Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
Alberta has become an international laughingstock and now they're planning to revise the book ban rule to exclude classics. Margaret Atwood has written a satirical short story.https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
https://bookriot.com/margaret-atwood-...
Kelly Jensen adds her thoughts:
"Of course, it isn’t the book the Conservatives had in mind. The examples given were LGBTQ+ books, not classics that are taught across the country. They want schools to see through the letter of the law to the intent, which is to censor the kinds of books they find dangerous or overly sexual—which usually means queer books. They just don’t want to have to spell out their bigotry explicitly."
Ira Wells, president of anti-censorship group PEN Canada, alls this the biggest book ban of its kind in Canada, saying,
“What the government of Alberta is doing here is book banning. It is literary censorship and we should use those words.
All parents — myself included — are concerned about the media that our children consume. We want to be sure that our children are consuming age-appropriate media.
But here we have a case where partisan politicians are taking it upon themselves to determine what our children should read. That’s a Rubicon that we don’t want to be crossing.”
Local B.C. authors are alarmed
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...
Blame for disastrous school book ban lies squarely with who issued the order
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/breakenridg...
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https://www.theguar..."
The great thing about the Atwood piece is that technically speaking, Alberta Nazis will not really be able to ban it since there is nothing sexually explicit.
I know one thing that if I had returned to Alberta after my university days and were teaching in Alberta, I would definitely be either fired or in jail since there is NO WAY I would accept either the "pronoun" rules or what books I can use with and for my students (and I would also be contacting both the premier and the education minister and be relentlessly insulting them and calling them COMMIE Stalinists, which would probably insult them much more than calling them Nazis).
I flipped through Handmaid's Tale the graphic novel to see what the fuss was about and it made my stomach turn but not for the reasons the censors say it's bad. I couldn't finish looking at it but I didn't see anything explicit in what I looked at. I saw breeding but no body parts and birthing which is normal and natural. That just shows they want to ban ideas and critical thinking more than sexual content. I finally got around to watching the Judy Blume documentary on Amazon Prime and the last segment talks about book banning. I heard Walter Cronkite's voice but the headlines were right from today's news- back in the 1980s. It's very scary and that's what dystopian novels like the Handmaid's Tale are about and why the right-wing censors want to ban them.
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Cannot say that I have any empathy and compassion for ICE agents as present, maybe I am wrong and being too extremist, but so what, and frankly the only ICE agents I would respect would be those willing to be whistle blowers and trash talk Donald Trump and company for their extremism.
Texas lost to all reasonState Rep. Hillary Hickland alleges that the Killeen Independent School District has inappropriate books on its shelves and names the books she believes need to be removed. She’s threatened to bring in law enforcement
thanks to Kelly Jensen of BookRiot for the archived story
https://archive.ph/kL9hF#selection-38...
Hickland, R-Belton, uploaded a statement to her official Facebook page in which she threatened to refer school districts to law enforcement and the Texas Education Agency if they refuse to comply with Senate Bill 412, passed in the 89th legislative session, which takes effect on Sept. 1.
“The core of the issue is protecting minors from obscenity, and the state law supports that,” Hickland said to KDH News on Monday. “This isn’t my opinion as a parent. This isn’t religious control. This is literally protecting minors from obscenity, and the state has a vested interest in protecting children.”
In the comment section of her post, Hickland shared several examples of books in KISD libraries. These include “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, “Damsel” by Elana K. Arnold, “Flamer” by Mike Curato, “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins, “Kiss Number 8” by Colleen AF Venable, “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas, “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, “Assassination Classroom” by Yusei Matsui and “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas.
Karen Rudolph, the district’s head spokeswoman, confirmed that each of the titles Hickland mentioned are indeed available in KISD.
“We plan to place the identified titles into the district’s established challenge process, which is designed to carefully review materials and ensure they are age-appropriate and aligned with district standards,” Rudolph stated to Herald on Wednesday.
Rudolph later stated that KISD has long included parents as active partners in their child’s education, including decisions about library book access.
“For more than a decade, families have been able to view library catalogs online and work directly with their child’s campus to restrict specific titles. The district also maintains a formal process for challenging books deemed inappropriate,” Rudolph stated. “In the near future, families will also have access to OnShelf by Bookmarked, an online tool that will make it easier to view available titles and directly select which books they do not want their child to check out.”
During the KISD board of trustees meeting on Tuesday evening, trustee Oliver Mintz and board Vice President Susan Jones both expressed concerns about student access to s--ually graphic material.
Jones said that she had learned of two s--ually graphic books available in KISD libraries, bringing up two of the titles Hickland referenced in her Facebook post.
She added that King Davis, the interim KISD superintendent, confirmed that two books, “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins and “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, were both available in high school libraries.
KISD’s library portal, Destiny, showed that the No. 1 New York Times bestselling novel “Tricks” is available at C.E. Ellison High School in Killeen.
According to Jones, these books do not match the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards, or TEKS, which, according to the Texas Education Agency’s website, are the state criteria for what students should know and be able to do.
“They have nothing to do with TEKS,” Jones said. “They do not align with TEKS in any nature, unless you want to teach kids how to have s-- or sell drugs. They are not high quality, they are not books I would have in my home, and they’re not books that I would think we have in the public library.”
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KISD library portal also indicated that “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas, another title Hickland referenced, is currently available at Rancier Middle School.
An excerpt from the book depicts a romantic encounter between Aelin and Rowan, two characters in the 693-page novel.
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During Tuesday’s meeting, trustees voted on proposed policy changes regarding KISD libraries. Trustees opted not to establish a local school library advisory council, which would grant parents the ability to recommend the removal of books from school libraries.
Senate Bill 13 from Texas’s 89th Legislative session requires the board to adopt a policy on acquiring library materials. Under the bill, libraries are allowed to make donated materials available only after the board approves the addition of the materials to school libraries.
SB 13 also gives school boards the right to establish a school library advisory council. Members of these board-appointed, parent-majority councils can make recommendations when adding materials to a school library catalog. They can also make recommendations regarding the removal of library materials following a challenge, as well as changes to policies and guidelines related to the library.
Although the establishment of an advisory council is optional, it becomes mandatory if at least 50 parents or community members in the KISD area sign a petition in favor of it. The committee cannot be abolished until the third anniversary of its establishment.
Tuesday’s meeting also featured a public forum before the trustees’ vote. Four lead librarians from across the district, who had also spoken during the previous meeting’s forum, addressed the board from the podium.
The librarians used their designated time to express concerns about the potential negative ramifications of establishing an advisory council.
“It is important to note that books in circulation are continuously monitored and when necessary, reevaluated, and relocated to more appropriate campuses,” Rebecca Fay, a lead librarian for KISD, said during the meeting.
Kelly Jensen also reports: "Clean Up Alabama, one of the state’s book-banning groups, is itching to get the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) to ban not just “trans” books from libraries statewide but any and all LGBTQ+ books. Recall that APLS provides funds to public libraries and will release funds only when libraries bow to their demands"https://www.alreporter.com/2025/09/03...
Clean Up Alabama calls for complete removal of LGBTQ books for youth
The public comment session is now open on an APLS rule that would deem transgender materials “inappropriate” for minors.
he public comment period is now open on proposed changes to the Alabama Public Library Service administrative code that would classify as inappropriate “material that promotes, encourages, or positively depicts transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders.”
Clean Up Alabama sent out an email to supporters this week encouraging them to begin submitting public comments in favor of the change, while also going beyond the scope of the rule change to include “sexual orientation” and support the complete removal of the books.
“As we suspected, many libraries took advantage of the vagueness of the term ‘inappropriate’ and have not removed or stopped purchasing inappropriate materials,” the email stated.
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A public hearing will be held on the matter at 10 a.m. on October 21 at the APLS office in Montgomery.
Kelly Jensen recommends "an excellent piece about how the right has manufactured all of its panics and has been extremely open about it. It follows from the panic around critical race theory to “pr0n” in school libraries to today’s trans athlete panic."https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/202...
2021: Rufo, CRT panic → national wave of school board takeovers.
2023: Moms for Liberty + Wilburn, “p---graphy” panic → school boards flipped.
2025: Heritage, Ziklag, Moms for Liberty → trans athlete panic.
It’s not organic, it’s franchised national outrage on a local level.
Pick a new villain. Inflate it into an existential threat. Distract exhausted parents. Harvest fear. Win elections. Repeat.
Has anyone seen a 2024-2025 sprocument yet? (Sprocument-a spreadsheet containing the PEN America Index of School Book Bans for a given academic year, only visible to me if I open it as a Word document. Self coined word that is a combination of ''spreadsheet'' and ''document''.)
Serena wrote: "Has anyone seen a 2024-2025 sprocument yet? (Sprocument-a spreadsheet containing the PEN America Index of School Book Bans for a given academic year, only visible to me if I open it as a Word doc..."
I already told you months ago they didn't release one. They were doing it at the end of the school year. The new school year JUST started. It's complicated because laws change, lawsuits are filed and books disappear or are never ordered. My lists are the most complete, possibly more than Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson
https://www.everylibraryinstitute.org...
Rule of thumb: if Google can't find it, it doesn't exist online. Rule of thumb #2: If the internet archive wayback machine can't find it, it never was archived if it was online but usually there would be a digital trail.
Good news in Huntington Beach, CaliforniaRemember, Calif. is an anti-book ban state
Judge rules against Huntington Beach in latest battle over library 'culture wars'
https://laist.com/news/politics/judge...
Yes the city that sheltered the Frank family WOULD recognize the parallels Amsterdam library exhibits books banned in Trump’s US
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/amst...
Good. Even if we don't agree with the ideas presented, the book needs to be included. Then THEY can't cry censorship, that the "other side of the story" isn't represented and fan the flames even more. Plus we need to know the argument against what it is we stand for before we can argue for it in the first place. ______________________________
Scotland’s national library in U-turn over exhibiting gender-critical book
Institution decides to readmit The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht to its centenary exhibition after outcry
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...
Scotland’s national library has reversed a decision not to include a gender-critical anthology featuring more than 30 female writers including JK Rowling and a number of MPs in its centenary exhibition.
The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht charts the campaign against the Scottish government’s controversial gender recognition laws. It had been nominated by a number of members of the public to be part of the institution’s Dear Library exhibition.
In the wake of “polarising” debates over trans rights, and after concerns were raised by the library’s LGBT+ staff network, it said it had decided not to include the book in the exhibition although it did still have the text in its reading rooms.
After an outcry over that decision, however, the library has said it will now include it.
“Concerned about the effect of the polarising public discourse around the subject matter, the library made the curatorial decision not to include the book in this exhibition,” it said in a statement on Thursday. “The library has since been subject to scrutiny regarding the decision.”
The U-turn comes after talks on Wednesday between the national librarian, Amina Shah; the chair of the National Library of Scotland board, Drummond Bone; and the book’s editors, Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn.
Shah and Bone apologised for not consulting the editors, the library said, adding that it had had further conversations with staff “and other exhibition stakeholders”.
Dalgety and Blackburn said: “On behalf of the women who contributed to the book, the people who nominated the book, and all our readers, we are delighted that The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht is now taking its rightful place in the Dear Library exhibition.
“We hope this is a turning point in public discourse in Scotland, particularly around sex and gender identity, but also other topics.
“We will not progress as a nation unless we are able to celebrate our pluralist society and discuss ideas and beliefs in a rational way.
And a video to go along with 47,000 Beads of an Indigenous New England person, Two-spirit powwow dancer Sherenté Harris, who, like the character in the story, grew up wanting to dance the fancy shawl dance and came out as Two Spirit to their family. An interview with Sherenté Harris, a Two Spirit pow-wow dancer on a documentary made on their journey. They got pushback from members of their own community when they decided they were going to do fancy shawl dancing. That's terribly sad and I'm glad their younger siblings have a positive role model and some great books to read about Two Spirit kids like their big sibling.
https://thepublicsradio.org/episode/b...
Their message to kids:
https://www.facebook.com/InTheKnowByA...
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Goodish news, since after an uproar and what premier Danielle Smith was calling (whiningly) "malicious compliance" in Edmonton, the book banning bill for school has been rewritten to now mean that books showing visual depictions of sex acts will be banned but not written descriptions (still do not agree, but this is certainly a tiny bit better, and I also hope that Alberta teachers and school boards keep fighting and keep leaking information about book bans etc. to the media).
Manybooks wrote: "https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...Goodish news, since after an uproar and what premier Danielle Smith was calling..."
Canada is sooo better than the United States.
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Goodish news, since after an uproar and what premier Danielle..."
Yes, but today's Alberta and Saskatchewan, their ruling politicians want to be like Trump (and rural areas definitely are into book banning and social conservatism a la Trump).
Manybooks wrote: "Ivonne wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...Goodish news, since after an uproar and what p..."
They revised the book ban act and it's STILL ridiculous. If they really cared what books were in the library, they'd actually, you know... READ THEM! There is ZERO chance any library- school or public - would have books explicit images. None. Not allowed. Also classical art like Michaelangelo's David is not "pr0n" either.
Here's the latest from the U.S. WHOSE prayers will be allowed? Will a Muslim student be allowed to pray when required? (My guess? No.) Laws are laws for a reason. A student being allowed to pray in private in reasonable. The school didn't say the student COULD NOT pray, just that they had to do it out of sight.
Trump says Department of Education will issue guidance about prayer in public schools
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-de...
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Goodish news, since after an..."
Oh yeah, it is still ridiculous but it is a bit better than before and for Alberta, even a bit of good news and revolt is positive.
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If South Korea and South Koreans feel betrayed by Trump and the ICE Gestapo, they should seriously consider talking their anger and frustration out on Americans living and working in South Korea. There are supposedly lots of American ESL instructors working illegally in South Korea (or working under the table and contrary to their visas) and it is in my opinion time for South Korea to hit back and to start checking on specifically American ESL teachers and very publicly arresting and deporting any that are doing anything even remotely illegal (and acting the same ways as ICE agents have been acting towards South Korean auto workers).
from Kelly Jensen at BookRiotWhy Would a County Evict Its Public Library Over $1?: Behind The Push to Decimate A Josephine County (OR) Library
https://bookriot.com/josephine-county...
Hint: local politicians have made baseless claims about the library to defund the institution.
Alabama is another lost cause. This is sickening. Let's be clear: there are several (a small amount compared to all the books in a library) of books written specifically for children, including picture books, where characters happen to have two moms or two dads or pictures show two women or two men and a baby. Some books show boys in dresses, nail polish, or positively portray LGBTQ+ kids as happy, healthy and loved. These books are NOT explicit in any way shape or form. Do these parents have to explain to their kids where babies come from every time they read a story with a mom and a dad? That's MORE explicit that explaining how adoption/surrogacy creates a family!https://www.al.com/news/2025/09/alaba...
