to take a stand. And just like teaching, taking a stand can look a lot of different ways, including:
Recommending a story to a student that speaks to them as they are.
Incorporating diverse voices and perspectives intentionally in lesson plans.
Affirming students’ identities through intentional language and identity-sustaining classroom culture.
Facilitating workshops for teachers on responding to educational gag orders and preserving access to diverse texts.
Bringing together educators, librarians, and community members for public events defending inclusive curriculums.
Documenting and reporting instances of censorship and/or policy overreach.
Sometimes, it can even look like resting, a radical act of resilience for the fight ahead.
Sickening. Kelly Jensen of BookRiot reports:
"South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is trying to get 17 states to ban “divisive” content from public schools. “Divisive” is, of course, anything not cisgender, heterosexual, white, able-bodied, and male-focused. South Carolina already leads the US in state-sanctioned book bans."
https://wach.com/news/local/ag-wilson...
Educational materials in school that are deemed "racially or sexually divisive" could be restricted in South Carolina public schools under a new brief launched Wednesday.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is leading the 17-state coalition to keep these materials from public schools.
The multi-state legal push, backed by attorneys general from across the South and Midwest, comes in response to a federal lawsuit filed by the South Carolina NAACP.
The plaintiffs argue that the law, passed as a budget proviso, violates their First Amendment rights by censoring materials that explore systemic racism, sexism, and inequality.
But Wilson and his counterparts say the law simply reinforces the state’s right to determine what is appropriate in the classroom.
Our schools are supposed to be places of learning and collaboration, not indoctrination into woke ideologies that assign blame or condemnation based on race or sex,” Attorney General Wilson said.
The case centers on a proviso passed by the South Carolina legislature prohibiting the use of state funds for teaching materials that suggest one race or sex is inherently superior to another, or that individuals are inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive due to their identity.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed this week, the 17 attorneys general argue that the law does not ban access to the contested material altogether, just its presence in public schools funded by taxpayers.
The coalition includes attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
Good.Eastport-South Manor district's disposal of controversial books questioned by NYCLU
https://archive.ph/Y3mAf#selection-35...
The New York Civil Liberties Union is questioning a Suffolk County school district's decision to get rid of hundreds of copies of 14 books, several of which have been the subject of recent bans elsewhere in the nation or contain themes of race and identity that have been controversial.
The Eastport-South Manor school board voted in July 2024 to declare "obsolete" the titles, including acclaimed literary works such as Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and Richard Wright’s “Black Boy.”
A district official told the NYCLU that those three titles continued to be in the district curriculum and that the copies were too damaged to be used in school, according to documents provided by the civil rights organization. It was unclear from his letter whether the rest of the titles also continued to be in the curriculum.
Documents obtained by the NYCLU suggested the disposed copies have not been replaced and that most of the 14 titles have not appeared in the syllabus for the district’s English and social studies classes in its junior-senior high school since 2019.
"The unexplained disposal of widely recognized works written by and about people of color sends a deeply troubling message to students and community members alike," the NYCLU wrote in a letter to district officials dated July 21.
...
The Eastport-South Manor district, located in Manorville and Eastport, educated more than 2,700 students in the 2023-24 school year, including about 450 Hispanic students and roughly 50 Black students, according to state data.
At least half of the books on the district's “obsolete” list were titles that have been the subject of book bans or deal with themes commonly targeted for ideological reasons across the country, said Emma Hulse, education counsel for the NYCLU, based in Manhattan.
The “obsolete” list of 14 titles included 11 literary works, a dictionary for children, a writing handbook and a literature textbook. At least four out of the 11 were on PEN America's index of book bans from 2023-2024. “The Bluest Eye,” for example, is among the most commonly banned books in the country, according to PEN America. “Song of Solomon,” “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Go Ask Alice" have also been the subject of bans.
Wright’s memoir “Black Boy” and “Things Fall Apart,” a novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, deal with themes of race and colonialism. “Inherit the Wind" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, an American play based on a 1925 trial in which a teacher in the South was tried for teaching evolution, was historically controversial, Hulse said.
....
Many book removals nationwide were triggered by challenges. Eastport-South Manor, however, did not produce any documents indicating challenges to the books on its list, according to the NYCLU, which had requested the information under the Freedom of Information Law.
Timothy Laube, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations, told the NYCLU in an October letter that “The Bluest Eye,” “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Black Boy” continued to be part of district curriculum, according to documents provided by the civil rights organization.
He wrote the district intended to amend its July 2024 resolution declaring the books obsolete to clarify which titles remain in the curriculum, and pass a separate resolution to “surplus” items that are no longer in good condition for use in school. It doesn’t appear such a resolution was since introduced or approved by the board, according to the NYCLU, which reviewed board agendas and minutes.
The civil liberties union said it also requested purchase orders and syllabi for English Language Arts and social studies classes for students in grades 7-12 since 2019. The documents the district produced revealed that only one title from the "obsolete" list — “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury — was included in a 10th-grade English class for the 2024-25 school year, the NYCLU said.
Bradbury’s novel was also the only title for which the district made a purchase of 150 copies. That purchase was made in June 2023, a year before the board approved the list, the NYCLU said.
The NYCLU is calling on the district to offer more transparency in its decision-making process and make clear whether the titles in question continue to be used in district schools.
“People have a right to know what young people are learning in school, particularly in this moment when so many books are being ideologically targeted,” Hulse said.
More censorship in another anti-book ban stateOregon
New library policy approved by Grants Pass School Board
https://kobi5.com/news/top-stories/ne...
The Grants Pass School Board approved of a new library policy after months of controversy when it came to discussing policy changes, with some concerned about censorship of books with LGBTQ themes, while others worried about inappropriate material being available to students.
The new policy was adopted Tuesday during a workshop meeting, with a 6-0 vote. As it stands, the new policy requires a 25-day waiting period where new books must be ‘listed prominently’ before students can get their hands on them.
It also bans books described as ‘obscene, pervasively vulgar, or p---graphic.’ [none of which are ever in libraries]
But before it goes into effect, the policy must be re-approved as the vote was described as a first reading.
MissouriOMG! These people! Be sure to read the bolded sections!
St. Joseph School board members share how they were targeted and harassed by a big-money, far-right Christian organization
https://missouriindependent.com/2025/...
Missouri foundation accused of fueling harassment against St. Joseph school board members
School board members say the Herzog Charitable Foundation, a Missouri-based organization dedicated to ‘advancing Christian education,’ has triggered scrutiny of their political beliefs and personal lives
In July 2023, LaTonya Williams, volunteer president of the school board in St. Joseph, Missouri, posted photos on her personal Facebook page of recent purchases from Target.
Among them were rainbow pillows and other colorful items she found in the dollar bin, intended for use at the Bartlett Center, a nonprofit providing child care and other social services where Williams works as executive director.
What seemed to be an innocuous post quickly became controversial among Facebook users in St. Joseph, a city of about 71,000 people an hour north of Kansas City. Some viewed it as a sign that Williams wanted to promote LGBTQ+ issues to children.
“This is the SJSD president showing exactly what she wants with the indoctrination of your children,” posted Kim Dragoo, a former school board candidate who was convicted of parading, demonstrating or picketing during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. Dragoo was pardoned by President Donald Trump in January.
In a chat for the Facebook group “We the people 3 schools,” [led by Dragoo] a user going by the name “Bryan” responded to Williams’ post, saying, “Just curious: Is tar and feathering a crime?”
...
Last year, the community joined many others across the U.S. in debating whether students should have access to certain books with mature, LGBTQ+ and anti-racist content.
But since 2023, Williams and her fellow school board member, Whitney Lanning, said, the discourse has risen to the level of what they feel is harassment. And they believe it’s been instigated by the Stanley M. Herzog Charitable Foundation, a multimillion-dollar organization based in Smithville, Missouri, with the goal of promoting Christian education in public schools.
...
Articles published in The Lion, a Herzog-run website, accused Williams, Lanning and the school district of violating Missouri law — accusations that were later repeated in an investigation by the state attorney general’s office.
Missouri lawmakers tried to remove funding for Lanning’s then-employer, social services organization the Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph, from the state budget. Lanning believes she was fired due to that controversy.
And people on Facebook have plotted to remove Williams and Lanning from the board, repeating talking points from Lion articles and frequently scrutinizing the women’s appearances and mannerisms.
Lanning and Williams said it’s an organized campaign to intimidate them because of their political beliefs. The two board members support LGBTQ+ rights and oppose book bans. They oppose spending public school funding on private or religious education.
“I think it is just about removing us and silencing us,” Williams said. “And then scaring other people into that silence.”
...
About 10,000 students attend schools in the St. Joseph district, about 64% of them non-Hispanic white... Of the district’s 22 elementary, middle and high schools, 10 receive extra funding from the federal government because they have a high percentage of low-income students.
...
St. Joseph is a community that some residents described as divided — economically and politically. Williams and Lanning are two of seven members elected to three-year terms on the volunteer school board.
Clashes and outbursts among school board members sometimes make the news...
Critics accused Williams and Lanning of being unfit to serve on the school board. But the two board members said their expressions of anger were a response to people insulting their families. And other residents said the women are well-known for their intelligence and their dedication to the community.
Williams was elected to the St. Joseph School Board in 2021 and was reelected in 2024 with 15% of votes — the highest among the 10 candidates running.
Williams told KCUR her approach to the school board is based not on partisan politics, but a desire to improve and support public education.
...
Lanning was elected to the school board in 2023 with nearly 18% of votes — the second-highest vote tally among the nine candidates in that election. She previously served as the executive director of the nonprofit Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph, or CAP St. Joe. Community members said she is a polarizing figure, but has a reputation for being a fiery and intelligent advocate who does extensive research.
Sharon Kosek, a retired teacher and administrator who worked in the St. Joseph district for 30 years, said she first met Lanning years ago, when community members were concerned about the environmental impact of a project near the location of a CAP St. Joe program for children.
...
The critics of Lanning and Williams are people and organizations committed to privatizing public schools, Lanning said.
“I think it’s what we stand for. And that’s public education and low-income kids and families specifically,” she said. ...
The Stanley M. Herzog Charitable Foundation was founded by St. Joseph businessman Stanley M. Herzog, who made his fortune in construction and transportation, and left hundreds of millions of dollars to his namesake foundation, with the mission of spreading Christian education. He died in 2019.
Another organization in his name, the Herzog Tomorrow Foundation, was founded in 2021 with the goal of distributing scholarships, mostly to K-12 private schools. Through a statewide program, people and businesses that donate to such scholarships can receive a tax credit equivalent to the donation amount.
The Herzog Charitable Foundation has since become a national player in education policy, advocating for school choice programs and for spending public dollars on Christian education. The foundation’s logo was featured prominently on the website for Project 2025, a policy platform serving as a model for President Donald Trump’s second administration.
The Charitable Foundation’s website describes its goals to promote Christian education.
“Herzog Foundation exists to catalyze and accelerate the development of quality Christ-centered K-12 education,” reads the website’s About page. “Our vision is for families and culture to flourish through quality Christian education.”
The foundation organizes events such as the annual Excellence in Christian Education Awards and teacher retreats at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Podcast episodes promoted on the foundation website include “Bringing Patriotism & Biblical Values Back to American Classrooms” and “The Poison Politics of Public School.”
Foundation president Darrell Jones is the former pastor of a St. Joseph church now called Grace Calvary Chapel, whose current leader attempted to unseat a gay pastor from the city’s volunteer library board in 2023.
That same year, the Missouri Independent reported that Herzog-related businesses, organizations and leaders had ties to many political action committees and politicians.
Herzog-affiliated businesses and foundations have deep pockets. The Herzog Charitable Foundation’s 2023 tax filings show that its revenues exceeded $8.5 million and its net assets equaled about $350 million. The Tomorrow Foundation took in $7.2 million and had about $2.7 million in net assets in 2024.
From 2015 to 2024, businesses associated with Herzog made nearly $6.4 million in donations to political candidates and political action committees in Missouri, most of them conservative or Republican. During the same 10-year period, individuals who listed a Herzog foundation or Herzog businesses as their employer donated nearly $770,000. That decade, federal records show the Herzog Contracting Corp. PAC spent more than $1 million.
In 2016, Herzog businesses donated $250,000 to Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s campaign and $650,000 to former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens’ campaign. In 2024, they donated $1.25 million to the American Dream PAC, which supports Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe.
Herzog-affiliated donations have also comprised a large percentage of the contributions to local politicians in and near St. Joseph and Buchanan County.
According to Missouri Ethics Commission records, in the leadup to his 2022 election as mayor of St. Joseph, John Josendale received nearly $84,000 in contributions, 39% of which came from current or former employees of Herzog-related businesses or from two PACs that receive money from Herzog businesses.
That same year, other city council members received a significant amount of campaign funds from current or former Herzog employees or related PACs.
Herzog is the country’s most visible group focused on Christian education, said Josh Cowen, a professor at Michigan State University and author of the book “The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.”
“It’s very well-networked with the state and the national Republican parties,” he said. “There’s not really a left-wing equivalent to that.”
In recent years, Cowen said, private school advocates across the U.S. have promoted policies that would award public dollars to private education in the form of vouchers. In Missouri and Kansas, Republicans have pushed to make it easier for parents to homeschool or send children to private schools. Similar efforts exist at the federal level.
Many politically active evangelical Christians see schools as the main battleground to spread their beliefs, Cowen said. And that’s why issues like transgender bathroom usage and LGBTQ+ books have become so prominent.
“The end goal is, if not the total elimination of public education, at least full funding for religious education that comes with no strings attached,” he said. “They would lament the fact that public schools are the centers of community, and they really want to go back to a world, in their view, where churches take that role.”
Many complaints about Williams and Lanning seem to be inspired by articles published by Herzog-funded website The Lion. The site has accused Williams of not having the proper licenses for her side businesses and highlighted the two members’ emotional outbursts.
...
The Lion has also published two allegations featured prominently in an investigation by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office. One major allegation: that Williams’ and Lanning’s nonprofit jobs and tenure on the school board constituted a conflict of interest. The other: that the district illegally campaigned in favor of a $20 million April 2024 bond issue to fund school improvements.
These two issues come up frequently in online criticisms of Lanning, Williams and the district. ...
Kimberly Dragoo was among several people to file complaints with the Missouri attorney general’s Consumer Protection division in 2024... alleg[ing] that Lanning’s and Williams’ service on the school board constituted a conflict of interest because of their day jobs working for local nonprofits.
The attorney general’s office initially responded to Dragoo and other complainants by saying that the issue was not a consumer comomplaint, and was therefore not in the office’s jurisdiction. ...[Complaints were sent] to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
In July 2024, however, even though he’d initially declined to act on the complaints, Bailey’s office announced an investigation into the St. Joseph district... [aligning] closely with issues raised by The Lion in April and May 2024...Herzog employees donated more than $25,000 to Bailey’s campaign in 2024.
..
Lanning and Williams both denied any conflict of interest.
Williams said the school district has not had any contracts with her employer, the Bartlett Center. Lanning said the district has two contracts with CAP St. Joe: a $1-per-year lease for an office and an agreement allowing the organization to use some district offices.
Lanning said the lease came up for renewal in May 2025, but she recused herself from the vote. Both Lanning and Williams abstained from voting on the second agreement when it came up for review.
