Pierce County, GA library manager fired following book display including book about trans boy; FirstCoastNews, June 20, 2025

 Riley Phillips, FirstCoastNews; Pierce County, GA library manager fired following book display including book about trans boy

"A longtime employee of the library in Pierce County, Georgia has been fired after a controversial book display including a book about a transgender boy.

Lavonnia Moore was the library manager at the Pierce County Library. Her sister, Alicia Moore, spoke with First Coast News Friday. She said Lavonnia’s dreams were shattered Wednesday when she was fired from her position because of a book in a summer reading display...

Alicia said Lavonnia had been with the library system for 15 years and worked her way up from part-time clerk to library manager.

She explained the book that led to her firing is called When Aiden Became a Brother, a story of a transgender boy preparing for the birth of a new sibling.

The book drew sharp criticism from a community group called Alliance for Faith and Family, the same group that fought for the removal of a mural in the Waycross-Ware County Public Library. The group posted on social media urging people to reach out to the library system and county commissioners...

The book’s author Kyle Lukoff also weighed in. He told First Coast News he received a message about the librarian. He said "the story itself says everything I want it to, which is that trans people are a blessing," and encouraged people to read the book."

How a Single Court Case Could Determine the Future of Book Banning in America; Literary Hub, June 17, 2025

 Anthony Aycock, Literary Hub; How a Single Court Case Could Determine the Future of Book Banning in America

"Bottom line: in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi–the states covered by the Fifth Circuit–libraries are free to remove books for any reason. 

The plaintiffs now face a choice: accept the Fifth Circuit’s ruling or appeal to the Supreme Court. If there is an appeal, the court may not accept it. Over 7,000 cases are appealed to the high court each year, and it hears only 100-150–less than two percent. Yet I think Little v. Llano County has a good chance of making the docket. 

For one thing, the Fifth Circuit’s en banc reversal of its own panel’s ruling suggests the need for the high court to step in. Second, this Supreme Court has been eager to revisit earlier precedents. In the last few years, it has curtailed abortion protections, ended Chevron deference, and canceled affirmative action in college admissions–all long-standing, seemingly bedrock principles. Why not target Pico, especially since it wasn’t a decisive ruling to begin with?

Third, unlike most book ban cases, Little pertains not to a school library but a public one. Public libraries, according to UCLA professor Eugene Volokh, are not like school libraries. “I tentatively think a public school,” Volokh wrote, “is entitled to decide which viewpoints to promote through its own library,” whereas public libraries “are much more about giving more options to readers, rather than about teaching particular skills and attitudes to students.” 

Public libraries also serve more people–an entire county rather than a school system. Remember Judge Duncan’s belief that anyone who wants a certain book “can buy it or borrow it from somewhere else”? Llano County is small and rural, and many of its residents may not have the purchase option. For them, a book being unavailable in a library is a de facto ban. The pro-library organization EveryLibrary agrees, writing that the Fifth Circuit’s opinion “reveals an indifference to the lived reality of millions of Americans for whom public libraries are their only or primary means of access to books.” 

Here’s hoping that, if Little or any other book ban case ends up before this Supreme Court, those nine justices will consider the issue thoughtfully, creatively, and most important, impartially."

Bill Clinton says he wondered if Trump administration might try to ban his latest book; The Hill, June 18, 2025

 JUDY KURTZ , The Hill; Bill Clinton says he wondered if Trump administration might try to ban his latest book

"“Maya Angelou, who read the inaugural poem at my first inauguration — wrote it, and read it and was a great human being — the first thing the White House did was to ban her book, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,'” Clinton recalled.

Angelou’s 1969 autobiography was reportedly one of nearly 400 books that was pulled from the U.S. Naval Academy library in April as part of an effort to remove titles containing diversity, equity and inclusion content. 

Calling it a “magnificent book,” Clinton reflected on Angelou’s personal story about a child who “loses the ability to speak for a couple of years because she was abused, and then she blooms.”

“I couldn’t figure out why that was a problem,” Clinton said.

“I don’t like book banning,” the 42nd president added.

