Marcelino Benito, KHOU11; Montgomery County votes to restrict access to certain books at public libraries
"Commissioners Court ultimately voted to restrict "explicit" or "objectionable" material in public libraries from anyone under 18. That restriction includes LGBTQ-themed books."
Jonathan Gallardo, Gillette News Record; Campbell County library board fires director; hundreds attend special meeting
"The Campbell County Public Library board voted 4-1 to fire director Terri Lesley during a special meeting Friday afternoon, effective immediately.
No reason for Lesley's firing was given by the board...
After the vote, Lesley walked out of the room as most of the audience gave her a standing ovation."
Gregory S. Schneider, The Washington Post ; Public libraries are the latest front in culture war battle over books
"Resident Tina Johnson, 49, followed, saying she had spent 20 years working with children as a behavioral therapist. She pointed out that banned books disproportionately feature minorities and marginalized people.
“Banning books is not about books. Banning books is about people,” she said. “It’s about telling some children in our community their family is perverse and unwelcome. … Samuels is just one library, in our little county, but it is the front line, as is every library being targeted right now by systematic attacks on the First Amendment.”"
Emily St. James, The New York Times; I Am Being Pushed Out of One of the Last Public Squares, the Library
"The library’s predominant role in our culture is to provide a place to find the information or art you are seeking. But it has another role that’s equally important: a place where everyone is welcome.
When you step inside a library, you are confronted with a wealth of information some other people have curated for you, just by being there."
Tom Skulski , Steamboat Pilot & Today; Mountain biking ethics workshop held at library
"Yampatika and Routt County Riders have partnered to host the Leave No Trace workshop, focusing on the outdoor ethics of mountain biking.
Mountain biking is a popular summer activity in and around Steamboat Springs, but it can also have negative environmental impacts. The goal of the workshop is to discuss those impacts and explain what can be done to limit them.
The event will run from noon-1 p.m. Friday at the Bud Werner Library Hall. The workshop is free, and pizza, donated by Brooklynn’s Pizzeria, will be available on a first-come, first-served basis."
, South China Morning Post; Hong Kong public libraries should disclose books pulled from shelves, give reasons for censorship so authors can appeal: government adviser
"Hong Kong’s public libraries should establish a mechanism for disclosing books pulled from their shelves and explain the reasons for the decision to allow authors of censored titles a chance to appeal, a government adviser has said.
Chui Yat-hung, who sits on the Public Libraries Advisory Committee, on Wednesday also said that books about local social movements should not be censored if they were factual accounts of political events, rather than subjective ones.
“They are history after all,” he told a radio programme.
Hours after Chui made the remarks, members of the 23-strong committee were told by its secretariat to refrain from speaking to the media, the Post learned.
The lack of transparency in the ongoing action by the city’s public library operator to root out works contrary to national security also sparked concerns among educators."
Aljazeera; Tiananmen books disappear from Hong Kong library shelves
"Hong Kong must not “recommend books with unhealthy ideas”, the territory’s leader John Lee has said, after it emerged books related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown had been removed from public libraries.
The discovery was made after a prominent political cartoonist – whose work often satirised Hong Kong’s relationship with mainland China – was suspended indefinitely from publishing in a mainstream newspaper, and had his books removed from the city’s libraries."
Kayla Padilla, Texas Public Radio; Llano County Library will remain open despite effort to shut it down over book ban
"After a contentious special meeting on Thursday, Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham announced that the county's library system will stay open.
“The library will remain open. We will try this in the courts — not through social media or through news media,” Cunningham said.
Commissioners considered whether or not they would shut down their library system rather than complying with a federal judge’s order that they must return 17 banned books to the library shelves.
The banned books, which include themes of LGBTQ+ identity and race, were removed last year without public input, after Llano County officials declared them pornographic and sexually explicit...
Most protestors stood outside for the duration of the meeting because of limited room inside the court. One library advocate, Carolyn Foote, said that the removal of the 17 books is a “slippery slope.”
Foote is co-founder of the FReadom Fighters, a group of Texas librarians fighting book bans and advocating for students.
“That’s why you have rules and policies — because censorship really isn’t a partisan issue. And partly, the Supreme Court supports libraries in that. There’s a ruling called Pico v. Island Trees that says you cannot remove materials just because you don’t like the ideas in them,” she explained."
MacKenzie Ryan, The Guardian; Why US libraries are on the frontlines of the homelessness crisis
"“Many libraries have added social workers to their staff,” said Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, the American Library Association president, citing a trend that started in the past decade...
When Dowd trains library staff on de-escalation tactics, he hears a lot of comments like, “They didn’t teach me this stuff in library school,” he said. He says he teaches library staff to focus on the behavior they’re seeing. If someone is unhoused and caused a problem, then they have to deal with it. If a multimillionaire is in the library causing a problem, they also have to deal with it.""