...
As long as Williams and Lanning abstain from voting on issues relating to their respective nonprofit work, it does not constitute a conflict of interest with their school board service, according to Arthur Benson, a Kansas City attorney well known for his work on issues in education. ...
“It’s important for the vitality of public education that you have a wide cross section of people interested to serve,” Benson said. “School boards often have people who have connections to education.”
In February, the Missouri Ethics Commission ruled that the St. Joseph School District and Superintendent Gabe Edgar violated Missouri law by using school email addresses to promote the bond issue during school hours. The commission fined the district and Edgar $1,000, but that will be reduced to $100 if the district does not commit any violations in the next two years.
The criticism of Lanning and Williams also reached the Missouri Legislature.
...In February, the Missouri Ethics Commission ruled that the St. Joseph School District and Superintendent Gabe Edgar violated Missouri law by using school email addresses to promote the bond issue during school hours. The commission fined the district and Edgar $1,000, but that will be reduced to $100 if the district does not commit any violations in the next two years.
The criticism of Lanning and Williams also reached the Missouri Legislature.
In March 2024, state Sens. Rusty Black and Tony Luetkemeyer, both Republicans representing the St. Joseph area, called for Lanning to resign from her job at CAP, following her fight with fellow board member Garcia and subsequent charge of harassment.
Later that spring, the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee, on which Black serves, proposed eliminating funding for the Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph, Lanning’s employer at the time, from the state budget.
“No funds shall be expended to any community action partnership that provides assistance for low-income individuals and families, located in any city with more than seventy-one thousand but fewer than seventy-nine thousand inhabitants,” reads the proposal.
Lanning told local media that it would cost CAP St. Joe more than $3 million, or about 30%, of its funding. The defunding proposal didn’t end up in the state’s final budget.
... in an interview last summer with a St. Joseph radio station, Luetkemeyer denied involvement in trying to delete the organization’s funding and said he worked to reinstate it when he learned of the change.
According to Missouri Ethics Commission records, Black and Luetkemeyer are frequent recipients of Herzog-affiliated political donations. ...
CAP St. Joe did not respond to a request for comment. But Lanning said she believes the legislative controversy resulted in her losing her job as the organization’s executive director that year.
...
Elizabeth Roberts, the Herzog Charitable Foundation’s spokesperson, told KCUR in an email that Lanning’s and Williams’ allegations that Herzog is harassing them are inaccurate.
“Any suggestion that our mission or news coverage has negatively affected public education in St. Joseph is a baseless deflection,” she said. “One can only assume that this misplaced blame and anger arises from discomfort with the inevitable shift away from a single-option education system in the St. Joseph community.”
Roberts added, “Bottom line, The Lion reports the news and the facts. Discomfort with those facts does not equate to ‘harassment.’”
Still, the attorney general’s investigation and the critical articles have focused an unusual amount of attention on St. Joseph. For Williams, Lanning and their supporters, tales of Herzog and its influence haunt any attempts to participate in public life and political discourse.
Lanning and Williams said The Lion’s articles have influenced members of the public to harass the school board members online.
Many negative comments have been posted in one private Facebook group, “We the people 3 schools,...
Williams said Facebook commenters have mocked her medical debt and chronic medical conditions....
One commenter posted a fake text conversation between the two school board members. Some made plans to depose Lanning and Williams from the school board, encouraging each other to send letters to local officials calling for their removal. Others mocked their appearances or implied they were drinking alcohol out of their coffee cups at school board meetings.
...
Facebook users often criticized Lanning and Williams’ political beliefs.
“[Lanning is] part of the poison on the school board, with her bff Latonya,” wrote a user named Shannon Webb on a post on the public Facebook page. “It’s about caring for the children in our community and making sure they are not subjected to the sick perverted ideals of the Left. Latonya and Whitney are doing everything they can to do just that.”
Williams and Lanning said the controversy has cast a shadow over their relationships with their neighbors. They wonder which friendly faces they see in public are secretly attacking them online. And they said their children have trouble trusting others.
“I think I spend a lot of my time just either numb or in shock because it is just so unbelievable,” Williams said. “If I really, really focus on it, on the attacks and everything, I mean, I think I’m going to lose my mind.”
For now, Lanning and Williams continue to serve on the St. Joseph School Board. Williams handily won reelection last year. Lanning’s term isn’t over until 2026, and she hasn’t yet decided whether she’ll run again.
After being unemployed for a few months, Lanning got a new job at regional planning commission Mo-Kan, one that she says she also lost earlier this year due to criticism from local politicians. Mo-Kan did not respond to requests for comment.
Williams continues to work for the Bartlett Center and says the city is now scrutinizing its lease agreements with her organization — she blames the negative attention from the Herzog Foundation.
Throughout it all, Williams and Lanning said they feel like they have had to suffer in silence — or face negative consequences. They’ve been told their experiences don’t count as harassment because they’re public officials.
“I’m not supposed to mention it or get mad about it, or make a comment about it, or make a reply to that individual about the treatment, or I’m looked at as unprofessional,” Wililams said.
“Somebody said, well, this is what you signed up for,” Lanning said. “And I’m like, I absolutely did not.”
https://missouriindependent.com/2025/...