Alabama libraries could stop children from seeing books that ‘positively depict’ transgender people
The Alabama Public Library Service filed a code change to the Legislative Service Agency on Aug. 29 that would effectively prohibit children and young adults from accessing any material that “positively depicts” transgender people.
That’s a more specific extension of current rules, which say libraries need to remove s--ually explicit and inappropriate content from children’s sections.
The updated state code would say that “any material that promotes, encourages, or positively depicts transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders” is inappropriate for children under 18. The code excludes books on religion, history, biology or human anatomy.
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Clean Up Alabama, whose website lists books they consider inappropriate, said on Facebook that they want the APLS to go a step further and remove LGBTQ and s--ually explicit books from libraries entirely and not just moved to the adult section.
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The advocacy group Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition said the proposed change ignores the lived experiences of transgender people and suggests that negative depictions are allowed.
“This would establish a clear political and ideological bias in public library collections: transphobia is okay, trans acceptance is not,” the group said in a statement to AL.com.
“They have written off transgender youth as disposable and unworthy of basic recognition as human beings.”
This is the second time a code change has been made regarding book selection for minors. The first was in March 2024 and stemmed from a directive from Gov. Kay Ivey to relocate books that were “s--ually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.”
Board member Amy Minton initially proposed the change in May because of the “What is a Woman?” law, which declares there are only two genders. President Donald Trump made a similar declaration in a Jan. 20 executive order.
“Does Alabama want to risk losing over 3 million dollars in federal funding currently going to our Alabama libraries?” Minton told AL.com in a statement.
Although anti-censorship organizations like PEN America and the American Library Association consider a book to be banned when it is removed or restricted, Minton insists Alabama’s efforts aren’t a ban. Millions of books are published annually, and libraries can’t accept them all.
“Selective censorship already occurs daily as librarians choose every day which books they will purchase,” Minton said.
Library advocacy group Read Freely Alabama told AL.com the APLS board is stacked with extremists trying to “censor our library collections and overstep its regulatory authority.”
“Controversial ideas are not prohibited for our youth to read under our Constitution, but the government is prohibited from telling parents which books they are permitted to read and expect to be present in age-appropriate sections,” the group said.
The APLS reported more than 100 books were challenged in Alabama public libraries in 2023. About 74% of the challenged books featured LGBTQ characters or themes.
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The public comment period lasts until Oct. 14. Comments can be hand delivered or mailed to the APLS.
*sigh* Scott Stuart isn't the only one writing LGBTQ+ themed picture books. Why pick on him? And who says someone who loves things "not for boys" is transgender or gay? It doesn't actually SAY that in the book!Donald Trump accuses Australian author Scott Stuart’s children’s book of ‘radical gender ideology’
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2...
US president says fifth-grade student forced to read aloud My Shadow Is Pink, a book about a boy who loves ‘things not for boys’
An Australian children’s author has fired back after Donald Trump singled out his book as promoting “radical gender ideology”.
The US president appeared onstage with a school student, who said he was forced to read My Shadow Is Pink by the Australian author and illustrator Scott Stuart
The book is about a boy who loves “things not for boys” such as princesses and fairies, and challenges gender stereotypes.
Trump introduced the 12-year-old student, who stood on a riser behind a podium at a Religious Liberty Commission event [censor of the day] and delivered a short speech.
Trump said that in 2024, when the boy was in fifth grade, he had been “forced to read a book to a Kindergarten student promoting a message of radical gender ideology that is contrary to his religious beliefs and ours”.
The boy said he was afraid when his family spoke up about it.
“The school treated us badly, and kids started bullying me and my brother because of our faith, and the school did nothing to stop it,” he said.
“I believe kids like me should be able to live our faith at school without being forced to go against what we believe. I hope no other family has to go through what mine did.”
Stuart responded in an online video, saying Trump was using his children’s books to further his own political agenda, and that the student who made the speech was being used as a pawn.
“The irony here is that they want acceptance for their beliefs, but not to extend that acceptance on to others,” the author said.
The My Shadow books are not about culture wars, but about helping kids be themselves without prejudice, according to Stuart, whosaid his inbox had been filled with messages of hate since the speech.
Stuart’s literary agent, Sarah McKenzie, also responded, stating online that she was proud of his “groundbreaking” picture book.
“When Trump and Fox News are angry, you know you’re doing something right,” she said.
“Pity the conservative right can’t grasp the simple and beautiful message about acceptance, equality and love.”
My Shadow Is Pink was published in 2020 and adapted by Stuart into a short film in 2022. A television series has also been optioned.
VirginiaRockingham County School Board bans 4 of final 6 books on book ban list
https://www.whsv.com/2025/09/08/rocki...
The Rockingham County School Board voted Monday night to remove four of the six remaining books that were under consideration to be banned from the district.
The books, which were already temporarily banned back in early 2024, have been reviewed by the district’s content review committee. On Monday, the committee proposed recommendations to the board to vote on during the regularly scheduled meeting.
According to the meeting agenda, the six books that were voted on Monday night were “Rage” by Jackie Morse Kessler, “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez, “Go Ask Alice” by Beatrice Sparks, “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, as well as Toni Morrison’s novels “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved.”
In a 4-1 vote, four of the books — “Rage,” “Out of Darkness,” “Go Ask Alice” and “Beloved” — were banned, citing sexual content. The other two books — “The Bluest Eye” and “Slaughterhouse-Five” — were deemed appropriate in a 5-0 vote and will return to shelves.
How are there any books left at the rate Florida is going?Hillsborough County School Board bans two more books amid ongoing debate
https://www.fox13news.com/news/hillsb...
At a Tuesday night meeting, Hillsborough County School Board members voted to remove "Blankets" and "Identical" from library shelves.
Both books were challenged by parents who argued the material was too explicit for students, citing profanity and sexual content. Board members voted unanimously in favor of removal.
Parents and community members opposed to the bans said the books provide important life lessons and reflect real experiences that students can relate to.
"Book banning is the beginning of the danger zone for authoritarianism," said one parent, who added that reading had helped her and her children navigate cycles of abuse.
Interactive Map Reveals Book Ban Hotspots and Nearby Little Free Library Locationshttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...
B.C. librarian says Alberta's book ban addresses problem that doesn't exist https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada...
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https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada......"
Exactly, or the problems exist only in the paranoid and silly minds of book banning parents, "special" interest groups and Alberta politicians.
Harford County book ban tests Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act https://www.thebanner.com/education/k...
Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act requires school systems to institute a process meant to prevent book bans.
But in the Baltimore area’s first test of the state’s law, a book still got banned — showing how empowered conservative parents remain.
The test case began with a Harford County parent calling in November 2024 for the removal of a young adult book from the school system’s middle and high school libraries.
The book at issue is “Flamer,” a graphic novel by Mike Curato, who wrote about his experience being bullied as a kid for being gay. One character in the book is inspired by his Harford County pen pal, he has said.
Following its new policy, the school district formed a committee of parents, students and school employees to review the book. They voted to keep it in libraries. However, the follow-up procedures that Harford also created as part of the new law allowed the parent to appeal that decision to the school board.
Behind closed doors in late June, board members sided with the parent, voting 5-3 to remove the book. Board President Aaron Poynton said the decision was based on what the district defines as age-appropriate material. The board followed an analysis process laid out not by the board, he added, but by school officials after community input.
“If they disagree with the board’s decision, they disagree with the procedures,” he said in an interview.
The Freedom to Read Act, signed by Gov. Wes Moore in April 2024, states that school libraries shouldn’t exclude books because of the author’s background or “because of a partisan, ideological or religious disapproval.” It requires each school system to create its own policy and procedures to review objections to library books.
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[Although Maryland is largely Democratic] Harford County, roughly 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, is home to Republican local leaders, including its county executive, sheriff and five of its seven county councilmembers.
Its 10-member school board is partly elected and partly selected by the county executive.
Poynton, the president, is among the members selected by County Executive Bob Cassilly. Poynton previously served on the national leadership team of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.
Poynton was one of the board members who voted to remove “Flamer.”
Booting the book from school libraries was a disappointment to Del. Dana Jones, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and author of the Freedom to Read Act.
“Unfortunately, the Harford County school board chose to ignore its own established, formal and carefully considered process, in favor of bending to the will of a small, but extremely vocal, minority hellbent on controlling what others may read,” Jones said in a statement.
Josh Michael, president of the state board of education, said Harford’s decision to remove the book has been appealed to the state board.
He said he could not comment pending that appeal.
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This is the first time the state board is considering an appeal to a book ban since the passage of Freedom to Read.
It’s not common for the state board to interfere with local school boards’ decisions; however, Maryland regulations say the state can step in if a local board’s decision is deemed “arbitrary, unreasonable, or illegal.”
Harford created its review committee last year. It consists of one teacher, one administrator, one librarian, two parents, two community members and two high school students, according to the HCPS website.
The committee’s first request for reconsideration came last November for “Flamer.”
Curato said the plot is inspired by his experience growing up and that he based a character on a Harford County pen pal whom he credits with helping him through difficult childhood moments. He dedicated the novel to her.
“It feels awful to think of ‘Flamer’ being banned there because there’s a special spot in my heart for it,” Curato said in a social media post.
Amy Streett, the parent who wanted it removed, said in the request for reconsideration that the book doesn’t meet community values and “plants seeds in the heads of children that are not only trying to find themselves but could also be experiencing mental health challenges.” [Yes that's the point... to help LGBTQ+ youth find themselves and be happy.]
Streett hadn’t yet read the book entirely, the review committee reported. ...
The initial review committee voted unanimously to keep the book in high schools, and 8-1 to keep it in middle schools.
Committee notes state that while the book references sexual acts and includes sexual language, it is not pervasively vulgar or obscene. It also has quality reviews and won awards, they wrote.
Superintendent Sean Bulson supported the decision, but Streett appealed it to Harford’s school board.
In her appeal, Streett lists age-appropriateness and lack of parental oversight, and claimed that the educational value students might receive from the book does not outweigh the harm it could cause.
The author states on his website that the recommended reading age is 14 and older, or with adult supervision.
The majority of Harford board members agreed with Streett, who learned in July that the book would be removed from school libraries.
Poynton said in an interview that the decision was based on what the procedure outlines as age appropriateness.
The school system “failed to critically evaluate the book on its age appropriateness, its extensive profanity, s--ual situations and demeaning observations of females,” the board’s letter to the parent stated.
Board members were most bothered by the book being in middle school — but didn’t have the option to remove it only from those libraries, Poynton said.
He added that he hopes to change the review and appeal process and look for other solutions, such as requiring parent permission for some controversial books.
Last month, dozens — including some of the review committee members — protested outside the school board’s Bel Air headquarters, angry about the board’s decision.
“To have all of our work disregarded is disillusioning, especially behind closed doors,” said Jennifer Ralston, a retired librarian of 32 years who spent a week serving on the reconsideration committee to evaluate “Flamer.”
Khiyali Pillalamarri, a 2021 Aberdeen High School graduate, brought a copy of the book and said it was a great read about the realities of bullying, puberty and relating to peers.
A few counter-protesters were there. Cristina Lanocha of Jarrettsville and Chuck Hicks of Fallston ...
“There may be messages in that book that may be helpful, but there are books that can be helpful without being s--ually explicit,” Lanocha said.
One protester who taught in Harford schools for 18 years said she is concerned that some young people will feel as though they, too, aren’t welcome at the school.
“For the LGBTQ+ community, it’s not just a book, it’s a reflection of them,” said Chrystie Crawford-Smick, now president of the Harford County Education Association and a parent of a student at Harford County Public Schools.
Some better newsPunta Gorda Charlotte Library displays "banned books"
https://www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/arti...
The Punta Gorda Charlotte Library is displaying books like "The Great Gatsby," "Forrest Gump" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which have been challenged in schools across the country, as part of the American Library Association's Banned Books Week.
"This is a really ripe time of year for communities to be having conversations about how liberty doesn't defend itself," Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, said. "It really requires us to be active and engaged, and how all people have the right to read freely, think freely, speak freely, and pursue their libraries freely as an individual or as a family."
...
Patrick Eaton, president of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said, "Books are very important. I know even people who have their use have taken their lives in this current administration of politics. We can't be divided."
Not everyone agrees with the initiative. Jennifer Pippin from Moms for Liberty said, "Make the book, print the book, have the book in the adult section, but to have it in the presence of minor children, or if mom or dad are looking at a book and maybe have their backs turned to the children and one of these children grab this book, it would absolutely not be age-appropriate for a minor child."
The actual Banned Books Week is happening the first week of October. The display will stay up along with a competition for Punta Gorda's favorite banned book throughout September.
IllinoisQuincy Public Library to give away banned books at 'Freed Between the Lines' event Oct. 2 – Muddy River News
https://muddyrivernews.com/local-happ...
Manybooks wrote: "QNPoohBear wrote: "B.C. librarian says Alberta's book ban addresses problem that doesn't existhttps://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada......"
Exactly, or the problems exist only in the paranoid and silly minds of book banning parents, "special" interest groups and Alberta politicians.
."
Because the only thing they read is conspiracy theories on Facebook and not the actual books. It would be against the law in North America to have books in ANY library of the type they claim are there. ZERO. NONE. If they do have some adult oriented books in the public library, by patron request, they're either online or in the adult section.
(However, the law as written, will ban Gender Queer, which is the intent of the law).
They won't quit until they get an answer they want.Florida seeks court approval to remove books from schools
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/flori...
The state of Florida is fighting for the right to remove books from schools by appealing to the highest court in the land.
The state is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that declared a law removing books from schools as unconstitutional.
The 2023 law was declared unconstitutional earlier this year after a First Amendment lawsuit was filed last year. It was brought forward by parents, publishers and authors.
Las VegasCensorship concerns: CCSD principal’s email sparks fierce library book debate
An otherwise uneventful Clark County School Board meeting became a lightning rod for debate on censorship and literacy freedom Thursday evening as community members argued over a message sent by ....
PAYWALLED
summary from photos
High School principal Jessica Lovell [sent an] email encouraged administrators to use a Moms for Liberty website to determine which books to include in school libraries.
Kelly Jensen of BookRiot has some disturbing news to share:"This week, the IMLS announced their Freedom Trucks initiative. It is blatant propaganda."
https://bookriot.com/imls-freedom-tru...
The vice mayor of Cookeville has raised concerns about 17 books in the Putnam County Library.A Putnam County resident contacted the Herald-Citizen Friday concerned about books being potentially removed from the library, which houses a collection of approximately 70,000 print and 200,000-300,000 digital books.