“I wasn’t ever for banning books that were full of things they said about me that weren’t true,” Clinton said.

“It never occurred to me that I should stop you from reading them.”"

Unbound Pages: Authors Against Book Bans fights for the freedom to read; WGBH, June 20, 2025

Andrea Asuaje, WGBH; Unbound Pages: Authors Against Book Bans fights for the freedom to read

"Thousands of books are facing scrutiny throughout the country as the book-banning movement continues to gain support, from Florida, to Wisconsin and even New Hampshire. Now, hundreds of authors are using their voices off the page to spread awareness about the effect book bans have on democracy and free speech.

The organization Authors Against Book Bans (AABB), which was formed in 2024, is focused on the freedom to read and composed of authors from all genres who write for readers of all ages. Many of the members have had their work challenged or banned, like AABB board member, Adib Khorram, author of several books including the often-challenged or banned “Darius The Great Is Not Okay.” The book and its sequel, “Darius The Great Deserves Better,” have come under fire for addressing race, sexuality and, according to Khorram, Marxist ideology."

Trump administration could change the way we read, from book bans to author talks; USA TODAY, June 18, 2025

Clare Mulroy , USA TODAY; Trump administration could change the way we read, from book bans to author talks

"Hazelwood's tour snag sparked a discussion on book communities about how President Donald Trump's recent policies would trickle down to publishing. Amid book banning, border policies, new anti-DEI sentiments and federal library grant cuts, these are the ways the new administration may impact readers. 

Trump administration's policies shake author tour plans...

Authors worry about impact of Trump, DEI backslide...

Grant cuts threaten libraries, public spaces for readers...

Book banning continues in libraries, classrooms"

Last-ditch legal effort tries to halt NC regional library system breakup over LGBTQ+ content; Carolina Public Press, June 20, 2025

Lucas Thomae , Carolina Public Press ; Last-ditch legal effort tries to halt NC regional library system breakup over LGBTQ+ content

"Local debates capture national attention

The heated debate in Yancey is just one more example of a larger national trend: the transformation of public schools and libraries into political battlefields.

John Chrastka is executive director at EveryLibrary, a self-described “non-partisan, pro-library” political advocacy organization. He told CPP that the emergence of social conservative groups seeking to limit materials in public libraries has led to policy changes at both the state and local level. Sometimes, he said, the best means of pushing back is through the courts.

“Sometimes (court) is the only place that you can go, because you can organize all day long locally and the politicians and the political actors won’t listen because they’re not in for the rule of law,” Chrastka said.

First Amendment challenges are common in these library disputes, but Chrastka said an often underlooked litigation strategy is through a civil rights lens.

Federal law dictates that all people are entitled to “equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages and accommodations of any place of public accommodation.” Public libraries, being taxpayer-funded institutions, are considered places of public accommodation.

“So many of the book bans, so many of the challenges to displays, so many fights over what kind of programming is done in the libraries is based on the comfort of the majority,” Chrastka said.

“If the majority population isn’t comfortable with a minority population — whether it’s race or gender or sexuality or religion, we see these fights. The relevance of a program, the relevance of a display, the relevance of a title to a minority population should be considered in that civil rights framework.”"

Appeals Court Ruling Raises Bar for Challenging School Book Bans; EducationWeek, May 28, 2025

Mark Walsh , EducationWeek; Appeals Court Ruling Raises Bar for Challenging School Book Bans

[Kip Currier: Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan's majority opinion statements that "“Removing a library book does not deny anyone the chance to read it...“The book has not been ‘banned.’ …People who want the book can buy it or borrow it from somewhere else.” are disingenuous and elitist. The reality is that the book has been made inaccessible.

The chief rationale for having a school library is to enable students to be able to access information and materials like books. Taxpayer monies support the acquisition of materials for school libraries. So requiring a student and their family to have to resort to buying a book that the school library would arguably be likely to have is inequitable. A hypothetical student's family's tax dollars support the purchase of school library books. However, the state's stance requires that family (or any other family!) to elect to spend additional monies on a book that their child may want to read or forego access to that book. The other option, as Judge Duncan notes, is to try to borrow that book from somewhere else, which in and of itself raises obstacles. Either way, these are unethical barriers to information that only some students are required to navigate, while other students have unfettered access to state-favored resources. That's censorship and treats some people disparately from others.

