Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I’ve been invited to a Pride party by a couple of friends who recently moved back to the area, and I have NO idea what I’m going to wear! My first thought was to get a Drag Race T-shirt that says “Because reading is what?! FUNDAMENTAL!” so that I can wear it to work, but a party thrown by friends I haven’t seen in a long time seems to call for something a little more creative. I’ll have to think on it.
Looking for a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift? Go beyond the tried and true flowers and chocolate and give the gift of reading with Tailored Book Recommendations! Our bibliologists are standing by to help your mom find her next favorite read, delivered right to her inbox or doorstep. And with gifts starting at just $18, there’s something for any budget! Head to mytbr.co/gift to send the gift of reading to the book nerd in your life!
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
The 2024 Library Systems Report has been released.
Democratic Utah gubernatorial candidate Brian King has selected University of Utah Associate Librarian Rebekah Cummings as his running mate.
Hoopla partners with Pokémon to offer new BingePass offerings.
Rare editions of Pushkin are vanishing from libraries around Europe.
Cool Library Updates
More than 400 self-service kiosks will be added to Georgia public libraries to help residents update their social services benefits for free.
Book Adaptations in the News
Siân Heder, director of Coda, will be directing the adaptation of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Shōgun director Jonathan Van Tulleken is adapting Andrew Michael Hurley’s novel The Loney for TV.
Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen is developing a series adaptation of Girl Abroad by Elle Kennedy.
Colleen Hoover’s Verity is being adapted for film by Amazon MGM.
Hulu’s adaptation of Mexican Gothic is no longer moving forward.
An update on Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia.
Here’s the trailer for Queenie.
The literary film & TV to stream in May.
Censorship News
Book Riot’s very own intellectual freedom advocate, Kelly Jensen, has been named one of Library Journal’s 2024 Movers & Shakers!!
Are librarians criminals? These bills would make them so.
Book banners take the fight to public libraries.
You know the sh*t has hit the fan when John Oliver talks about the battle against public libraries on Last Week Tonight.
Asian American authors face growing book bans, threats, and challenges.
A look at the book banning history of Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (TX) cut 50 school librarian positions, which were made via email sent after business hours, which I think is very representative of the current lack of respect towards librarians.
A look at how the Florida DOE’s confusing memo from October 2023 led to school districts removing hundreds of books in fear of being out of compliance with the state law.
A handful of parents are upset that the Duval School District (FL) maintains a relationship with the Jacksonville Public Library because the public library offers eBook access via Libby, which, to these people, is a way to “clandestinely” provide access to inappropriate materials.
A federal judge has ruled that the First Amendment lawsuit against the Escambia County School Board (FL) for removing And Tango Makes Three may proceed. However, allegations against state education officials and leaders of the Lake County School District in the same lawsuit were dismissed.
In December, Great Barrington (MA) police searched an 8th-grade teacher’s classroom looking for a copy of Gender Queer, and now the teacher has said that if the town and the school district refuse mediation, she will file a lawsuit.
New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa determined that a number of challenged books in the Clyde-Savannah Junior-Senior High School Library will stay. “Rosa wrote that the petitioners did not show that the school board’s determination to retain the books was unlawful. She wrote that ‘petitioners have otherwise failed to demonstrate that the challenged books here lack literary, artistic, political or scientific value. Indeed petitioners do not even allege that they have read the books in question.’”
(Paywalled): “Emails obtained by The York Dispatch [PA] document secret meetings and behind-the-scenes coordination between school board members who’ve pushed book bans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies and the political action committee that helped elect them.”
Spartanburg County School District (SC) removes dozens of books under their strict new content policy, including The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Handmaid’s Tale.
“County libraries would have to restrict children’s access to sexual books under a budget directive approved by the South Carolina Senate and opposed by librarians as overstepping local control.” Conservatives are always in favor of small government, except when they’re not.
“About 80 speakers showed up Tuesday to voice their opinion on Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed changes to the Alabama Public Library Service administrative code that would require new policies for libraries to receive state aid.” Spoiler alert: few people support the governor’s proposals.
The Louisiana House Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs shelved two library bills, one of which would have criminalized librarians for using public funds on ALA memberships and trainings.
The Campbell County Public Library (WY) voted to keep Identical in the recently created new adult section because the board decided that it was inappropriate for teens. (The ACLU is investigating whether this can be considered a First Amendment violation.) One of the trustees was quoted as saying, “‘What about the kids that don’t have these problems and they end up coming across this book and get subjected to these things?’…‘What about protecting them?’” Great way of saying that there’s only one group of students you care about supporting.
“So far, more than 60% of Laramie County School District 1 [WY] parents and guardians have opted to give their children, regardless of grade level, open access to all books in their school library.” And I’d be willing to bet that most of the remaining 40% of parents are simply unaware that they need to “opt in” in order for their children to access the library.
The Fremont County Commission (WY) threatened to take over the public library board if the library didn’t finalize their board review policy, install internet filters in the children’s department, and cease “inappropriate behaviors.” But a former Wyoming AG says that the county commission can’t actually do that.
Jordan School District (UT) officials canceled an assignment from a high school class that involved a student essay published in the New York Times about being trans. The essay didn’t contain any content that would have required its removal per state law, but the school removed it anyway. Once again, it’s not about sexual content — it’s about disapproval of trans people and pushing a conservative agenda on students.
Research presented at the Oregon Library Association conference shows that the language used to challenge books has become significantly more violent.
“Parents of children at Mountainview Elementary School in the Saugus Union School District [CA] posted on social media they saw members of the PTA hiding the books and asking to have them removed from the book fair, allegedly contending they were not age-appropriate for elementary school children.” The books in question were The Insiders by Mark Oshiro and Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.
“A petition launched by a group of Niagara-on-the-Lake [Ontario] residents is calling on the town to enforce what they say are the library’s own policies to be ‘neutral’ when selecting books for its shelves.” Except the petition is in response to the library board firing the CEO in late March, and after reading the article, I’m still not sure what the end goal of this petition is supposed to be.
Books & Authors in the News
PEN America has canceled its 2024 World Voices Festival amid further fallout over the organization’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Kristi Noem’s upcoming book already has some factual issues. And apparently, Amazon is “killing mean reviews” of Noem’s book.
Oprah picks Long Island by Colm Tóibín as her latest book club pick.
Numbers & Trends
Gen Z and millennials love reading books, but being a “reader” means something more.
More than a quarter of YA readers are over 28 years old.
An increasing number of kids no longer read for fun by third or fourth grade.
The best-selling books of the week.
Award News
The 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced.
The Edgar Award winners have been announced! And I want to do a shoutout for the winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award, Play the Fool by Lina Chern, because I found out last week that she’s the sister of one of my coworkers! What a small, small world!
Pop Cultured
Sean Connery wrote an unmade James Bond movie featuring robot sharks. And now I’m legally, morally, and spiritually obligated to quote Dr. Evil: “You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!”
Sony is going to try remaking Clue for film and TV.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
Not really sure where this news should go, but a recent reader conference in Denver has been dubbed “the Fyre Festival of books,” and apparently descended into chaos, ending in reports of injury and violence (which the conference organizer referred to as “bumpy bumps”) and a social media apology from Rebecca Yarros.
Reese’s Book Club has partnered with…Taco Bell?
If Jonesy could speak English, I imagine he’d be saying, “WHAT?? WE’RE NOT DOIN NOTHIN!”
All right friends. Have a good weekend, and I’ll be back on Tuesday!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.