We have received formal challenges for 18 total books, one of which is not in our collection, so 17 active items," Putnam County Library Director Kathryn Wisinger said in response to an email from the Herald-Citizen Friday. "All of the challenges were made by Vice Mayor Luke Eldridge. We have policies in place that dictate how we manage book challenges, and we are following the policy. All challenges go to the Director, not the Library Board of Trustees, unless the Director's decision is appealed by the complainant."
Eldridge said that he made the challenges to the books based on requests from citizens.
"I will tell you right now, I'm not trying to ban books," he said. "There are books with some explicit stuff that I'm just asking to put into the adult section, where they should belong. The biggest thing is, I want books to be where they're supposed to be."
Eldridge said the books he challenged need to be placed in age-appropriate areas.
"If parents want to then rent them out for their kids then so be it," he said. "But I do not believe they should be in the kids section or young adult section based on the material. That should be up to the parent to decide and not for a young kid innocently walking around to pull a book and accidentally pulling one with material such as some of these. I believe in the First Amendment that is why I am answering these questions. I feel I have the right to speak and bring awareness."
In an email Monday, Wisinger said that books would not be removed from the library.
"Broadly speaking, the decision has been made that we will not remove any books from the collection because we do not ban books," she said. "When an item is challenged, it does not necessarily mean the complainant wants the book removed. On the Request for Reconsideration form the last question addresses suggestions on action items. The response can vary from taking it out completely to moving the material into a different section. I have responded to a few of the requests I have most recently received, and my response has included moving a couple of the YA books to the adult section based on the mature themes found within the book. We simply don't ban books, although there's nothing simple about it."
Wisinger said that "publicly funded libraries have a responsibility to follow professional standards in selecting materials to meet the wide-ranging needs of everyone in the communities they serve.
"Book selections are made by and are the responsibility of professional librarians with advanced or specialized degrees in librarianship," she said. "As fully as possible, the collections should represent two (or more) sides of any given issue, particularly those currently the focus of ethical/moral/political dispute.
"The library encourages reading (particularly with young children), but does not endorse or encourage particular ideals or values," Wisinger said. "We promote reading, the selection of reading material is left to the individual."
Wisinger also noted that, "Parents are responsible for guiding their children's use of the library and its resources and services. We trust our parents to make those decisions for their children."
Eldridge said Monday that he does plan to have a discussion with the library board "regarding any book that has certain s--ual content that the library director feels they do not need to move. I plan to address some concerns about kids and the way the brain processes things in upcoming meetings or discussion. I have already voiced my concerns to the library director and she has been very good to work with on this matter. Again, I am not looking to ban books but like people have told me before 'we want transparency.' I believe this will give all citizens transparency to what is in the Library and then they can decide if they want to go to the Library or maybe they will pay close attention to what their kids are looking at while in the Library moving forward."
...
Follow-upLibrary board hears from public about book challenges
https://www.herald-citizen.com/news/l...
A debate over whether certain books in the Putnam County Library should be accessible to children and young adults appears to be heading toward a resolution, although the debate continues over what led to the challenge to begin with.
Although the issue was not on their agenda, members of the Putnam County Library Board spent more than an hour Tuesday night hearing from people concerned about what the library does — and does not — allow on its shelves.
As the meeting began, Library Director Kathryn Wisinger said she has been meeting with Cookeville Vice Mayor Luke Eldridge since June to discuss concerns about materials he thought were inappropriately available to younger readers....
“I will say that every single book that has s--ually explicit material has been, or will be, moved to the adult section,” she said. “That has always been and is the plan we have in place.”
Wisinger said “a lot of really great professional librarians on staff” will continue to review material.
“We’re working together to get a more expedient and efficient system to vet those materials before we put them on the shelf,” she said. “We have tens of thousands of books on the shelves at the Putnam County library. Millions of pages. So we’re going to work — the professional librarians — to figure out a more efficient system to make sure that we more appropriately place those types of material.”
Later in the meeting, Eldridge said that was his goal all along.
“I think certain books should be put in the adult section, and that’s all I’ve been asking,” he said. “I’m not looking to ban books, so I want you to know that that has been misquoted. I want you to know that is a falsehood that’s out there. There’s also a lie that’s been going around that I’ve been asking for Miss Kathryn to be fired. I have not done that. She has been great to work with.”
Eldridge and Wisinger also stressed that people can disagree without being disrespectful.
“The one thing we do agree on is that we’re respectful to one another,” Wisinger said. “We do not call names. We do not shout. We do not yell. We are here for professional dialogue.”
Eldridge added, “This is very touchy, no doubt, but we’ve also got to consider that we live in a community one with another.”
Eldridge said he, his family and his church have been “attacked on social media because of this.”
“So just be mindful that what we do say to one another … has a ripple effect,” he said. “And we can agree to disagree on things. All I did was ask that books be moved.”
What some of the more than two dozen people who spoke to the issue disagreed on was whether the books were being challenged because of explicit content or because they dealt with LGBTQIA issues.
“The items listed for complaint today are all geared toward a specific class of people,” said Stacye Choate. “And if the folks who hate gay, lesbian and transgender people would open their hearts, I know a lot of folks who are … good human beings who do a lot for our community.”
Brenda Martin disagreed with Choate.
“I grew up with a lot of friends who are gay,” she said. “I had them attend our wedding, my kids grew up with them. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the words in the books for a 12-year-old. I have a 15-year-old grandson that I would not ever want to read that book.”
Jill Horner added, “I’ve got this book called ‘Damsel.’ I’m not going to read it. It is in the young adult section as we speak today. It has nothing to do with LGBTQ. It’s just erotica.”
David Funk, on the other hand, did read an erotic section from a book that (view spoiler)
“It’s rampant in our library,” he said. “I looked up ‘gay children’s books’ in the library on y’all’s website. Ninety-eight books came up.” [GASP! 98! Out of HOW MANY THOUSANDS of volumes?]
Cookeville city councilman Ali Bagci said he supports the effort to come up with a solution that will satisfy all parties.
“I feel there is a solution,” he said. “Not banning books. No one’s asking for the banning of books, but [that] they be appropriately placed where everyone who wants them still has access, but parents actually have the ability to filter that content.”
At least three self-identified members of Cookeville's LGBTQIA community said that restricting teens from accessing books about sexuality is not a good idea.
“Books save lives,” said Sara Kruszka. “When I was a teenager, I learned about different people through books. I learned about people who lived lives I would never understand, but I also found myself. When I was a kid growing up gay — even in Michigan which is a lot safer than this area, trust me — discovering people in books who had feelings the way I did changed my life. It meant I was not broken. I was not damaged. I did not deserve to go to hell and I didn’t have to die.”
Annabelle Dempsey expressed a similar sentiment.
“When I was a kid, I grew up feeling broken because I didn’t see any LGBTQ+ representation,” Dempsey said. “I had all these different feelings. Complex feelings about my gender, complex feelings later on about sexuality, but everywhere, I saw representations that were completely different from the way I felt. So these kind of [books] would have meant the world to me as a kid. I think that’s why it’s important that these books aren’t moved.”
Board vice chair Bryan Payne thanked those who attended the meeting for mostly maintaining civility, while pointing out that decisions on challenges are left up to the library director and only come to the board if the complainant wants to appeal the director’s decision.
More news from BookRiot's Literary Activism newsletter‘This is how it starts’: Michigan activists unite to push back against far-right censorship
Activists warn of growing efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ content, rewrite library policy, and silence dissent at public meetings.
https://michiganadvance.com/2025/09/0...
MontanaAs local governments struggle with budgets, they discover libraries, museums as new revenue sources
Great Falls took money from the library to fund public safety; Yellowstone County does the same with Yellowstone Art Museum
https://dailymontanan.com/2025/09/04/...
Who Is Lori the Librarian, The New Idol of The Book Banners?Book banners have created a new superhero for their campaign. Her powers? Bigotry, cruelty, and vandalism.
...
Lori the Librarian is a superhero. Her power? Defeating the so-called evils out to influence and indoctrinate “our” children.
https://buttondown.com/wellsourced/ar...
ArizonaThese sex-ed books were removed from kids' sections at metro Phoenix libraries
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...
After outcry from conservative activists and Christian parental rights' groups, Maricopa County relocated kids' sex-ed books to the tops of shelves in adult non-fiction section at 12 of its 14 Valley libraries.
The change affects more than 50 titles and nearly 240 individual books, many focused on puberty. It's one of multiple changes happening at the county libraries.
In May, the county launched a "parental control" pilot program that allows parents to place restrictions on certain titles their kids can check out. In June, the county said it was considering a new rule banning kids under 12 in libraries without a guardian, and "software solutions" that would allow parents to restrict their kids' access to entire categories of books. It's unclear how the technology would work.
The complaints have focused on illustrations depicting sex and discussions of gender identity, but complaints also were lodged against books that depict violence or drug and alcohol use. Several of the books "activists" objected to are not included in the list of relocated books.
IndianaGarrett-Keyser-Butler school board votes to ban 6 books
https://www.wane.com/top-stories/garr...
[Adult classics]
... Those books were removed because of either explicit or implied s--ual content.
All but one board member voted in favor of removing the books from the list. The member who voted against their removal was Dottie Fuentes. Fuentes said she didn’t believe it was the board’s responsibility to remove books from the list, but rather leave the decision of whether or not students can read them to parents.
“We are not trained teachers,” Fuentes said. “We are here to say that this is the list that the trained teachers have given to us, and we want those books to go through the legal process, right? That’s what we are here to discuss.”
Fuentes said that she wouldn’t like a board member deciding what her kids could and could not learn. She also said they would still be following the law by allowing parents to give consent for their children to read these books.
“I don’t know [why] a school board member who has different moral choices, different moral values, [can say] what my children will and will not learn,” Fuentes said. “I don’t want that. And so I’m going to protect the freedom of that.”
***CORRECTION: The above video states the district considered HB 1447 while making the decision. The primary law they were concerned with was instead SEA 442, Instruction Concerning Human Sexuality, which became law in 2025.***
VirginiaRockingham County removes four books from its libraries
https://www.dnronline.com/news/educat...
Classics
The Rockingham County School Board has officially finished reviewing its list of 57 temporarily removed books after voting on the status of the final six books on the list at a Monday night school board meeting.
The board voted to remove four of the books from school library shelves in the county, including three that the school division’s Content Review Committee deemed “literary classics,” but voted unanimously to retain two other books.
The books “Go Ask Alice” by Anonymous, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, and “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Perez were all voted 4-1 to be removed from schools, with board member Jackie Lohr casting the dissenting vote. All three books were deemed “classics” with “transcendent literary value” by the CRC and recommended to be retained.
Another book not considered a classic but was still recommended to be retained by the Content Review Committee was “Rage” by Jackie Morse Kessler, which is the second book in a young adult series. The board also voted 4-1 to remove this book from schools, with Lohr again casting the dissenting vote in favor of retaining it.
School board member Hollie Cave made the motion to remove each of these books, citing specific page numbers on which she said s--ual content could be found.
Although the school board voted to remove “The Bluest Eye,” it chose to keep “Beloved,” which is also by Toni Morrison, along with “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut. Both “Beloved” and “Slaughterhouse Five” were deemed classics by the CRC. All five school board members voted to retain both of these books.
Although the board is now finished reviewing the original list of 57 books that were temporarily removed from school shelves in early 2024, more books could come up for a vote later on if parents, teachers, or librarians challenge them. School board member Matt Cross said he believes there are still more books currently sitting on shelves in school libraries that should be reviewed.
During the school board member comment period at the end of the meeting, Cross suggested that the board take another look at the content review policy to ensure they are also reviewing the sequels to books that have been removed.
“There are quite a few sequels to books we’ve removed that are still on our shelves,” Cross said. “Our policy doesn’t mention what happens to the sequels of these books; they’re just as bad as the books we removed.”
Cross also said he wants to find a way for parents to be able to challenge books without being “canceled by cancel culture,” saying that some parents who expressed concerns to him about books do not want to go on record asking for the books to be reviewed.
“There are quite a few books that parents would like to be challenged, but they’re afraid to challenge a book. They would like to find a way to challenge it without being blasted all over social media,” Cross said. “I’d like to find a way for parents to challenge a book without feeling like they’re going to be shamed for it.”
Afterwards, school board chair Sara Horst reflected on the process of reviewing the books, saying that, while she did not regret reviewing the books, she was sorry the board had removed 57 books before reviewing them, saying she does not want to be remembered as “a threat to education.”
“We kind of put the cart before the horse,” Horst said.
Horst said that the board should have received more feedback from teachers and librarians before temporarily removing the books, as about half of the books were returned to the shelves, making it unnecessary for them to be removed temporarily.
Horst said she wants the board to approach future policy decisions with “a little more care.”
“We’ve learned a lot over the past 18 months,” Horst said. “In hindsight, I think the process we used to remove 57 books, right out of the gate, was a hasty decision.”
This is nuts. How exactly do the mission and values of a nearly 150 year old institution contradict the Constitution? Doesn't it guarantee freedoms like the freedom to read? The ALA Bill of Rights was drafted as a response to fascism in Europe as the Nazi party came to power. Do these people REALLY want to be aligned with the Nazis?I belong to a similar organization and was a member of the DEI committee. It's about making the profession a welcoming space, opening up jobs to people who have historically been disadvantaged- say a candidate has strong leadership skills, lots of volunteer experience in a library but can't afford to go to library school- DEI means allowing them to interview for the job and giving them a chance based on their work experience. It means calling people by their preferred name and pronouns even if it doesn't make sense to YOU. It means at meetings checking for ADA accessibility in advance, asking for gender neutral bathrooms, a breastfeeding room and yes even a prayer room (the last meeting I attended was during Ramadan). It means calling out hate when you see it and making sure everyone is comfortable. It also means - and the Library of Congress hasn't been great about keeping up with- classification of resources. Using the terms people use to describe themselves rather than outdated and harmful terminology. (i.e. Transgender people and not Transexuals or deviant behavior or mental illness). Any other librarians here who are ALA members can tell me if the ALA operates differently than the organizations I belong to.
Wyoming
Fremont County Library Board votes to remove ALA references from local library system policies, other documents
https://county10.com/fremont-county-l...
The Fremont County Library Board voted 4-1 last week to remove all references to the American Library Association from Fremont County Library System bylaws, policies, handbooks, strategic plans, promotions, posters, and other documents.
Library Board Member Marta Mossburg made the motion during a regular meeting Thursday, explaining that she drafted the proposal because the ALA’s “mission, priorities, and values contradict the U.S. Constitution, Wyoming State Statutes, and Fremont County community standards.”
