Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Y’all, is anyone else having any bonkers problems with their building recently? Our library has had to close because of bad weather, HVAC issues, and a gas leak, all in less than 7 days. I feel like I’m in 30 Rock — “What a week, huh?” “Lemon, it’s Wednesday.”
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Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
Minnesota public libraries are the latest to receive multiple bomb threats.
NYC libraries will not face a second round of budget cuts.
Worth Reading
After getting a feature profile in The New York Times, librarian super-fan Mychal Threets faced a barrage of insults on social media, but thankfully, thousands of people came to his defense. And he himself responded with remarkable empathy. Why are people like this, though?
Gen Z and millennials have an unlikely love affair with their local libraries.
Book Adaptations in the News
Oprah plans to adapt Abraham Verghese’s latest novel, The Covenant of Water.
Netflix is doing another Fear Street film — this one based on The Prom Queen.
American Born Chinese has been canceled at Disney+ after just one season.
Andrew Garfield has left the cast of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein adaptation, and now Jacob Elordi has reportedly been cast as Frankenstein’s monster. They’re going to need a lot of prosthetics to make that objectively symmetrical face look monstrous.
Censorship News
Trauma, book bans, and libraries: a resource guide for library workers, library supporters, and beyond.
EveryLibrary has updated their “Legislation of Concern” list for 2024.
Book banning will not stop at schools.
Ann Patchett had two books banned in the Orange County school district (FL), so she booktalked them on Instagram.
More than 1600 books have been banned in Escambia County (FL). Meanwhile, “a federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the Escambia County school district violated free speech rights through its removal and restriction of school library books.” In other words, the judge called BS on the attorney general’s argument that book removal constituted “government speech” and, therefore, wasn’t subject to the First Amendment.
Manatee County (FL) commissioners voted to end the county’s membership in the American Library Association.
Massachusetts senators filed a bill that would “prevent book removal ‘due to personal or political views’” in municipal and school libraries.
The New York Times highlighted the shutdown of the Rockwell Falls Public Library (NY), which has been closed for months after the director and most of the staff resigned following a wave of pushback against a Drag Queen Story Hour program.
Carroll County Schools (MD) is reviewing 60 challenged books but refused to remove or challenge the Bible due to “Constitutional considerations,” which apparently doesn’t apply to other books? They have also approved a controversial policy that restricts books with “sexually explicit content,” meaning “unambiguously describing, depicting, showing or writing about sex or sex acts in a detailed or graphic manner.” One of the school board members said, ‘There is no academic value in providing children access to books with explicit sexual content that goes into graphic and textual detail of sexual activity,’ so expect to see a lot of books about puberty and sex ed pulled from the district in the near future.
Rockingham County Schools (VA) have “temporarily” pulled 57 books from the shelves while the board develops a book review policy, which is something they should have already had in place, but the damage has been done.
Augusta County Schools (VA) have started getting a number of book challenges. “At the December meeting, another resident, Bill Shirley, spoke during delegations, telling the board members that he was there to speak against all ‘sexually explicit and pornographic materials in our school libraries,’ saying those materials ‘corrupt and pervert our thought processes.’ He offered no proof that any sexually explicit books were in school libraries.”
Moore County Schools (NC) will vote on the fate of nine challenged books. The recommendations for each title are in the article and feature a range of restrictions and required permissions to access them.
Oconee County Public Library (GA) will retain four challenged books.
Monroe County Public Library (GA) voted to keep two challenged books (Stranger Than Fan Fiction and My Most Excellent Year) after a coordinated set of challenges were submitted. Both books will also remain in the Young Adult section.
A newly proposed Alabama bill would let local governments remove library board members at will. “Delaney [Ozark-Dale library board chair] voiced concern that the change would chill library board member’s ability to do what they feel is in the best interest of the library for fear of running afoul of the local governing body.” And that’s the point.
Moms for Liberty sends a letter to Alabama lawmakers urging them to take action to restrict access to certain materials in libraries.
A new Tennessee bill would expand the definition of who can challenge a book in the public schools; specifically, parents of “eligible” students (students who do not attend the public schools but could attend in theory) could submit challenges. What’s more, the representative who introduced the bill, Gino Bulso, is also a private attorney who happens to be representing a group of parents who filed a lawsuit against the Williamson County Board of Education for not abiding by the Age Appropriate Materials Act, and one of the parents involved in the lawsuit has children who are “eligible” to attend the public schools, but instead attend school elsewhere. Not surprisingly, Bulso says that he sees no conflict of interest between the lawsuit and the newly introduced legislation.
Indiana libraries are facing drastic funding changes and limits on library programs and activities with a recently proposed bill.
New Prairie Schools (IN) will retain six challenged books in the middle school library.
“Reading a book before challenging it is still a hot topic for the Brainerd School Board [MN]. As board members continue working on a new policy that outlines how school library materials are chosen and can be challenged, one person remains vehemently opposed to asking anyone who challenges a book to read it in its entirety first.” I mean, why should the bigots have to put in the work to show their bigotry? /s
Iowa City Public Schools are holding off on removing 68 books from the shelves now that the state legislation is on hold.
Plattsmouth (NE) voters have recalled a school board member who created a book removal policy and was the only board member to vote against a committee’s recommendation to retain 51 challenged titles.
Two substitute teachers in Kansas spoke during public comment at several Lansing School Board meetings about various school policies, including the district’s Parental Bill of Rights and the board’s lack of transparency regarding book banning. They’ve since been fired, and they’re now suing the school district.
“An Oklahoma lawmaker is proposing a bill that would further crack down on what’s allowed in a school library. If this bill passes, schools would have to send their list of library materials to the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) for an annual review.” Oh, Mylanta, this is such an enormous waste of time, money, and resources.
Former Campbell County (WY) library director Terri Lesley filed a defamation lawsuit against three members of a local family for their comments and threats against her for refusing to remove challenged books from the library. The family is now asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Laurel Public Schools (MT) has “disallowed” six books from the high school library. WHEW, that word is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
The Bozeman School District (MT) will not remove The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from the curriculum.
Idaho has revived its unpopular “harmful to minors” library materials bill. The biggest change is that the bill requires libraries to move contested titles to an adult collection.
New Mexico introduces its own anti-book ban bill.
Coronado Public Library (CA) staff have faced an onslaught of harassment and abuse after the library was not able to accommodate a person’s request to do a patriotic and Christmas-themed storytime. Most of the harassment appears to be coming from non-local emails, but the messages are pretty horrific.
Ketchikan Public Library (AK) will decide whether or not to move two books from the young adult section to the adult section. The books in question are Red Hood and Flamer.
Numbers & Trends
The most popular books on Goodreads over the last decade.
The best-selling books of the week.
Award News
The Golden Globe winners were announced, and adaptations won big.
Judy Blume will be awarded the inaugural Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement Award for Bravery in Literature.
Here are the 2024 Walter Award Winners for Youth Literature from We Need Diverse Books.
The shortlist for the 2024 Writer’s Prize (formerly the Rathbones Folio Prize) has been announced.
The nominees for the 2024 Philip K. Dick Awards have been announced.
Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine have been named the 2024 Grand Masters by Mystery Writers of America.
Pop Cultured
Amanda Knox is producing a true crime drama about her wrongful conviction.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
Since when did reading books become a game? Related, 12 tips for how to read as many books as possible (complete with title suggestions.)
And something new to worry about: do you have “bookshelf wealth?”
This Slate writer talks about surviving a 24-hour Moby Dick readathon.
On the Riot
What’s the best time of day to read?
Houdini’s latest trick is to suddenly appear in the dish towel cabinet when Blaine accidentally leaves the door open.
All right, everyone. Hope all of your library buildings remain open and functional! I’ll see you on Tuesday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter