Alabama library denied funding because it won’t move classic book ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’; AL.com, January 15, 2026

 

• Williesha Morris

, AL.com; Alabama library denied funding because it won’t move classic book ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

"In a meeting fraught with crosstalk and tension, the Alabama Public Library Service board voted to withhold state funding to the Fairhope Public Library. The library kept some flagged books, including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” in its teen section instead of moving them to the adult’s section...

At issue is about $22,000 in state funding. Since the showdown began, the library has raised more than $100,000 in community donations. 

Fairhope librarians must move the following “sexually explicit” books to the adult section to receive state funding:

• “Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin
• “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins
• “Doing” It by Hannah Witton
• “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins
• “Lighter Than My Shadow” by Katie Green
• “Shine” by Lauren Myracle
• “Sold” by Patricia McCormick
• “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
• “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

Most of these books have appeared on banned book lists for years, including lists created by conservative groups like Clean Up Alabama and Moms for Liberty...

This is the first time that the state library board denied funding based on book placement. In 2024, the board decided to update the state code mandating libraries move books that were “inappropriate” for children to the adult section."

Texas A&M abruptly cancels ethics course over race, gender policy; The Texas Tribune, January 15, 2026

JESSICA PRIEST , The Texas Tribune; Texas A&M abruptly cancels ethics course over race, gender policy

"Texas A&M University canceled a graduate ethics course three days after the semester began, saying Professor Leonard Bright did not provide enough information to let administrators determine if the course meets new standards for discussing race and gender. 

Bright disputes that characterization.

The decision is distinct from earlier course changes at Texas A&M as the class had already met once before administrators canceled it."

This Is No Way to Run a University; The New York Times, January 12, 2026

Greg Lukianoff, The New York Times; This Is No Way to Run a University

"Martin Peterson, a Texas A&M University philosophy professor, was presented last week with a choice straight out of a dystopian novel. To bring his class in line with a prohibition on course materials that “advocate race or gender ideology,” he could either censor the part of his course that included readings from Plato or he could teach a different class.

The case illustrates the extent to which campus censorship has run amok in Texas: If some of Plato’s texts can’t be taught in a college philosophy course, what, exactly, can be taught?"

Documentary ‘The Librarians’ explores book bans and the fight for intellectual freedom; Mountain Times, December 31, 2025

Mountain Times; Documentary ‘The Librarians’ explores book bans and the fight for intellectual freedom

"Saturday, Jan. 3, and Sunday, Jan. 4, at 3 p.m.—WOODSTOCK—A timely documentary examining the rise of book bans and censorship across the United States will screen in Woodstock this weekend as part of the Woodstock Vermont Film Series. “The Librarians” will be shown at Billings Farm & Museum, with a special post-screening Q&A featuring producer Janique Robillard following Saturday’s screening.

“The Librarians” follows a group of librarians who find themselves on the front lines of a national battle over access to books and ideas. As efforts to remove books from schools and public libraries intensify in states such as Texas and Florida, librarians are emerging as unlikely defenders of democracy and the First Amendment. The film centers in part on the so-called “Krause List,” which targeted more than 850 book titles—many focused on race, identity, and LGBTQ stories—and helped fuel a wave of coordinated censorship efforts nationwide.

Through personal accounts and on-the-ground reporting, the documentary captures the mounting pressure librarians face, including harassment, threats, and legislation that criminalizes aspects of their work. As the debate escalates from local school board meetings to organized political movements at the state and national levels, “The Librarians” traces how access to information becomes a battleground over whose stories are allowed to be told.

By examining the broader consequences of restricting access to books, the film underscores how controlling ideas can shape communities—and why defending intellectual freedom remains a critical issue in contemporary civic life.

The screening is part of the Woodstock Vermont Film Series, which presents documentaries and narrative films that spark conversation and deepen connections to the wider world. Screenings take place on select Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. in the Billings Farm & Museum Visitor Center Theater through March 22. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for Billings Farm & Museum members.

The series is curated and directed by filmmaker Jay Craven and produced by Billings Farm & Museum with support from community sponsors. 

For more information, visit: billingsfarm.org/filmseries."