OK students, time to follow the advice given by Manybooks and practice civil disobedience!Updated guidance on banned books in Utah schools: you own it, you can bring it
https://www.kuer.org/education/2025-0...
This school year, Utah students can once again bring their personal copies of banned books to campus. The updated guidance is a reversal of the Utah State Board of Education’s previous interpretation of the law. However, students still can’t use these books for class assignments.
There are currently 18 books banned statewide under a 2024 state law. Titles are added to the list if three school districts, or two districts and five charter schools, deem the book “objective sensitive material,” meaning they think it meets the definition of “pornographic or indecent” as laid out in state code. Individual districts and schools also have their own lists of titles they’ve removed under the broader category of "sensitive material.”
Go get 'em Michigan ALA!Michigan Library Association launches "freedom to read" petition
https://www.michiganpublic.org/politi...
The Michigan Library Association is circulating a petition asking Governor Gretchen Whitmer and state lawmakers to do more to protect public libraries.
Since 2021, Michigan libraries have “confronted an unprecedented rise in coordinated attempts to ban books, restrict access to ideas, and undermine a core tenet of public libraries: to serve everyone, without bias or exclusion,” the petition reads.
“These attacks undermine the foundational role that Michigan public libraries play in every community and threaten everyone’s freedom and right to read and access information.”
But Dillon Geshel, interim director of the Michigan Library Association, said despite that reality, recent polling data show the vast majority of people in the state reject those efforts. The MLA commissioned a polling firm to survey more than 800 Michigan residents on their attitudes toward libraries, censorship, and a “right to read.”
...
The MLA contends that outside efforts to control what type of content libraries can offer violate the First Amendment, and run counter to core beliefs that libraries are “spaces of free expression and knowledge for all.”
Geshel said that in most cases, these censorship attempts are driven by “very small groups, or even just one individual in a community, that's causing a big uproar on this issue. When we know from looking at the data that Michiganders support libraries and are opposed to censorship.”
Nonetheless, Geshel said the contentious environment is taking a toll on library workers. “There's pressures and demands on them to act in ways that are not in line with the value systems of libraries that we've seen since their inception in the United States,” he said.
Beyond asking state officials to take a strong stand against such efforts, the petition also asks that they “bolster public libraries’ ability to provide necessary resources during difficult times by increasing State Aid to Libraries in the next state budget.” It also urges lawmakers to increase funding for the Michigan eLibrary and statewide catalog--known respectively as MeL and MeLCat—which are at risk due to recent cuts at the federal level.
Geshel said the MLA hopes to gather at least 1,000 signatures, and submit the petition to Lansing during Library Appreciation Month in October.
PEN America files brief to support blocking law banning books from Iowa K-12 schoolshttps://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/...
A legal organization focused on freedom of expression filed a new legal brief Monday asking the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the injunction in place blocking Iowa’s ban on books that are not “age appropriate” from K-12 schools.
PEN America, a nonprofit focused on freedom of expression, filed the brief in support of the legal challenge mounted by publishers including Penguin Random House, the Iowa State Education Association and several authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green and Jodi Picoult. The plaintiffs are challenging Senate File 496, a 2023 Iowa law that prohibits books depicting s-x acts from being available in K-12 school libraries, as well as banning programs, materials and instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation for K-6 students.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher has ruled to block enforcement of multiple portions of the law, including the prohibition on books involving s--ual or LGBTQ+ content. But that injunction could be overturned by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, which had ruled in August 2024 that Locher’s “analysis” of the case was not correct and returned it to the district court.
PEN America argued in its brief for the appeals court to keep the latest injunction in place, saying the law “undermines public education systems in violation of the First Amendment by denying students’ rights to receive information, infringing on authors’ free speech rights, and misapplying the obscenity doctrine.”
“The law requires the removal of hundreds of books from public school libraries regardless of the age of the student reader or the books’ value as a whole — both of which considerations are required by the First Amendment,” the brief states.
Iowa public schools had removed 3,400 books from school shelves by the end of 2024, according to the Des Moines Register, including classic literature like “1984” by George Orwell, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. Many school districts have expressed uncertainty about what books can be available in schools under the law, as the Iowa Department of Education had declined to respond to advocates asking for more clarification about “age appropriate” materials as defined by SF 496.
Locher wrote the law “places the burden on local school districts and school officials to determine whether a book is permitted,” and that the measure was “facially unconstitutional” when looking at previous court precedents on First Amendment cases.
In the Monday court brief, PEN America staff attorney Elly Brinkley echoed these concerns, writing that laws that target any and all descriptions of s-x in literature have been “squarely condemned” by the U.S. courts in previous decisions, as it abridges students’ First Amendment rights to receive information.
Elly Brinkley, PEN America staff attorney, said in a statement: “This sweeping Iowa law robs young people of literary classics that have offered sustenance and meaning to generations of readers. These restrictions deprive Iowa students of books that help them understand the world in which we live. We cannot allow a vocal minority of censorship proponents (to) have the final say over what tens of thousands of students can read in school.”
In addition to the lawsuit filed by Penguin Random House, ISEA and authors, there is another challenge filed by Lambda Legal and ACLU of Iowa on behalf of students, teachers and the organization Iowa Safe Schools. The action is based on the law’s ban on books and material available in school libraries and classrooms, in addition to challenging the ban on “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through grade six.”
Locher ruled in May that parts of the law challenged by Lambda Legal and the ACLU are also unconstitutional, issuing an injunction in May ruling that K-6 students must be allowed to join Gender Sexuality Alliances (GSA) and other student groups related to LGBTQ+ identities and that school districts and teachers must be allowed to provide instruction and materials that contain references to gender identity and sexual orientation, though they cannot be focused on these topics.
Hurry up MI Gov.!Elsewhere in Michigan
Lapeer District Library Board as moved their board meeting from 5:30 pm on the third Thursday of the month to 10 am. Hmm? How on earth do these people have so much free time to spend on social media and then take over school board meetings? Don't they have jobs?
https://michiganadvance.com/2025/07/2...
Lapeer library board swaps meeting schedule amid concerns over book content restrictions
A Lapeer district library board’s snap decision to move its meeting schedule is being viewed as an attempt to evade the public after it faced criticism from activists who say the board is planning to censor content in its collection – and mostly books containing LGBTQ+ content and themes.
Members of the Lapeer District Library Board agreed to move their regular meeting time at its most recent meeting, from 5:30 p.m. to 10 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month.
The move has been viewed by some as a way to prevent community members from fighting against a rash of book challenges that began in 2023 and following the election of several members with conservative ideologies, who have come to hold a majority of seats on the nonpartisan board. Some of those members have ties to the book challenges in question.
The board first proposed the idea of changing its meeting location and time during its June meeting, with board member Carol Brown noting she is frequently late to a meeting she has scheduled after the library board meetings.
Vice Chair John DeAngelis raised issues with the board’s current meeting place, the Lapeer Center Building, saying the building had heating issues in the wintertime and leaked when it rained. He offered the American Legion Hall in Lapeer as an alternative, but noted that their current meeting time slot was unavailable due to a standing meeting at the hall every Thursday.
With the board’s treasurer Perry Valle raising concerns about transparency and board chair Kari Kohlman proposing the board look into alternative locations, the matter was tabled.
However, at the board’s July meeting, no alternative locations were discussed, with DeAngelis bringing a motion to move the board meeting to 10 a.m. at the American Legion.
Despite protest from Valle and board member Bonnie Lawrence, DeAngelis’ motion – and the promise of no leaks, air conditioning and heat in the winter – prevailed.
“I think that if you change the meetings to 10 o’clock in the morning, you’re stabbing the general public in the back,” Valle said, “I think that’s what your purpose is.”
Karen Braschayko, a member of Fight For the First Lapeer, which advocates against censorship within the library district, said the board’s argument about facilities issues was a thinly veiled attempt to reduce the crowd size at meetings.
“It’s just my personal belief that they are trying to keep people like me from going,” Braschayko said. “I won’t be able to go unless I take a morning off of work or a day off of work, really.”
While Secretary Peggy Brotzke noted there’s nothing to say the board cannot change the meeting time if they see a drop in public participation, Braschayko said there’s no reason to take the board at its word. She also said that Fight For the First Lapeer would continue to have a presence at the 10 a.m. meetings.
“We will find all of our retired friends or people with flexible schedules to show up at those meetings and speak, but it excludes people like me,” Braschayko said, noting that 84% of workers in the U.S. work a regular daytime schedule.
Community activists have been on high alert, pointing to a memo from the board’s former attorney, Anne Seurynck, examining potential strategies to keep minors from accessing certain books, including placing books in an adult’s section, or putting certain books behind glass or a circulation desk.
Though Seurynck advised against adopting any of the proposals warning they would place the library on “at best, shaky Constitutional ground” some members of the board have continued to look for ways to keep children from accessing books without running afoul of the law.
During a March meeting of the Lapeer Tea Party, attendees asked the board’s DeAngelis and Brotzke about efforts to limit children’s access to some books. While unable to offer specifics on potential restrictions, DeAngelis said the board would be working with its attorney. When asked for a timeline for potential options, he offered six months, emphasizing that the board was not looking to get sued.
In an interview with Michigan Advance on Wednesday, DeAngelis said the decision was ultimately based on the availability of board members and their attorney, the time conflict with the Young Marines at the American Legion and the issues with the facilities.
However, Lori Sawatzke, the building manager for the Lapeer Center Building, told the Michigan Advance she was never informed of any issues with the building.
“Kara [Haight], the [library’s] assistant director, she would come over every Thursday, the day of their meetings, and get the key from me,” Sawatzke said. “She never once said, ‘Hey, it’s cold in that room,’ or ‘It’s hot in that room.’ Nothing.”
When asked if he had any concerns about the change in meeting time affecting transparency or attendance, DeAngelis said no.
On members’ push to protect children from books members feel are inappropriate, DeAngelis said the board would follow the law where it takes them, emphasizing that they do not want to be sued.
“We’re not going to do anything like that unless it’s absolutely legal, above board,” DeAngelis said.
DeAngelis also expressed concerns that disputes with members of Fight For the First could lead to the board losing its millage.
Government transparency is important, especially when dealing with controversial matters, said Jay Kaplan, a longtime attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ project.
