Welcome to Check Your Shelf. By the time you read this on Friday, I’ll be on my way to Wrigley Field! The Cubs may not be able to hit their way out of a wet paper bag right now, so I don’t have high hopes for this game, but there’s always something magical about being at Wrigley Field with a drink and a bratwurst for a Friday afternoon game. Can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday!
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Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
Great news — NYC libraries are getting their original funding back, and will be able to reopen on Sundays! Of course, the mayor posted this on Twitter/X, conveniently forgetting to mention that he was the one who approved the initial budget cuts in the first place.
As Minneapolis schools prioritize librarians, St. Paul is cutting them at the elementary level.
OverDrive/Libby launches their Check Out Your Library initiative.
Cool Library Updates
Rhode Island’s newest restaurant is inside the Providence Public Library.
Worth Reading
What happens when longtime library leaders retire?
10 things every library board member needs to know.
Book Adaptations in the News
Interview With the Vampire has been renewed for a third season.
Censorship News
The first American union understood the necessity of public libraries and education.
The American Library Association Council strongly reaffirms the freedom for all to read freely.
Teen activists share how they’re fighting book bans.
Book bans are on the rise, but fear of fiction is nothing new.
The Christian-based far-right nonprofit For Liberty & Justice has threatened to remove Fort Worth ISD trustees over “pornographic” books.
Here is a list of the 26 LGBTQ+ books that have been “pulled for review” in Citrus County (FL) libraries.
“Facing two lawsuits alleging they violated First Amendment rights, Escambia County School Board [FL] members and the district’s superintendent are arguing they should be shielded from testifying about decisions to remove or restrict access to school library books.”
South Carolina is about to launch its biggest censorship campaign yet.
The Autauga-Prattville Library Board (AL) approved a book removal policy that gives them the power to remove any materials they deem inappropriate.
Amy Minton, an Alabama Public Library Services executive board member, misrepresented the state code changes to the director of the Hokes Bluff Public Library. The director said, “‘The conversation centered around not having books including activities that would be illegal in the state of Alabama…She specifically referred to transgender care for minors that was illegal in the state of Alabama.’”
The latest Missouri book ban isn’t about protecting kids — it’s about parents scared of reality. Also, “It’s ridiculous to remove library materials about LGBTQ+ people from children who have smartphones and tablets.” SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK.
Frances Howell Schools (MO) have proposed a number of policies that would remove a number of books from the school libraries and would unnecessarily slow down the process by which specific titles could be approved. An English teacher attended a board meeting with a sign saying “P6310 will make me afraid to teach diverse authors. Ask me why.”
The Iron River Library (WI) is dealing with a push to defund the library and remove the position of library director. This is all fallout from a controversy last year over a Pride Month display.
The Reno Public Library (NV) hosted a well-attended Drag Queen Story Hour, despite protests from bigots.
A book banner tried to make a point at a recent Washoe County School Board (NV) meeting by reading excerpts from American Psycho out loud. As someone who has managed to read American Psycho in its entirety as a teenager, I fully recognize that this book is not appropriate for a lot of readers, and probably wasn’t appropriate for me to be reading at 16 either! But no one is forcing anyone to read these books, unless you happen to attend a meeting where a crisis actor reads a passage from a controversial book. THEN your choice is taken away from you! Could it be that these book banners don’t actually give a shit about other people’s choices?
Elsewhere in Washoe County, a group of far-right activists are trying to defund public libraries and one of them is the head of the library board. So far, she is actively campaigning to the community to not renew the property tax arrangement that helps fund the library because the director is going to use that money to fund more Drag Queen story hours. Stories like this make me feel physically ill — to see someone at the head of an organization actively campaigning for its demise. But this is what conservatives want — the destruction of publicly funded services — and they’re not being quiet about it.
Someone burned a Pride display at an Oregon bookstore.
Seaside City Councilor (OR) Steve Dillard has been pushing to remove books from the public library, and now there are enough signatures on the petition to recall him from his position.
A committee’s attempt to review books at Lodi Unified School District (CA) stirs confusion and controversy.
“The months-long effort to oust Sunol Glen Unified School District [CA] Trustee Linda Hurley and Board President Ryan Jergensen from office is reaching its end as the small-town community gets set for the special recall election next week.” Both of these trustees have been pushing for book bans.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Secondary School (Ontario) has removed The Hate U Give from its curriculum.
BookNet Canada dives into the book banning data across the country.
Censored back home, Hong Kong authors are publishing in Taiwan.
Brazil’s unparalleled spate of book bans is a page out of the US culture wars.
Numbers & Trends
The most-read books on Goodreads last week.
How the Kindle became a must-have accessory (again).
A new report finds foot traffic rising at Barnes & Noble.
Award News
Arundhati Roy has been awarded the PEN Pinter Prize weeks just two weeks after being threatened with prosecution by Indian authorities.
The 2024 Indigenous Voices Award winners have been announced.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
On the Riot
The strange case of posthumously published books.
Can you have the hero without the journey?
The authors mentioned most frequently in crossword puzzles.
When the cat shushes the librarian.
All right, friends, I’ll be back next week! Have a great weekend!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.