Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Good news! I have a whole tooth again! My new dentist’s office is able to 3D print a crown while you wait, and the whole appointment took a total of two hours. I walked in with half a tooth, and walked out fully toothed. Very impressed!
Libraries & Librarians
Cool Library Updates
Reference behind bars: providing service to the incarcerated.
Book Adaptations in the News
Tess Gunty’s award-winning debut novel, Rabbit Hutch, will be adapted for TV.
Brandy will be reprising her role as Cinderella in the upcoming Descendants’ movie, The Pocketwatch.
Casting updates for A Little Life, Percy Jackson.
Banned & Challenged Books
Correction: I realized I made an error in last Friday’s newsletter: the Owassa School District is in Oklahoma, not Idaho.
Book rating systems are not a solution.
We Need Diverse Books launches a new campaign, #BooksSaveLives, to address the onslaught of censorship.
ACLU of Texas is launching civil rights investigations into policies implemented by Frisco and Keller schools that negatively impact LGBTQ students.
The Akron (PA) borough council is moving to cut funding for the public library, citing financial concerns and concerns over whether the library aligns with the community’s conservative values. I don’t think I need to tell you that that’s not the role of the public library.
Hempfield Area School District (PA) resumes its debate over book policies.
LGBTQ+ books are under fire at the Parkersburg Public Library (WV).
The Epilogue Bookstore and Coffee Shop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has started a free library for queer literature.
Salvage the Bones is being challenged in Guilford County schools (NC).
Beaufort County (SC) schools used a local GOP politician’s list to remove books from libraries. Not surprisingly, the politician’s list came directly from Moms for Liberty.
Spartanburg (SC) Public Libraries have removed an undisclosed number of books, and have moved others to restricted areas, but the titles and reasons behind the moves are not mentioned.
There’s dispute over Tennessee’s new textbook law, with some parents saying that the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission has a responsibility to specify exactly what constitutes age appropriate materials, but the Chair said that the Commission is only there to provide guidance, not strict rules or regulations.
Library officials say that the book banning situation in Missouri is “state-sanctioned censorship.”
Willard School Board (MO) votes to keep How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi in middle and high school libraries, but students at both schools will need parental permission to check it out. Guess what? IT’S STILL CENSORSHIP.
The Patmos (MI) Library will likely close in September 2024 after its two failed millage votes.
A group of Van Meter (IA) parents filed a petition to remove any LGBTQ+ content from the curriculum.
The Carroll Community School District Board of Education (IA) voted to keep Sold by Patricia McCormick in the high school library.
The ACLU urges the St. Marys City Commission (KS) to drop its censorship fight and continue to fund the library. The book at the center of this debate is Melissa, and author Alex Gino spoke out: “It hurts my heart. The implication is that my existence is so monstrous that it should be withheld from children. And what happens is, you end up with adults like me, who didn’t have good role models or good reflections of people like them growing up, and the road does not change who you are, but it makes the road much more painful. And it makes the road a lot more dangerous.”
A look at the book banning movement happening in Oak City, Utah.
Orem Library (UT) removed all of its children’s book displays after Pride Month.
Homer (AK) library board delays a decision on moving over 50 LGBTQ+ books from the children’s section to the adult section.
Kapaa Public Library (HI) faces a challenge to Let’s Talk About It.
Silent censorship of books is an attack on knowledge and open discourse.
How to support LGBTQ+ members in your community.
How to combat LGBTQ book bans in schools.
Books & Authors in the News
Ellen Wittlinger, author of queer YA novels in the ’90s and ’00s, has died.
Simon & Schuster admits that the $600 hand-signed copies of Bob Dylan’s new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, were NOT actually hand-signed, but were signed using “autopen.” People are now being offered immediate refunds. Bob Dylan has also offered a public apology.
Do authors really use autopen frequently?
Why TikTok is obsessed with this 92 year old murder mystery novel.
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Pop Cultured
I can’t believe I forgot to put this in last week, but Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison for Theranos fraud.
Rian Johnson says he’s in the early stages of working on Knives Out 3.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
Merriam-Webster announces its Word of the Year.
10 tips for discussion at your book club, especially if you didn’t like the book.
On the Riot
Up all night: a dramatic child gets her first library card.
How to join a TikTok book club.
Why book blogs still matter in an age of TikTok.
A history of the Chicken Soup for the Soul story collections.
Why is writing stuck in the paper age?
Poor Gilbert…he’s all tuckered out after a vet visit. Good news: diabetes isn’t acting up (our primary concern), and his bloodwork is very good, especially for such an old kitty. Not as good news: he’s developed a moderate heart murmur, so we’re going to take him to a kitty cardiologist. But overall he got a decent bill of health, and now he just wants all the snuggles.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week. I’ll check in again on Tuesday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Hide by Kiersten White.