School Libraries

Rochester (MN) Pride cited unspecified safety concerns for canceling the visit by The Rainbow Parade author Emily Neilson; federal judge says lawsuit over removal of school library books in Florida can continue; districts in South Carolina and Texas keep The Hunger Games and Bathe the Cat on the shelves, respectively, while a Pennsylvania high school removes three LGBTQIA+ graphic novels.

While winning the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards often leads to a bump in sales and a spot on school library shelves, censorship legislation, librarians afraid of challenges, and the growing anti-diversity movement could change that this year.

A bill to remove legal protections from school and public librarians advances in South Dakota; Livingston Parish, LA, has emptied the YA shelves in five branches and told librarians to read every title in search of sexually explicit material; and so much happening in Arkansas in the latest Censorship News.

Schools for military families must pull several lessons tied to immigration, gender, and sexuality and remove books that could "potentially" cover those topics; Tennessee county removes 32 books from school libraries; and Utah pulls 16th book from state's schools.

The executive order saying the United States will only recognize "two sexes" will have a ripple effect that "will undoubtedly affect public schools, public libraries, and the literature that is shelved in both," according to the statement signed by more than 50 organizations.

The New York City–based initiative is holding strong, even as book bans in schools surge nationwide and anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation expands.