Supreme Court Will Not Hear Little v. Llano County; Library Journal, December 16, 2025

Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Supreme Court Will Not Hear Little v. Llano County

 "THE LONG GAME

While this is a disheartening development for the plaintiffs, Dan Novack, VP and Associate General Counsel at PRH, feels that a favorable precedent could still be set at the Supreme Court level. PRH has several cases in play, including Penguin Random House LLC v. Robbins, challenging Iowa’s SF496 in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Penguin Random House LLC v. Gibson , fighting Florida’s HB 1069 in the Eleventh Circuit. Both are scheduled to be heard in early 2026.

Given that it only takes about one percent of the cases put forward to it every year, “when there is a traffic jam of cases, as there is in this emerging area of law, it’s really not uncommon for the Supreme Court to sit back and let it play out,” Novack told LJ. If the other cases are also decided against the freedom to read, the Supreme Court may not see the need to step in. But if rulings are split, it may choose to take on one of the cases.

If the Supreme Court had taken Little v. Llano, it could have resulted in a positive ruling coming sooner. But “I’m taking the longer view that it’s good to be presenting more options to the Court, and if they were to take a Penguin Random House case, I feel very strong about the merits of those cases,” said Novack.

Even Llano County’s attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, in his brief in opposition to the writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit ruling, stated that “The Court should wait and allow these [circuit] courts to weigh in on whether and how the Speech Clause applies to library-book removals before jumping in to resolve this issue.”

Novack acknowledges that this decision is a hard one for Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. “Something went very wrong in the Fifth Circuit,” he said. But PRH and its council are committed to a multi-year fight that could potentially reach the Supreme Court and set precedent for the right to read throughout the United States.

“Although our lawsuit has come to a disappointing end,” Leila Green Little, lead plaintiff in the case, told LJ, “I am encouraged by the many people across the country who continue our fight in the courtrooms, their local libraries, and our state and federal legislative chambers.”"

US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights; The Guardian, December 15, 2025

Claire Wang, The Guardian ; US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights

"As the culture wars descended on America’s public libraries, librarians like Young have moved to the frontlines of a battle to protect free speech and LGTBQ+ rights. In at least half a dozen states, they have joined forces with civil rights groups to oppose book bans, often facing personal and professional repercussions. Some of their legal challenges and victories, organizers and experts say, can provide a roadmap for grassroots resistance against coordinated censorship campaigns."

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Texas Library Case: List of Banned Books; Newsweek, December 8, 2025

Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant , Newsweek; Supreme Court Won’t Hear Texas Library Case: List of Banned Books

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a Texas county’s removal of 17 books from its public libraries, leaving in place a lower court ruling that allowed the purge. 

The books targeted by officials span topics including sexuality, gender identity, racism and even juvenile humor.

Residents who sued argued the removals violated their First Amendment right to receive information, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that claim. 

The Supreme Court’s decision means the ruling now applies across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi."

Freedom To Read; Mt. Lebanon Magazine, November 24, 2025

Merle Jantz, Freedom To Read; Freedom To Read

"Patrons will tell you: There’s a lot to love about Mt. Lebanon Public Library. Award-winning programs for all ages, knowledgeable and committed staff members, a wide and lovingly curated collection of items from multiple media and plans for a building renovation. Enough good stuff to make it a thriving community hub. But one thing stood out above all the rest, and caught the eye of the Pennsylvania Library Association’s Library of the Year selection board, which chose Mt. Lebanon from among 630 public libraries, marking the first time any Allegheny County library has received the award. The library is the commonwealth’s first (and at press time only) book sanctuary.

The Chicago Public Library and the City of Chicago launched the first book sanctuary in 2022, declaring themselves a space for endangered stories and calling for others to join the movement. Currently, there are 5,361 book sanctuaries across the country.

What’s a book sanctuary? 

It’s a space where access to books and the right to read them are protected. A book sanctuary is committed to doing at least one of the following:

• Collecting and protecting endangered books
• Making those books broadly accessible
• Hosting book talks and events on banned books featuring diverse voices
• Educating others on the history of book bans and burning
• Upholding the First Amendment rights of all citizens 

This means the library will not remove or relocate any materials from the library’s collection, as long as those materials meet the standards of the approved policy."

Missouri court strikes down 2022 law that pulled library books off shelves; Missouri Independent, November 18, 2025

ANNELISE HANSHAW, Missouri Independent ; Missouri court strikes down 2022 law that pulled library books off shelves

"A Jackson County Circuit Court judge struck down a state law criminalizing school employees for supplying “sexually explicit material” to students, ruling it unconstitutionally vague and overbroad in a five-page decision Monday.

“This is a real victory for all library professionals who are trained to select age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate material for students in both public and private schools,” Gillian Wilcox, the ACLU of Missouri’s director of litigation, told The Independent. “It is a real insult to their training and professionalism for the government to think that it knows better what books belong in those schools, and it’s an insult to parents as well.”

The now-void law, passed by Missouri lawmakers in 2022, expanded the state’s regulations on pornography to create the offense of providing explicit sexual material to a student. It applied only to those “affiliated with a public or private elementary or secondary school in an official capacity.”

The law is part of a larger trend placing higher scrutiny on what books are offered by libraries and schools. In Missouri, efforts earlier this year to place new restrictions on digital libraries and expand the officials who could face prosecution were debated but did not pass."

Ready to Go: Joining the fight to defend libraries, workers, and the right to read; American Libraries, November 3, 2025

Dan Montgomery , American Libraries; Ready to Go: Joining the fight to defend libraries, workers, and the right to read

"When the interview committee asked why I was interested in the executive director position at the American Library Association (ALA), I replied, doing my best impression of famed mountaineer George Mallory: “Because it’s the ALA!” I was responding, of course, to my belief in libraries and in the right to read, both of which have been under serious attack. And library workers and advocates who defend reading, books, and unfettered access to knowledge are critical to protecting American democracy. So, to be part of the organization most squarely in the forefront of that cause seemed to me an unmissable opportunity, and a great honor."

Federal judge says Texas law requiring book ratings is unconstitutional; KUT News, October 22, 2025

 Bill Zeeble, KUT News; Federal judge says Texas law requiring book ratings is unconstitutional

"The 2023 Texas law requiring booksellers and publishers to rate their books based on sexual content and references has been declared unconstitutional in a Waco court.

A federal judge on Tuesday declared House Bill 900, also known as the READER Act, violates the Constitution. The ruling makes permanent a lower court's temporary injunction that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld.

The law firm Haynes Boone, which represented the coalition of plaintiffs that sued to block the law, said in a statement the ruling is a "major First Amendment victory."

"The READER Act would have imposed impossible obligations on booksellers and limited access to literature, including classic works, for students across Texas," attorney Laura Lee Prather said in the statement.

HB 900 sought to restrict which books are available in school libraries and required booksellers to rate their own books based on sexual content. The Texas Education Agency could have overridden the ratings to prevent school libraries from obtaining books."

‘Every kind of creative discipline is in danger’: Lincoln Lawyer author on the dangers of AI; The Guardian, October 20, 2025

Nadia Khomami  , The Guardian; ‘Every kind of creative discipline is in danger’: Lincoln Lawyer author on the dangers of AI

"The writer has his own battles with AI. He is part of a collective of authors, including Jonathan Franzen, Jodi Picoult and John Grisham, suing OpenAI for copyright infringement...

Connelly has pledged $1m (£746m) to combat the wave of book bans sweeping through his home state of Florida. He said he felt moved to do something after he learned that Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, which had been influential to him, was temporarily removed from classrooms in Palm Beach County.

“I had to read that book to be what I am today. I would have never written a Lincoln Lawyer without it,” he said. He was also struck when Stephen Chbosky’s coming of age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, “which meant a lot to my daughter”, received a ban.

He and his wife, Linda McCaleb, help fund PEN America’s Miami office countering book bans. “It’s run by a lawyer who then tries to step in, usually by filing injunctions against school boards,” he said. “I don’t believe anyone has any right to tell some other kid they can’t read something, to usurp another parent’s oversight of their children.”"

Two sides of book bans: PEN America and Moms for Liberty debate; USA TODAY, October 9, 2025

Anna Kaufman , USA TODAY; Two sides of book bans: PEN America and Moms for Liberty debate

"To hear PEN America and Moms For Liberty speak about the dangers of a society curtailing free speech, you may need to squint to see the differences.

Both organizations profess an unwavering commitment to liberty, but stand firmly on either side of a growing debate about book banning in America.

PEN America, a nonprofit aimed at bolstering the freedom to write and read, has emerged as an outspoken critic of removing reading materials from schools and libraries that have been deemed inappropriate, most often by advocacy groups, but also by individual parents. PEN has been tracking book bans since 2021 and filed lawsuits alongside families and publishers that challenge book restrictions in schools.

Moms For Liberty, a conservative collective, is among the leaders in the parental rights movement. Local chapters of the organization tackle issues across the educational landscape, guiding parents who want to raise concerns at their schools, and flexing their political might through endorsements, stamping President Donald Trump with their approval in 2024.

"Our mission at Moms for Liberty is to unify, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights," Tina Descovich, one of the organization's founders, tells USA TODAY. "Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children, whether it be education or medical care …So they also have the right to monitor what their children are watching and reading."

They don't ban books, she says, that would require the government to bar a person from writing or selling the book. "I think many Americans have chosen to use that word to advance a political agenda instead of using the word correctly," she says.

PEN begs to differ. Kasey Meehan, director of the organization's Freedom to Read program, says, "Our guiding light has always been access." If a group of a few has the power to remove a book from a public space open to all, then that amounts to a ban, she argues.

Banned Books Week "is not about acknowledging bygone censorship, it's really about bringing awareness of censorship that’s happening today," she says. "We have seen pretty well coordinated campaigns that are put on school districts or that are driven by state legislatures or state governors to see certain types of books removed."

To put both sides of the debate in clear view, USA TODAY sent the same questions to both organizations. Here are their responses, unedited and in full."

Hawaii library system bans displays that refer to ‘Banned Books Week,’ rebrands to ‘Freedom to Read’; AP, October 8, 2025

BRITTANY LYTE AND CHAD BLAIR/HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT, AP; Hawaii library system bans displays that refer to ‘Banned Books Week,’ rebrands to ‘Freedom to Read’

"This week, libraries across the U.S. are observing Banned Books Week. In Hawaii, the national event has been rebranded as a week dedicated to the “freedom to read,” an attempt to cool what has become a hot-button political issue.

New guidelines issued by the Hawaii State Public Library System ahead of the 41st annual event prohibit the use of the words “censorship” and “banned,” as well as the phrase “banned books week,” in displays at 51 public libraries across the state.

Also banned are certain props and imagery, such as caution tape and fake flames, and the use of any slogans or materials from the ALA, the professional organization that has sponsored the yearly Banned Books Week campaign since its 1984 origins.

State Librarian Stacey Aldrich said in a statement Tuesday that the language used in the Freedom to Read campaign aims to be inclusive of all library patrons.

“There are people who misunderstand ‘banned books’ or believe that we are banning books,” she said...

“It’s important to get the facts out and I’m not allowed to put the facts in my display,” Kawahara said. “And this is all happening in the one week dedicated to awareness of censorship.”

Stickers emblazoned with “censorship is so 1984,” the ALA’s 2025 Banned Books Week theme, were also confiscated from the Lihue library...

On Monday, at a press conference in downtown Honolulu, the Hawaii Library Association and ACLU Hawaii launched the Freedom to Read initiative in support of intellectual freedom.

The occasion marked Banned Books Week 2025, which runs through Saturday, is intended to raise awareness of increasing challenges to books in classrooms and libraries. Banned Books Week was launched by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom “in coalition with publishers, booksellers and writers’ organizations,” according to the ACLU."

The Normalization of Book Banning; PEN America, October 1, 2025

 Sabrina Baêta, Tasslyn Magnusson, Madison Markham, Kasey Meehan, Yuliana Tamayo Latorre, PEN America; The Normalization of Book Banning"

"Introduction

In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide. Never before have so many politicians sought to bully school leaders into censoring according to their ideological preferences, even threatening public funding to exact compliance. Never before has access to so many stories been stolen from so many children.

The book bans that have accumulated in the past four years are unprecedented and undeniable. This report looks back at the 2024-2025 school year – the fourth school year in the contemporary campaign to ban books – and illustrates the continued attacks on books, stories, identities, and histories.  

This report offers a window into the complex and extensive climate of censorship between July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. Our reporting on book bans remains a bellwether of a larger campaign to restrict and control education and public narratives, wreaking havoc on our public schools and democracy."

West Point is violating the First Amendment with a crackdown on professors, lawsuit says; AP, September 22, 2025

LARRY NEUMEISTER, AP; West Point is violating the First Amendment with a crackdown on professors, lawsuit says

"The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is banning opinions by professors in the classroom and some books and courses in a crackdown that violates the First Amendment, a law professor at the military school said in a lawsuit Monday seeking class action status.

Tim Bakken filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court and named the school and its leaders as defendants. He said he wants to protect free speech and the right to academic freedom at an institution where he has flourished despite his public criticisms of the academy and the U.S. military.

Bakken also noted in the lawsuit that he has a contract with a publisher for a book that is critical of some aspects of West Point and doesn’t want to seek approval from the school’s leadership prior to its publication because “it is very likely such approval will be withheld.”"

FBI leaders allege in lawsuit they were unlawfully fired over political loyalty; The Washington Post, September 10, 2025

Perry Stein , The Washington Post; FBI leaders allege in lawsuit they were unlawfully fired over political loyalty

"Before he was briefly named the FBI’s acting director early this year, Brian Driscoll says, he got a call from a Trump administration official who peppered him with a series of pointed questions that appeared to be a loyalty test.

Among them: “Who did you vote for?” “When did you start supporting President Trump?” “Have you voted for a Democrat in the last five elections?” “Do you agree that the FBI agents who stormed Mar-a-Lago … should be held accountable?”"

Trump is targeting several Smithsonian artworks. Here they are.; The Washington Post, August 26, 2025

Kelsey Ables

, 

Samantha Chery

 and 

Sophia Nguyen,

 The Washington Post; Trump is targeting several Smithsonian artworks. Here they are.

[Kip Currier: Donald Trump and his administration's efforts to remove, revise, and erase artistic and historical content are the opposite of free speech and intellectual freedom. Art should challenge us to think and feel in new ways. We as individuals are certainly free to like a piece of art, hate it, or everything in between on the spectrum of how we feel about it. But the federal (or state) government should not be controlling access to art and suppressing or falsely presenting history in a free democracy. That's what authoritarians and dictators do in non-democratic nations like Russia, China, and North Korea.

If you don't like a particular painting, book, or movie, you can simply walk away from that painting, not read that book, or not watch that movie. But it isn't your right to stop everyone from seeing art, reading books, and watching films. To paraphrase the late Robert Croneberger, Director of the venerable Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and a prolific proponent of intellectual freedom, a library isn't doing its job if it doesn't have at least one item that offends each person.

Similarly, museums, like libraries in healthy democracies, are not meant to reflect a compulsory unitary state viewpoint. We're not the Star Trek Borg Collective where everyone must think alike and individuality is verboten. The mantra of the Borg is that Resistance is Futile. Fortunately, we know that resistance is not futile: we can continue to resist efforts to sanitize art, literature, culture, and history. Exercise your right to consume what you want and disregard what you don't want. But don't tell everyone what they can and can't choose to view and read. That's undemocratic and un-American.]

[Excerpt]

"When the White House posted an article condemning a long list of Smithsonian content last week, it pointed to several specific artworks, a sampling that underlined the kind of material that could be targeted by a president who is increasingly interested in influencing what Americans see in public museums.

The list also criticized Smithsonian exhibition texts, learning materials, past performances and the institution for previously flying the intersex-inclusive Pride flag. This month, President Donald Trump said White House officials were conducting a review of the Smithsonian Institution — months after he signed an executive order seeking to root out “anti-American ideology” in the museum and research complex, an effort that experts say would amount to censorship.

The pieces are an eclectic bunch, united mainly by the Trump administration’s public criticism of them. Not all the artworks are currently on view at the museums. Taken together, they tell a story of a White House that is sensitive to imagery that appears to contradict its messaging, whether it shows a transgender woman cast as the Statue of Liberty or a boy peering over the Southern border...

Here is a look at the artworks named by the White House as evidence that Trump is “right” about the Smithsonian — and how several of the artists have responded."