She referred specifically to a recent Executive Order from U.S. President Donald Trump asking the Secretary of Education to “hold accountable” any accrediting agencies that require “institutions seeking accreditation to engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives.”
The ALA’s 2023 Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Library and Information Studies “infuse concepts of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion throughout,” according to the ALA website.
“The values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice are referenced throughout the Standards because of their importance when framing goals and objectives, designing curricula, selecting and retaining faculty and students, and allocating resources,” the standards state.
Mossburg said those “diversity mandates – which require (ALA-accredited) institutions to discriminate on the basis of skin color and gender – clearly violate the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College from 2023.”
“Unlike the ALA, we are required to uphold the U.S. Constitution and should not adopt policies and practices that disregard it,” she said.
At the state level, Mossburg pointed to Wyoming statutes that “clearly state that every library bathroom shall be designated for use exclusively by biological males or exclusively by biological females” and that “the state and its political subdivisions shall not compel or require an employee to refer to another employee using that employee’s preferred pronoun.”
The ALA, by contrast, promotes “unisex bathrooms,” the use of preferred pronouns, and “turning libraries into homeless shelters,” Mossburg said – “in fact, it won’t hold meetings in states like Wyoming that have so-called bathroom bills that limit patrons to using bathrooms that reflect their biological sex.”
Locally, Mossburg also pointed to the ALA’s support for “intellectual freedom for everyone, regardless of age,” which has “led to constant tension in the community regarding s--ually graphic material in the young adult section.”
“(The ALA) advocates that no library should seek to determine which books are s--ually explicit and leaves that determination solely to the court system,” she said. “It is against filtering computer systems for children, (and it) advocates against parental rights and for centralized control of libraries in the hands of so-called experts. …
“We should be accountable to the people of Fremont County – not a national organization who seeks to undermine parents and community members to implement its one-size-fits-all progressive goals.”
ALA training
Mossburg’s motion originally included an additional provision to “stop using any ALA training” within the FCLS, but she removed that phrase from her proposal after Board Member Perry Cook expressed concern that the move would limit access to educational resources for local library employees.
The ALA website offers “a huge number of” lessons in administration, leadership, advocacy, archives and records, management collection, and more, Cook pointed out.
By contrast, she said, organizations like the World Library Association – where Mossburg serves as a “team member” – provide library systems with policy guidance but don’t necessarily offer educational programming.
“It may be a good resource, (but) my feeling is … we should be looking at all sorts of resources,” Cook said. “What I expect us to do is to find places where we can get information on how to do collection management, or archives and records management. … Where can we go to give training to our employees, since we don’t have money for doing that? Where can we get good free training for them? Where can we get that kind of stuff?”
Board Member Karen Wetzel agreed that employees need education and training, but she said “it should be the right type of training,” from a group other than the ALA, which she described as “a partisan organization” that is run “almost like (a) dictatorship.”
“Everybody (that) has anything to do with the library … wants to follow exactly what the ALA says they should do,” Wetzel said.
FCLS Director Anita Marple pushed back on that assertion, however, noting that “the ALA is made up of individual librarians, and there isn’t a litmus test for membership – there is no oath you have to take.”
In fact, she said the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read Statement provide guidance for librarians to “keep libraries in general as places where you come in and there’s not a litmus test for your beliefs.”
“These (guidelines) keep us from getting political and developing bias, and that’s why we need them,” she said. “And I don’t think any particular configuration of a board for our library system should be deciding on whether or not we stick with these principles that are solid and have been tried and true for decades.”
The FCLS policy manual currently “affirms” the ALA Bill of Rights “as a guiding, non-binding document in providing library services” – but it also notes that “final policy decisions are the responsibility of the FCLS Library Board of Directors.”
“We’re not saying that they’re telling us what to do,” Cook said. “We’re saying (we) like this document, therefore we’re putting it in our manual.”
Instead of removing all of the ALA language from the policy manual, Cook suggested the board could work through the document and “pick and choose” which portions to discard – but Mossburg said she wasn’t interested in that option.
“I said my piece on this, (and) I’m not going to say any more,” Mossburg said. “I made my motion, and I would like it to be voted on.”
McClelland, Wetzel, Mossburg, and Board Member David Mossburg all voted in favor of the motion, while Cook offered the lone “no” vote.
“This is a bad step,” Marple said after the votes were cast. “This is regressive, and it is politically motivated. And I don’t think you’ve demonstrated any evidence that our library system has been politically influenced by the (ALA).”
She had made a similar comment earlier in the discussion when she asked the board, “What do you want to gain by doing this?”
“These are documents that keep our libraries from taking a political bias,” she said. “And I feel like, if you guys vote for this, you’re demonstrating your political bias – (and) I don’t think that you guys need to go there, because that’s not the purpose of this board.”
Wetzel disagreed that the vote was politically motivated, however, calling it a “common sense” decision, and Marta Mossburg pointed out that the Fremont County Commission recently appointed Wetzel to the Library Board knowing she was in favor of disassociating from the ALA.
“That doesn’t mean that’s the best for the library system,” Marple replied, asking the board to “be careful with what choices that you are making.”
Later, Board Chair Kristen McClelland said it’s the ALA that has become “quite politically charged” in recent years.
“(That’s) the whole point of the motion,” McClelland said. “I want the library to thrive non-politically. I want it to thrive as a community center. … I don’t see (anything) crashing down by pulling ALA language out.”
Marple noted that the Fremont County Attorney will have to review the board decision, and a public comment period will have to be provided before the motion is enacted.
Anyone in Colorado?DAVIS: School Board Races are Kicking Off. These are Some Districts to Watch.
https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/202...
...
Despite being a blue state, Colorado is home to an organized and well-funded coterie of school privatizers and profiteers who have spent the last decade perfecting a playbook for seizing and transforming local school districts. Some local activists are increasingly worried that the ultimate goal is to use one of Colorado’s school districts to trigger a Supreme Court case.
Some of the privatizers are in it for the tax cuts: a whittled-down public education system would save landowners plenty in property taxes, as they see it. The profiteers, meanwhile, want to capture as many public dollars as possible to line their own pockets, mostly via contracts with friendly charter schools. For others, it’s purely ideological: they do not believe the government should have any role in educating children. For many, the crusade to seize and transform the schools is based in an earnest – if completely off-base – belief that Democrats and teachers unions are already using the schools to indoctrinate children, giving conservatives permission to do the same.
...
This fall, they are going to try to do it again. In a handful of the state’s nearly 200 school districts, they have already recruited candidates, put plans in place to shuttle dark money into the small local races, and set their sights on the changes they hope to make immediately upon taking power. ... where they will focus their efforts this year.
With 179 districts in the state, it’s not possible ... to keep an eye on all of them. [Readers have helped by] identifying the municipalities which will be under the microscope this fall ...
The twelfth largest district in the state, with more than 22,000 students, Colorado Springs District 11 is firmly in the hands of conservative school reformers heading into the November election. Over the last two election cycles, and with encouragement from large amounts of anonymous dark money, voters in the district have shown a marked preference for candidates with a laser-like focus on culture war issues but little concern for student achievement.
... Its attendance and graduation rates are well below the state average, and its truancy rate is above average. Instead of focusing on remedying those problems, the board banned transgender students from athletics and dedicated a lot of time and effort to worrying about flags.
The district has also struggled with hiring and retaining high quality teachers, thanks to the board’s frequent antagonism towards the teachers’ union. ...