While Kaplan said the decision to change a meeting from the evening to the morning wouldn’t violate the Open Meetings Act, which governs public access to meetings, transparency and the ability for the public to respond to the board’s actions remains vital.
“The idea and the purpose of what some of these library board members are trying to do is to censor materials that they don’t like. That raises serious Constitutional concerns,” Kaplan said. “I would ask them if, indeed, they feel what they’re doing is above board. If there’s an effort to try to limit public input or public knowledge about what’s going on, what are they hiding from?”
No no no chuck out that idiot Walters. None of the parents want Christianity taught in public schools for various reasons. https://www.metroweekly.com/2025/07/o...
Oklahoma to Require Teachers to Pass Anti-Trans Ideological Test
Test developed with PragerU will screen teachers on "American exceptionalism" and rejecting transgender identity.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education, led by Superintendent Ryan Walters, [the one with the naughty videos on his computer during a meeting!] will require teachers moving to the state to pass an ideological assessment — including a refusal to recognize transgender identity as valid — in order to be certified, despite a statewide teacher shortage.
The test, being developed with the right-wing media group PragerU, will evaluate applicants’ knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, “American exceptionalism,” and “the fundamental biological differences between boys and girls.”
“We’re sending a clear message: Oklahoma’s schools will not be a haven for woke agendas pushed in places like California and New York,” Walters said in a statement. “If you want to teach here, you’d better know the Constitution, respect what makes America great, and understand basic biology. We’re raising a generation of patriots, not activists, and I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep leftist propaganda out of our classrooms.”
Walters did not specify which states, beyond California and New York, would trigger the testing requirement for incoming teachers.
Walters said the assessment will be implemented this fall, ahead of the 2025-2026 school year. But with classes starting next month and most staff already hired, the timing could disrupt schools’ staffing plans.
Teachers who fail the assessment will lose certification, forcing schools and districts to find replacements or rely on substitutes as a short-term solution — potentially creating more classroom disruptions.
Walters previously appointed PragerU co-founder Dennis Prager and other conservative activists, including Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, to an executive review committee tasked with overhauling the state’s social studies curriculum. A March draft of the new guidelines required high school students to be taught the debunked conspiracy theory that Democrats “stole” the 2020 presidential election.
Walters also appointed Chaya Raichik, creator of the right-wing Libs of TikTok account, to an advisory committee that decides which books will be banned or allowed in school libraries.
After the death of 16-year-old trans Oklahoman Nex Benedict, Walters blasted “radical leftists” who blamed his anti-LGBTQ policies for an altercation in a girls’ bathroom that left Benedict hospitalized. The incident was later cited as a possible factor in Benedict’s suicide. Walters accused his critics of pushing a “political agenda” and trying to “exploit” the tragedy for political gain.
In June, Walters ordered all Oklahoma school districts to add the Bible and the Ten Commandments to curricula for grades five through 12. His office reportedly spent $25,000 on 532 copies of a Trump-endorsed Bible and later sought $3 million to buy 55,000 more, arguing students should learn how Christian values shaped the nation. The Republican-led legislature ultimately denied the funding request.
MarylandHow a MAGA school board takeover roiled an Eastern Shore county
https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/ed...
They tried to get rid of librarians and fire the superintendent. The community pushed back.
Shortly after a MAGA-aligned majority took control of Somerset County’s school board in last year’s election, they got to work.
They passed a policy on what flags could be flown, attempted to usurp the superintendent’s decision-making power, and assumed control of decisions on which library books are purchased.
Then they came for the school librarians. And that was too much.
On a May night, dozens of parents and teachers waited for two hours while the school board met behind closed doors to discuss the school superintendent’s performance. When the board emerged, it quickly adjourned with no discussion.
Joe Hylton, a Black parent of three children and a truck driver, started filming board members as the meeting broke up, asking the questions on everyone’s mind. Why was the board proposing to cut every school librarian position? Why weren’t they willing to have a discussion with the public?
Board Chair Matthew Lankford, not happy with Hylton’s questions, called the police, saying there was an aggressive and threatening man outside the board offices. The incident — which Hylton recorded and felt was motivated by race — was resolved without arrests or charges. Lankford, who is White, is seen in the video walking to the back of his car, which had a Trump 2024 sticker.
The next day, rumors circulated on Facebook that the board had fired Superintendent Ava Tasker-Mitchell in the closed-door session. The board had not announced a decision on Tasker-Mitchell, but people had noticed that the superintendent had not been at school graduations.
Two days later, Tasker-Mitchell was back in her office, and word on the street was that she had been reinstated by the state school superintendent.
A MAGA-led board in a conservative Eastern Shore county axing its Black superintendent might not be surprising. But the reaction from the community was, with Black and white residents rallying in support of Tasker-Mitchell and the state education department stepping in on her behalf and scrutinizing the school board’s decisions.
There are now standing room-only crowds at school board meetings and teachers are wearing T-shirts that read “We bank with ATM,” a reference to Ava Tasker-Mitchell. The board is battling with both Black and white parents, and the county board of commissioners — including its three Republican members — have voiced their support for Tasker-Mitchell.
In the past two months, the Caucus of African American Leaders and the NAACP called a meeting for residents to discuss the issue. Such meetings are usually small, Clavon said, but that night the room was filled with residents — both Black and white. They wanted to help Tasker-Mitchell improve their schools and push back against Lankford.
The superintendent has two decades of experience in top-level administrative positions in school systems in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, and is just one year into the job. She is overseeing seven schools with 2,700 students.
When Tasker-Mitchell started her job, Lankford was turning up to board meetings voicing concerns. Few paid him attention, but he had the support of the Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition, a conservative advocacy group based in Salisbury with an active Facebook page that comments on Somerset County education.
Then Lankford and a conservative woman were elected to the five-person board in November 2024.
By February, they had begun their overhaul of school system policies and had ended its long-time relationship with an Annapolis-based attorney who represents several Maryland school systems.
In his place, they hired Marc and Gordana Schifanelli, the running mate of Donald Trump-endorsed 2022 Republican governor candidate Dan Cox. The Schifanellis’ practice had not included education law.
The Schifanellis had helped get more conservative members elected to the Queen Anne’s County school board and called for the the county’s first Black superintendent to resign. Eventually, she did leave and filed a discrimination complaint.
After the pandemic ignited a parent backlash to “take back the schools,” Schifanelli tried to build a movement in the Baltimore suburbs, where she held meetings with parents to describe how to overthrow the status quo. The efforts didn’t get many conservatives elected to school boards.
Now, she has landed in Somerset County.
Tasker-Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment, but she has not backed down in the face of criticism from the board.
In May, she filed a request to have the state school board remove Lankford, according to documents received in a public records request. There is no explanation in the documents about why Tasker-Mitchell is asking for Lankford’s removal.
During board meetings, Lankford has at times cut off the superintendent when she was speaking and chastised the county’s teachers. At a meeting several days after the parking lot encounter, he read a statement saying educators had spread rumors and conspiracies to “fire up and motivate the political base. ... The purpose was an attempt to intimidate and harass members with an organized ambush.”
The board, he said, would not be intimidated. “Spreading lies to the media, invading personal space, illegally recording board members outside of a meeting, perpetrating violence and civil disorder will not work,” he said. He said the board would “continue to remove DEI from our schools.”
Barbara Hicks, a teacher and vice president of the union representing Somerset County educators, said the changes have caused upheaval in the system. “There is uncertainty, anxiety, tension,” she said.
Now Tasker-Mitchell’s job hangs in the balance, but she has supporters at the local and state levels.
The Somerset County commissioners sided with her when the school board attempted to cut $1 million from the budget for librarians. County governments don’t usually give a school system more money than it asks for, but did so after Lankford said he didn’t want the funding.
The commissioners also sent the board a letter voicing its support for Tasker-Mitchell.
The Maryland State Board of Education, too, has extended a 60-day stay allowing Tasker-Mitchell to remain in her job until an appeal is heard.
And late last week, Maryland’s inspector general for education, Richard Henry, issued two reports, both questioning the legality of some of the Somerset school board’s decisions. First, Henry suggested that the state could withhold funds from the county’s schools if the school board failed to approve a new English curriculum by the end of August. The curriculum had been written and piloted over 18 months, but the board said it hadn’t vetted the books yet.
The state had found the existing curriculum substandard years ago.
In addition, Henry said the board may have violated state law and the guarantees of freedom of speech by passing a policy that transferred decisions over what books will be in the library from the librarians to the school board.
Tasker-Mitchell spent months listening to parents, teachers and students talk about what was working and what needed improving in a district that is one of the lowest-performing in the state, Claven said.
In a school system where more than half of the students are children of color, she said, the MAGA agenda isn’t going to be popular.
Joe Hylton, the parent, has become the most outspoken of the community leaders. He sees the attempted firing of the superintendent as a modern-day lynching, in the last Maryland county to record a lynching in 1933.
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Naval Academy Settles on Shorter List of Banned Books as Pentagon Panel Weighs Ultimate Decision
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2...
According to a list of the 21 books ultimately pulled from the shelves that was reviewed by Military.com, the titles all deal with affirmative action programs, diversity and discrimination, and the experiences of transgender people.
...
The Naval Academy began its review in March after top officials in the Pentagon ordered the academic institution to do so.
Leaders at the school didn't think they needed to remove any books since President Donald Trump's January executive order banning materials on diversity applied to kindergarten through 12th-grade schools that receive federal funding -- not colleges.
That effort has yielded a list of 596 banned titles at Defense Department schools around the world.
The Naval Academy's initial search had yielded a list of about 900 books that was eventually winnowed down to the 381 titles that were released in April by the Navy.
...
In May, the Pentagon created a temporary Academic Libraries Committee "consisting of knowledgeable leaders, educators and library professionals" from across the Defense Department who would work to help identify books for censorship and then help decide what to do with them once they were slated for a ban.
The official that spoke with Military.com to confirm details of this story said the ultimate fate of the 21 books identified by the academy was with this committee.
Military.com reached out to Pentagon officials with questions about the fate of the books removed by the Naval Academy, as well as questions about how many titles were removed from the other service academies, but did not receive a reply in time for publication.
According to the Pentagon's policy, all the military's war colleges and service academies were to "promptly" identify books on about 20 topics and set them aside by May 21.