State of America’s Libraries 2018; American Libraries, April 9, 2018

American Libraries; State of America’s Libraries 2018

"On April 9, the American Library Association (ALA) released The State of America’s Libraries report for 2018, an annual summary of library trends released during National Library Week, April 8–14, that outlines statistics and issues affecting all types of libraries. The report affirms the invaluable role libraries and library workers play within their communities by leading efforts to transform lives through education and lifelong learning...

Through an analysis of the number of books challenged, the OIF produced the “Top Ten Most Challenged Books” of 2017, which includes:

1. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
   Reason: Suicide
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Profanity, Sexually Explicit
3. Drama, written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
   Reason: LGBT Content
4. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
   Reasons: Sexual Violence, Religious Themes, “May Lead to Terrorism”
5. George, by Alex Gino
   Reason: LGBT Content
6. Sex is a Funny Word, written by Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth
   Reason: Sex Education
7. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
   Reasons: Violence, Racial Slurs.
8. The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
   Reasons: Drug Use, Profanity, “Pervasively Vulgar”
9. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, illustrated by Henry Cole
   Reason: LGBT Content
10. I Am Jazz, written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas
    Reason: Gender Identity

Additional information regarding why books were challenged, a Top Ten List video announcement, and infographics regarding the 2017 Top Ten List of Most Challenged Books are available on the OIF’s Banned and Challenged Books page."

Rochester’s ridiculous banned book controversy; Salon.com, 3/20/12

Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon.com; Rochester’s ridiculous banned book controversy:

"One of the American Library Association’s most challenged books of the last decade has disappeared from yet another library. It’s a tome that topped the ALA’s list last year, and has made waves ever since its publication. Yet the book that so concerned a Rochester-area parent that the public school system there yanked it earlier this month wasn’t Lauren Myracle’s gritty, haunting “Shine.” It wasn’t Suzanne Collins’ intense, violent Mockingjay series. It was a picture book about a penguin family. Hide your kids!...

The district will hold a full public hearing on whether the book should stay or go on April 10. But it’s an encouraging sign that locals are now interested enough in the book – and the subject matter it addresses with tenderness and sensitivity – to get it wait-listed at the public library."