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Oct 13 2023
Book lovers launched an audacious plan this week to help readers trapped in Florida. A website called BannedBooksUSA.org will send censored and restricted books for free (plus the cost of shipping) to any library, school or person in the Sunshine State.
This airlift was launched Tuesday with a $100,000 donation from Boston tech entrepreneur Paul English. BannedBooksUSA’s co-founder is Joyce Linehan, a member of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Electric Literature is providing administrative support, and Bookshop.org, the website that supports indie bookstores, is handling fulfillment of the banned books.
The above thanks to Ron Charles' Washington Post Book Club newsletter.
Oct 04 2023
The progressive action group MoveOn’s Banned Bookmobile is on the road again to champion banned books. Penguin Random House’s Banned Wagon, a project of PRH’s Intellectual Freedom Taskforce and its consumer marketing team, is doing a weeklong tour of the South with stops in Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, and Houston. And the New Republic, in partnership with the nonprofit House of SpeakEasy, is crisscrossing the country with its bookmobile on a month-long journey “aimed at championing the First Amendment and combating censorship,” according to a press announcement.
Oct 03 2023
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has set a tentative schedule to decide whether a judge’s order blocking the state’s controversial book rating law, HB 900, should stand. But an administrative stay issued last week by a separate motions panel of the Fifth Circuit remains in force—meaning that the law is now in effect, putting Texas booksellers in a precarious position...
Signed by Texas governor Greg Abbott on June 12, HB 900 requires book vendors, at their own expense, to review and rate books for sexual content under a vaguely articulated standard as a condition of doing business with Texas public schools. The law includes both the thousands of books previously sold to schools and any new books. Furthermore, the law gives the state the unchecked power to change the rating on any book, which vendors would then have to accept as their own or be barred from doing business with Texas public schools.
Sep 29 2023
In partnership with the Freedom to Read Foundation, PEN America, and the Little Free Library, Penguin Random House is launching the Banned Wagon Tour, which during Banned Books Week will travel across the South, stopping in communities affected by censorship, celebrating the power of literature, and getting books to the people who need and want them most. PRH called the Banned Wagon part of its "ongoing efforts to combat book banning and censorship, which includes legal actions, tailored support for various stakeholders, and advocacy for First Amendment rights."
The Banned Wagon will feature a selection of 12 books that are currently being banned and challenged across the country, distributing free copies (while supplies last) to event attendees in each city. The Banned Wagon will also drop banned books in Little Free Libraries along the tour route and make a book donation after each Banned Wagon event. The Banned Wagon will include material from the Freedom to Read Foundation about how to write letters to school boards and elected officials, as well as regional spotlights from PEN America highlighting books and challenges being banned in specific states.
Sep 29 2023
A new survey sheds light on the perceptions of parents regarding public libraries and the current issues they face. The "Public Libraries and Book Bans - Parent Perception Survey" gathered insights from 853 parents and guardians with children under 18 during September 2023. The survey asked parents and guardians to share their experiences and opinions about book bans, their trust in libraries, their understanding of librarians' book selection process, and their feelings on sensitive subjects in children's books.
Top-level findings show that a majority of respondents (67%) think that “banning books is a waste of time,” and 74% agree or somewhat agree that book bans infringe on their right to make decisions for their children. The survey also found that 92% of all respondents feel their child/children are safe at the library, and 58% think librarians should be primarily responsible for what books are selected in the public library.
Sep 27 2023
Earlier this month, a group calling itself Friends 4 Levine Querido raised almost $110,000 during a 10-day online auction held September 3–13, with the proceeds benefiting indie children’s publisher Levine Querido.
LQ reports that it has been hit hard by the dramatic spike in book bans, as, according to the American Library Association, most of the books being targeted are written by BIPOC and LGBTQ authors and LQ specializes in publishing books by authors from these and other traditionally marginalized communities.
Sep 27 2023
Librarians in public schools in Charlotte County, Florida, were instructed by the school district superintendent to remove all books with LGBTQ characters or themes from school and classroom libraries. The guidance by Charlotte County Superintendent Mark Vianello and the school board's attorney, Michael McKinley, was obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project (FFTRP) through a public records request and shared with Popular Information.
The guidance made clear that all books with LGBTQ characters are to be removed even if the book contained no sexually explicit content. The librarians asked if they could retain books in school and classroom libraries with LGBTQ characters as long "as they do not have explicit sex scenes or sexual descriptions and are not approaching 'how to' manuals for how to be an LGBTQ+ person." The guidance provided by Vianello and McKinely was: "No. Books with LBGTQ+ characters are not to be included in classroom libraries or school library media centers."
Sep 25 2023
Building on his Family Agenda to promote educational freedom and success, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed AB 1078 by Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), which bans “book bans” in schools, prohibits censorship of instructional materials, and strengthens California law requiring schools to provide all students access to textbooks that teach about California’s diverse communities.
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