Public Libraries

A Minneapolis metro library system will keep Gender Queer on the shelves after a challenge; Senators clash during a Congressional hearing on book bans; Osceola County, FL, students will no longer automatically get public library cards in response to new Florida law.

The author of the most challenged book in the country praises librarians and calls on people to support them; Alabama governor questions whether public libraries are family-friendly; South Carolina Board of Education severs ties with South Carolina Association of School Librarians; and more.

Books were removed in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, but libraries in Colorado and Maine retained challenged titles. Plus, Rutherford County, TN, may change library cards to keep limit access for minors, and updates on the lawsuit over And Tango Makes Three and a fight in Iowa over Friday Night Lights.

Thirty percent of challenges led to a book’s removal in 2023. And while 34 percent of librarians who experienced challenges have considered leaving the profession, 65 percent are motivated to fight censorship.

In Saline County, AR, a judge can now hire and fire the county’s public librarians; authors discuss having their books pulled from shelves; Illinois libraries face bomb threats; and more. 

Booktalks are brief, in this case uber-brief, pitches to “sell” young readers on a given title. We invite readers to give it a shot, submit a stellar video booktalk for potential publication on SLJ.com and our social channels.

An Iowa school district asked ChatGPT to find books in its collection that had sexual content, Fort Worth ISD closes libraries for inventory after board removes three titles, "Heartstopper" books pulled in Mississippi, and John Green's 'Fault in Our Stars' may return to YA section in Indiana.

In Florida, access to the book about a male penguin couple has been restored in a school district's libraries; a teacher provides banned books at a Ben & Jerry's; and a district limits Shakespeare. Author John Green criticizes Indiana libraries for moving his book from the YA section; a Virginia library director is forced to resign, and the ABA passes a resolution against book bans.

Getting books to kids who are denied them elsewhere is a critical piece in the ongoing fight for intellectual freedom.