Lawmakers Clash Over Book Bans, Censorship in Schools | Courthouse News Service
Pulling books from school and library shelves unfairly shields children from diverse viewpoints, Senate Democrats said—but Republicans argued such decisions should be left up to parents.

Carver, MN, Library Board Declines to Remove Gender Queer from Shelves | MPR News
A Twin Cities metro library system has decided to keep Gender Queer: A Memoir on its shelves after a request to remove it. The Carver County Library Board voted to keep the title available to check out after dozens of supporters of the book testified during a public hearing.

Florida District Ends Public Library Program Over State Law Concerns | News6
Because of concerns about state law and the parental choice movement, Osceola County’s school district is ending a program that automatically gave students public library access.

Connecticut Parents Turn Out in Strong Support of Challenged School Books | CT Examiner
An attempt to challenge five books on the shelves of Guilford, CT, school libraries prompted parents, students, and residents to turn out to the Board of Education meeting to oppose the measure that would have removed Flamer by Mike Curato, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health by Robie Harris; Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

Florida Schools Removed Roughly 300 Books Last School Year | NBC News
The titles pulled include dozens of books with LGBTQ topics or characters and several winners of prestigious book awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. The removals were prompted by more than 1,200 objections raised by parents of public school students or other Florida residents, according to a 16-page Florida Department of Education document that included the booklist.

America's Top Librarian on the Rise of Book Bans | The New York Times Ezra Klein Show
American Library Association president Emily Drabinski takes stock of why libraries have become epicenters of the culture wars.

As Checkouts Open in a North Carolina School District's Libraries, Five Books are Under Question | WCNC
Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Schools (CMS) began allowing checkouts in all their school libraries and media centers this week after a delay to comply with new policies on materials parents might find inappropriate. Since opening, CMS confirmed that five book objections have been filed to date, all stemming from one school: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, SOLD by Patricia McCormick, Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, Jack of Hearts by L.C. Rosen, and A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas.