Censorship

A complaint to the police sent a plainclothes officer to the school in Great Barrington, MA, but Gender Queer was not there; hundreds of books get removed in a Florida district; and Books Save Lives Act was introduced in Congress.

Central Bucks County (PA) School Board president Karen Smith shares the backstory to getting sworn in on a stack of frequently challenged books and the reason for each title selected.

PEN America's report, Spineless Shelves: Two Years of Book Banning, shows the spread of copycat book bans, as well as how several titles from an author were targeted after one of their works was banned.

Review committees decided to keep challenged books on the shelves in districts in Maryland, Tennessee, and North Dakota; two new grassroots organizations to fight book banning were started by Texas parents and grandparents across the country, respectively. 

SLJ's most viewed coverage of book banning and censorship, which remained front and center in 2023.

Pat Scales fields questions about a student who harasses others over reading choices, a verbally abusive mother, and a principal who lets parents observe class.

Panelists shared strategies, resources, and tips for coalition building for the fight against censorship at the SLJ Summit: A Vision for the Future.

“You've made it your life's work to make sure we see the humanity in one another,” author Jeff Kinney said, speaking at the SLJ Summit 2023 in Atlanta this weekend. “Books might be empathy machines, but librarians are the beating hearts of the communities they serve.”

Central Bucks County School Board president Karen Smith took her oath on books including Night by Elie Wiesel and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison; authors Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Malinda Lo, and Jodi Picoult join lawsuit in Iowa; and more.