News & Features

As adults try to pull books from school library shelves across the country, students are responding with book clubs centered on the challenged titles.

Graphic novel authors Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada, who wrote about Kim's experience in a banned book club in South Korea in the 1980s, now find their book relevant to U.S. students.

Recent censorship developments include a decision to keep the Bible in the library and classrooms at a Kansas high school, and the removal and review of the Epic! digital library app because of a concern over An ABC of Equality and other titles.

Once again books with LGBTQIA+ characters and themes are the most challenged titles across the country.

Office for Intellectual Freedom's Deborah Caldwell-Stone says the list of most challenged books in 2021 illustrates the efforts of organized organizations to exclude LGBTQIA and Black voices from school and public libraries.

In response to new legislation and customer requests, Follett was working on optional features that would allow parents to request to be notified what book their child has checked out of the library and limit their access to materials. They will no longer be creating those options.

Is it unconstitutional to ban books from a school library? Pico didn't provide an easy answer, but the ACLU and a couple of  Missouri students are suing arguing that the removal of books from the Wentzville R-IV district is a violation of their First Amendment rights.

In our May issue, you’ll find an 18-by-24-inch poster promoting the freedom to read. Famed artist Rafael López created the warm, hopeful image, which ­conveys the power of reading to open minds and hearts.

A look at some of the latest news in censorship attempts around the country. In this installment, read about what's happening in districts in Kansas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.