Academy School District 20, slightly larger but no less dominated by a specific kind of conservative majority. Like D-11, ASD20 has been under the thumb of the “parents’ rights” crowd since at least 2021, drawing the lion’s share of the district’s efforts into pointless crusades and avoidable controversies. Unlike D-11, though, ASD20’s academic performance has more or less withstood the onslaught of distractions. In fact, the Academy district’s graduation rate is about 21% higher than in neighboring D-11.
Despite maintaining academic performance, though, ASD20’s board has done itself no favors on the political front, wallowing as they have over the past two years in transphobia, conspiracy theories, and lawsuits against district parents. ... ASD20’s leaders have shown more interest in banning books and flags than in soothing the tensions roiling the district community.
Much of the tension has centered around board incumbent Derrick Willburn, who made his name as an activist supporting stolen election conspiracy theories and railing against “critical race theory.” In 2023, shortly before he was elected, the Colorado Times Recorder obtained transcripts of chat logs from a Discord server in which Willburn pushed to abolish or downgrade the district’s Gay Straight Trans Alliance (GSTA) clubs, and described transgender healthcare as a “death cult.”
While his passionate and often unhinged demeanor aided in getting Willburn elected, it has not been particularly well suited to the task of governance. When Willburn read s--ually explicit excerpts from books at a public event with children present – in an attempt to prove some point, no doubt – Willburn attracted the ire of district parents like Bernadette Guthrie, who took him to task publicly for the incident. With the help of former Woodland Park school board member, David Illingworth, Willburn then sued Guthrie for defamation. Legal proceedings are ongoing.
While Willburn has been a lightning rod for criticism, his views and votes have been very much in keeping with the rest of the board’s conservative majority. In fact, most of them were in the same Discord chats which CTR previously reported on.
Unlike in D-11, where the board incumbents are up against their own shoddy record on educating the district’s children, the outcome of the races in Academy District 20 seems more likely to hinge on the broader mood. School boards nationwide have been bogged down by drama like Willburn’s since the parents’ rights movement was astroturfed into existence in 2021. Many people, including many conservatives, have grown sick of the circus. But, very much like in D-11, a lot of dark money was spent to win these seats, and they likely won’t be surrendered without a fight.
Mesa Valley 51
Mesa Valley 51 was launched onto its current trajectory by the “parents’ rights” wave in the 2021 school board elections, which saw an over-opinionated and under-experienced slate of conservative newcomers take control of the board majority. Like the upstart insurgents who took over Woodland Park, D-11, and dozens of other districts that year, the conservative slate of Andrea Haitz, Angela Lema, and Will Jones had a lot of plans, but little idea how to run a school district. Instead of desperately backfilling the administrative knowledge they lacked, the Mesa Valley 51 conservatives did what so many of their colleagues elsewhere did: ignored the tricky stuff and turned their focus to culture war issues instead.
In 2022, Haitz and Lema attended an anti-diversity workshop hosted by Heritage Action for America, a wing of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, where Haitz voiced her opposition to any discussion of “social justice” – a theme in keeping with her opposition to the imagined boogeymen of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“To start telling kids that certain groups are victims, while others are oppressors – we have to be careful,” Haitz said. “That’s getting into the political realm, rather than focusing on education. I just don’t think we need that in schools.” The irony of Haitz and her cohort being the ones to bring this discussion into the schools is, it appears, lost on her.
Earlier this year, the board waded into the effort to have the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSSA) ban transgender student-athletes statewide.
In 2023, the board’s majority was not up for grabs: with three conservatives having won seats on the five-member board in 2021, only two seats were on the ballot last cycle. Nevertheless, the conservative majority was bolstered that year by Barb Evanson, who believes creationism should be taught in science class.
... With 45 schools and about 20,000 students, it’s a valuable asset in the reformer portfolio, and they don’t seem interested in letting go of it yet. Money is pouring into Haitz’s and Lema’s coffers, but their opponents are keeping pace.
...
Your local school district has more to do with you than you think: what it does with your tax dollars, how it educates your future coworkers and employees, the tone it sets in your local town or community. Still, it’s a hard sell. You don’t see your local school district’s politics on CNN or major news websites, you don’t pick up on it passively, you have to seek it out.
I’m here to tell you that that’s exactly what you should do. You should seek it out. You should find out exactly who is running in your school district this November, whether you have school-aged children or not. Then you should learn what they believe in, what changes they want to make in the district, and then, when your ballot arrives in the mail, you should vote for the ones you find yourself most aligned with. Because the schools aren’t just about the schools, they’re about the culture. These races are important. These districts are important. That’s why the Colorado Republican Party is opening a series of regional offices to boost conservative efforts to capture them this fall. It’s why anonymous billionaires keep spending millions of dollars on small, local races.
Two high schoolers wrote a love letter about their high school librarian and the banned books club they’re part https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/09/09/...
This is what happens when you don't have IMLSInterlibrary loan program for Bay, Gulf, Liberty counties ends because of federal funding loss
https://www.newsherald.com/story/news...
Digital Censorshiphttps://www.libraryfutures.net/post/t...
[This week Library Futures has] seen reports of libraries from K-12 to college losing access to venerable and trusted databases such as Opposing Viewpoints as well as several Gale products, particularly those related to topics such as gender, sexuality, and environmental studies.
While the pace may have quickened, the sudden disappearance of such databases is not new.
Earlier this year Library Futures released an in-depth study of digital content suppression. In our research, we uncovered six key findings:
Challenges against “p---n” in library databases are not only unsubstantiated— they are sometimes purposeful acts of disinformation presented with false narratives about the source, context, or character of the information.
Despite the claims from censorship advocates that minors use library databases to access p---n, there is no evidence to support this claim, as well as more than five years of evidence from Utah demonstrating that students use databases to conduct normal and assigned student research.
Increased content bans and the threat of worrisome legislation have a chilling effect on libraries, with librarians reporting “self-censorship” even when content hasn’t been challenged.
Database providers have implemented more local controls as a result of the EBSCO p---graphy accusations, resulting in an increased use of overly restrictive topwords and other filtering that limits minors’ access to critical information, particularly health and race information.
High-volume content challenges often originate from a single or small number of sources that wield disproportionate influence through use of social media or capturing the attention of an authority figure. These challengers often circumvent established policies and procedures to rapidly escalate their threats.
Claims of p----graphy in library materials are based on discriminatory ideologies that can negatively impact children’s learning, civil rights, and wellbeing. However, students recognize the real harm in censorship and are one of the most powerful change agents when advocating for or against legislation impacting library collections.
The report details the increased use of stop words, the effects of soft censorship on library collections, and the legislation around the country aimed at reducing student access to information in the name of protecting them from dangerous ideas.
Mod
Hey Pete Hoekstra you stupid stuffed shirt!! The anti American sentiment in Canada is Donald Trump's fault (and yours) and is a totally justified response to the Orange Menace's repeated threats regarding Canadian sovereignty. Shut your yap!!
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Out of the Blue (other topics)The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink (other topics)
My Rainbow (other topics)
Butt or Face? Volume 3: Super Gross Butts (other topics)
The Day the Books Disappeared (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jodi Picoult (other topics)Sarah J. Maas (other topics)
Ellen Hopkins (other topics)
Jodi Picoult (other topics)
Scott Stuart (other topics)
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Now theoretically, the Nazis and Stalinists ruling with an iron fist in Alberta should not be able to ban Mar..."
I know, but that idiot does not listen and is actually more extremist than Danielle Smith, than the premier.