School Libraries

Librarians responding to our 2024 Transitional Books Survey had a lot to say about their favorite series. Here's why "Fly Guy," "Mercy Watson," and others stand out to them. 

Explaining why they write about children who are grieving, authors describe experiences from the loss of a family member to concerns about gun violence.

A group of parents in Montgomery County, MD, has asked the Supreme Court to review their school district's decision not to allow them to opt their children out of seeing books with LGBTQIA+ characters; and Sarah J. Maas books and other titles removed in Cobb County, GA, and Rutherford County, TN.

A week-long school visit from Messy Roots creator Laura Gao highlighted the need for students to see the work of marginalized communities and hear from the creators themselves.

Documents show the high cost of book challenges and legal battles over censorship in Utah and Florida school districts; challenged books stay on shelves in Watertown, NY, and Buncombe County, NC; and more.

These seven works range from spin-offs of classic Japanese manga to completely original stories rendered with manga-style storytelling.

And Tango Makes Three is one of three dozen books that will be back on school shelves in Nassau County, FL, thanks to a settlement of a lawsuit against the district. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed against a Texas public library is headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The censorship-related legal battles continue as Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Club, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, The Authors Guild, Julia Alvarez, John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, Jodi Picoult, and Angie Thomas sue Florida; and the Department of Justice files a brief in support of the lawsuit against the Cobb County (GA) School District.

The Francis Howell School District in O'Fallon, MO, passed a new policy to allow the removal of certain books and restrict gender identity conversation. Meanwhile in Texas, one district is considering banning books about gender fluidity and another seeks to alter its policy after Advanced Placement titles are removed from libraries.