The court's rationale is also inherently problematic and potentially unconstitutional as viewpoint discrimination because the court's position prioritizes the views of some books over others. It is acknowledged that no library is able to purchase and provide access to every book. Yet, this policy favors some students and families over others by the nature of the resources that tend to be removed under bans of this nature, i.e books that include references to issues and characters of color or that are LGBTQ+-related.]

[Excerpt]

"The court’s 100-page decision in Little v. Llano Countydevotes much discussion to school library book challenges. Notably, the court expressly overruled its own 1995 precedent that suggested students could challenge the removal of books in their schools.

“Removing a library book does not deny anyone the chance to read it,” says the majority opinion by Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, an appointee of President Donald Trump. “The book has not been ‘banned.’ … People who want the book can buy it or borrow it from somewhere else.”

The majority also rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico, which stemmed from a New York state school district’s 1976 removal of books from school libraries including Black Boy by Richard Wright, Soul On Ice by Eldridge Cleaver, and Go Ask Alice by an anonymous author."

SC banned more school books than any other state. Can any be reinstated?; The Island Packet, June 5, 2025

Isabella Douglas, The Island Packet; SC banned more school books than any other state. Can any be reinstated?

"Following last month’s state education board meeting, South Carolina now leads the nation in the number of books removed from public schools. The books banned have drawn national backlash and packed board meetings with pleas from students, parents and advocacy groups. But with no formal process to reverse the ban, efforts to “unban” books face legal uncertainty, regulatory hurdles and no clear path forward.

At the heart of the controversy is Regulation 43-170, a policy that allows for the removal of public school library and classroom books that contain descriptions or images of sexual conduct."

Navy set to rename ship honoring Harvey Milk amid DEI purge; Politico, June 3, 2025

 GISELLE RUHIYYIH EWING and PAUL MCLEARY, Politico;  Navy set to rename ship honoring Harvey Milk amid DEI purge

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to rename a naval vessel named after gay rights activist Harvey Milk, with several other ships honoring civil rights activists and women also potentially being rechristened.

The move targeting the ship named after the gay rights icon comes as LGBTQ+ communities kick off pride month celebrations across the country. The step furthers Hegseth’s agenda to stomp out DEI initiatives at the Pentagon, which has included removing books from service academies and scrubbing some mentions of women and people of color in the armed services from DOD websites."

5th Circuit reverses injunction against Texas library that removed challenged books; Alabama Political Reporter, May 29, 2025

 JACOB HOLMES, Alabama Political Reporter; 5th Circuit reverses injunction against Texas library that removed challenged books

"The majority opinion took a derisive tone about the plaintiffs’ arguments, calling them “over-caffeinated.”

“We note with amusement (and some dismay) the unusually over-caffeinated arguments made in this case,” the majority wrote. “Judging from the rhetoric in the briefs, one would think Llano County had planned to stage a book burning in front of the library.” As an example, “one amicus intones, ‘Where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people.’ Take a deep breath, everyone. No one is banning (or burning) books.”

The dissenting judges took issue with that tone.

“The majority—apparently ‘amuse[d]’ by expressions of concern regarding government censorship—disparages such concerns as ‘over-caffeinated’ because, if a library patron cannot find a particular book in their local public library, they can simply buy it,” the judges write. “This response is both disturbingly flippant and legally unsound. First, as should be obvious, libraries provide critical access to books and other materials for many Americans who cannot afford to buy every book that draws their interest, and recent history demonstrates that public libraries easily become the sites of frightful government censorship.”

APLS officials already touting the decision

That decision is already being touted by board members leading the Alabama Public Library Service, although Alabama falls in the 11th circuit, not the Fifth. 

“It’s so common sense, no library has every book that has ever been written,” Wahl told Jeff Poor on the Jeff Poor Show Tuesday. “Every library has to choose which books are in its collections and which are not. This is not book banning, this is not book burning. This is literally just deciding what is most edifying, what is most beneficial for our readers … This is not about politics, this is about what is best for our children and what is best that we put in front of them.”"

US Naval Academy canceled author’s lecture that would have criticized book bans; CNN, April 19, 2025

Natasha Bertrand , CNN; US Naval Academy canceled author’s lecture that would have criticized book bans

"The US Naval Academy canceled a lecture that author Ryan Holiday was scheduled to give to students there last week after he refused to remove slides from his planned presentation that criticized the academy’s decision to remove nearly 400 books from its main library.

Holiday, a writer and philosopher who has lectured at the US Naval Academy more than half a dozen times since 2019, told CNN on Saturday that he was invited by the academy in November to give a lecture about wisdom to midshipmen on April 14. He had previously spoken to students there, including during the first Trump administration, as part of a series on stoicism and the pursuit of virtue and excellence.

But an hour before he was scheduled to give his talk last week, as he was getting ready in his hotel room in Annapolis, Holiday says he received a call from the school asking him if he could refrain from mentioning the academy’s decision earlier this month to remove 381 books from the shelves of its Nimitz Library.

“I said I couldn’t do that,” Holiday recalled. “I couldn’t have spoken in front of these midshipmen about courage and about doing the right thing, and then remove, I think, a very reasonable objection to a very egregious concept."...

“I actually agree that the Academy should be apolitical,” Holiday told CNN. “That’s what makes this political meddling in their access to books so troubling. And then to suppress criticism of that obvious mistake, is to model even poorer moral leadership to the midshipman.”"

Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library?; The Guardian, April 11, 2025

John Ismay, The Guardian; Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library?

"Gone is “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Maya Angelou’s transformative best-selling 1970 memoir chronicling her struggles with racism and trauma.

Two copies of “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler are still on the shelves.

Gone is “Memorializing the Holocaust,” Janet Jacobs’s 2010 examination of how female victims of the Holocaust have been portrayed and remembered.

“The Camp of the Saints” by Jean Raspail is still on the shelves. The 1973 novel, which envisions a takeover of the Western world by immigrants from developing countries, has been embraced by white supremacists and promoted by Stephen Miller, a senior White House adviser.

“The Bell Curve,” which argues that Black men and women are genetically less intelligent than white people, is still there. But a critique of the book was pulled.

The Trump administration’s decision to order the banning of certain books from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library is a case study in ideological censorship, alumni and academics say.

Political appointees in the Department of the Navy’s leadership decided which books to remove. A look at the list showed that antiracists were targeted, laying bare the contradictions in the assault on so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies."

Being a librarian was already hard. Then came the Trump administration; The Guardian, April 7, 2025

Rainesford Stauffer, The Guardian; Being a librarian was already hard. Then came the Trump administration

"For many librarians, the stakes of the job are high – they’re facing burnout, book bans, legislation pushed by rightwing groups, and providing essential resources in an effort to fill gaps in the US’s social safety net.

Now, as Donald Trump’s administration rolls out their agenda, many librarians are describing his policies as “catastrophic” to accessing information and the libraries themselves – institutions considered fundamental to democracy...

Elon Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency” recently gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which the American Library Association noted greatly affects the important services they offer, including high-speed internet access, summer reading programs, veterans’ telehealth spaces and more, with the most intense losses in rural communities.

While the majority of public library funding comes from city and county taxes, according to EveryLibrary, the IMLS provides grants that support these critical services in every state...

Librarians are speaking out about what communities could lose, including internet access and workforce development in Kentucky, the Talking Book and Braille Center in New Jersey, digital hotspots in North Carolina, and much more outlined in reporting from Book Riot. As librarians grappled with losses that would directly affect their work, the IMLS Instagram accountissued posts appearing to mock grantees."

Demonstrators hold silent protests at 17 North Dakota libraries to oppose bill removing content; North Dakota Monitor, March 3, 2025

MICHAEL ACHTERLING, North Dakota Monitor ; Demonstrators hold silent protests at 17 North Dakota libraries to oppose bill removing content

"About 1,000 silent protesters read from their books in front of North Dakota libraries Saturday to protest a bill that would force the removal of sexually explicit and obscene content from school and public libraries.

Senate Bill 2307, sponsored by Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan, would force the removal of that content from public areas of the library to areas “not easily accessible” to minors. The bill passed the Senate in February on a 27-20 vote and will now be considered by the House of Representatives. 

Right to Read ND, an organization opposing library censorship, led the reading protests at 17 libraries across the state with the largest drawing an estimated 275 people at the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library."

Publishers, a library and others sue over Idaho’s law restricting youth access to ‘harmful’ books; AP, February 5, 2025

 REBECCA BOONE, AP; Publishers, a library and others sue over Idaho’s law restricting youth access to ‘harmful’ books

"Idaho’s law took effect last year, requiring schools and public libraries to move material deemed “harmful to minors” to an adults-only section or face lawsuits. If a community member complains that a book is harmful to minors, the library has 60 days to address it or children or their parents can sue for $250 in damages. The law relies on Idaho’s legal definition of obscene materials, which includes “any act of homosexuality.”

At the time, the Idaho Library Association warned that the law was vague and subjective, and said it would likely lead to significantly limited access to information for the public.

In fact, that’s exactly what happened, according to the lawsuit. The Donnelly Public Library operates the only after-school program in Donnelly, a town of about 250 residents, but it had to bar minors from entering unless a parent or guardian first completed a waiver. 

That’s because the library operates out of a small log cabin and a handful of teepees, and there is not enough room to create an adults-only section for some books like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” according to the lawsuit."

Publishers and library sue Idaho over book ban that defines 'homosexuality' as 'harmful to minors'; The Advocate, February 6, 2025

Ryan Adamczeski, The Advocate; Publishers and library sue Idaho over book ban that defines 'homosexuality' as 'harmful to minors' 

"Several large book publishers and a small public library are suing the state of Idaho over its book ban that requires libraries to restrict content "harmful to minors" to patrons 18 and older.

House Bill 710, which went into effect on July 1, allows community members to request that their local library move books they claim are "harmful to minors" to an adults-only section within 60 days or be liable for $250 in damages. There is no appeal process outlined in the law.

"Harmful to minors" includes content that contains "sexual conduct," which the law defines as "any act of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, the breast."

Trump DEI crackdown targets books in Pentagon schools; The Washington Post, February 7, 2025

Dan Lamothe , The Washington Post; Trump DEI crackdown targets books in Pentagon schools

"The Defense Department has begun restricting access to books and learning materials covering subjects from immigration to psychology in its school system serving U.S. military families, citing the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, according to defense officials familiar with the effort and a memo obtained by The Washington Post.

The effort affects curriculums for elementary school ages and up, and follows similar efforts at the U.S. military’s elite academies for prospective military officers. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) serves about 67,000 students spread across about 160 schools at military installations around the globe.

A list distributed with the memo details specific chapters from books, or entire books, that have been immediately removed, with their return uncertain while pending a compliance review...

A DoDEA spokesman, Will Griffin, said in a statement that the restrictions have been put in place as the agency examines which “instructional resources” are in compliance with two executive orders from President Donald Trump restricting discussion of transgender people and targeting what the administration calls the “radical indoctrination” of children by schools teaching DEI...

“One asked a school official why they removed photos on the walls of Susan B. Anthony and Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] but not Leonardo DaVinci and was told: ‘He was a real historical figure,’” Raskin’s post on X said."

‘The Librarians’ EP Sarah Jessica Parker On The Spread Of Book Banning: “It’s A Fear Of Children Having Information” – Sundance Studio; Deadline, January 25, 2025

Matthew Carey, Deadline ; ‘The Librarians’ EP Sarah Jessica Parker On The Spread Of Book Banning: “It’s A Fear Of Children Having Information” – Sundance Studio

"TITLE: The Librarians

Section: Premieres

Director: Kim A. Snyder

Logline: As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians who find themselves under siege join forces as unlikely defenders in the fight for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy. Kim A. Snyder (Us Kids, 2020 Sundance Film Festival) takes us to an unexpected front line where librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and free access to information."