Parents and Teachers Advocate Against Georgia’s ‘Lock Up Librarians Bill’ | Atlanta News First
Tracey Nance toted a sign around the Georgia State Capitol that read, “Librarians are beloved professionals, not criminals, stop wasting kids’ legislative space.” Nance is an elementary school teacher turned activist who opposes Senate Bill 154, which would amend Georgia law and make it illegal for school libraries to “engage in the sale, loan, or exhibition of harmful materials to minors.”

Students Rally Over Virginia District’s Book Removals, Transgender Policies | Daily News Record
Students, parents, and other community members protested the Rockingham County (VA) Public School board’s recent decision to temporarily remove more than 50 books from libraries and adopt the sample policies from the 2023 Model Policies to Ensure Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.

South Carolina School District Pulls ‘The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb’ from Elementary Shelves | Post and Courier
The Lexington-Richland (SC) Five School District has pulled another book from shelves while a committee reviews its appropriateness for students. The 2005 graphic novel by Michael Burgan, The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, was flagged by a parent, prompting a review committee to decide whether the book can stay in district schools following its next meeting on Feb. 20.

Cast as Criminals, America’s Librarians Rally to Their Own Defense | Seattle Times
As libraries become battlegrounds in the nation’s culture wars, their allies are fighting to preserve access to their collections and keep themselves out of jail, or worse.

Book Challenges in Indiana Are Pretty Rare Despite Ruckus, According to a New Investigation | Indiana Public Media
An investigation by the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism and the Indiana Capital Chronicle found that book challenges are rare and removal even rarer. Since 2020, at least six districts banned books, two moved books to other libraries and 17 received complaints about material taught in classrooms or available in libraries, the report showed.

Book Bans Are Expanding From Schools into Public Libraries in a Tennessee County | WPLN
While some community members commended the effort to shield children from mature content, others were vehemently opposed, with one person saying the policy was too broad and could impact things like romance novels, as well as “resource materials for art, biology, anatomy and other subjects that are most definitely not pornographic.”

Mandatory Process Proposed to Review Complaints About School Library Books in Washington State | The Goldendale Sentinel
Legislation being debated would create a mandatory process to guide school districts when protests erupt over books that deal candidly with sexual preferences and gender identity. 

In Maine, a Challenge to a Book, and to a Town’s Self-Image | New York Times
Wealthy, liberal-leaning Blue Hill, ME, prided itself on staying above the fray—until the library stocked a book that drew anger from the left.

Florida Bookshop Owner Aims to Draw Attention to Harms of Censorship with 'Banned Books' Display | WESH2
Once you walk through the doors of Family Book Shop in DeLand, FL, you'll find a display dressed with yellow caution tape and a sign that reads "Banned Books." Every year, at the end of September, the store has a display for Banned Book Week. It's usually only up for seven days. This year, the owner decided to keep it up permanently.