Matt Enis , Library Journal ; Three Libraries Work with Teens to Pilot VR Program for Mental Health
"The Seattle Public Library (SPL); District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL); and Fayette Public Library, Museum & Archives (FPLMA), La Grange, TX, in partnership with the University of Washington (UW), have launched VRtality.org, a website that provides libraries and other institutions with a roadmap for co-designing virtual reality (VR) apps to support the mental health of teens. The roadmap and website were informed by three separate VR pilot programs developed by the three libraries. Librarians worked directly with teen patrons to create the VR programs, treating them as equal partners in the projects...
Harris noted that “co-design really allowed them to feel comfortable sharing their ideas with us, as opposed to ‘we’re instructing, and there’s a right answer.’ The fact that we’re all learning together and building this together, I think that A: It helps us establish relationships with them. And B: It allows them…to suggest some crazy stuff and see where it goes.”"
Austin Persinger , American Libraries; An Uphill Battle
"The complaint bothered me, so I entered the conversation to talk about the concept of the Library of Things—that our institutions can loan so much more than books—and how Summers County Public Library could help. I began soliciting donations on various Facebook pages and through the local newspaper for a fleet of lightweight, collapsible utility wagons that cost about $100 each. Project Buggy Buddy had a fundraising goal of $1,200; community response to the idea was enthusiastic, and we raised $2,000. We began checking out six wagons within a month and have six more on order.
The wagons in our fleet are designed to go over rough surfaces, and a five-day checkout period removes pressure to return them immediately after a trip. We don’t charge fines if wagons are returned late—though, in the first four months of lending, all of them have been returned on time—and we allow renewals if needed. The program has been successful: It is popular among users, is eliminating the guilt and fear of harassment for taking buggies, and has engendered goodwill and renewed interest in the library.
People tell us they are grateful we are assisting them in a real way. One patron said that using the wagon allows them to buy items in bulk, which has helped them save money on groceries.
We have myriad needs and problems here in Appalachia. Lack of transportation may not be the biggest, flashiest, or first problem one thinks of, but it causes an undue burden in our communities. Our crowdsourced fleet is a Band-Aid on the issue—our way of alleviating the problem in a small but helpful way. Solving the rural infrastructure problem may be too big and complex for me and my library, but I am happy to get the wagon rolling."
Caitlin Gibson, The Washington Post; ‘Everywhere Babies,’ a picture book celebrating infants, just got banned
Author Susan Meyers and illustrator Marla Frazee respond to their book being banned from school libraries in Walton County, Fla.
"Meyers and Frazee each spoke to me about their book, the experience of seeing it banned from public school libraries for the first time, and what they hope parents might take away from what’s happening in Walton County and beyond. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity...
What would you want to say to parents about what’s happening with books like yours and so many others being removed from school libraries and public libraries?
SM: Parents have to open their eyes and see what’s going on around them. If you don’t agree with this take, what these people are doing, you better show up at your local school board meeting. Authoritarian and fascist communities, this is what they always go for, they always burn the books. It actually shows the power of books. If they didn’t have any power, they wouldn’t be burning or banning them. So that’s one thing to remember and celebrate: The power of books.
MF: I watched Mallory McMorrow’s speech the other day, the state legislator in Michigan. I feel like what she said — how either we oppose the rise of this hate or we enable it — that is absolutely the truth. I think that’s exactly where we are. So for parents, I just think what’s important is to stand up for the children who don’t have any voices. Even if you’re not in a county like Walton County, Florida, even if you’re in a county where you don’t think this is going to happen, it very well could happen. I think we all have to be very aware of that possibility and start speaking out. We can’t leave it to marginalized groups to speak out. We all have to speak out."
Deepa Shivaram, NPR ; New York Public Library makes banned books available for free
"In response to the more than 1,500 books challenged to be removed from libraries in the last year, the New York Public Library launched an effort to make some banned books available for everyone — for free.
The initiative is called Books for All and allows any reader aged 13 and older to access commonly banned books through the library's app until the end of May. There are no wait times to access the books and no fines, the library said. Typically, access to books at the New York Public Library are only available to New Yorkers with a library card.
"The recent instances of both attempted and successful book banning —primarily on titles that explore race, LGBTQ+ issues, religion, and history — are extremely disturbing and amount to an all-out attack on the very foundation of our democracy," said Tony Marx, president of the New York Public Library.
"Knowledge is power; ignorance is dangerous, breeding hate and division ... Since their inception, public libraries have worked to combat these forces simply by making all perspectives and ideas accessible to all," Marx said."
American Libraries; New ALA Poll Shows Voters Oppose Book Bans
"A new national poll commissioned by the American Library Association (ALA) released on March 24 shows that seven in 10 voters oppose removing books from public libraries, including majorities of voters across party lines. In addition, 74% of parents of public school children expressed confidence in school libraries and librarians to choose which books are available to children and said books that have been contested should be available on an age-appropriate basis.
The poll, conducted March 1–6, surveyed 1,000 voters and 472 parents of children in public schools. It is the first to view the issue of book bans through the lens of public and school libraries. The poll’s results demonstrate that voters have a high regard for librarians and recognize the critical role libraries play in their communities. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that book bans are far from being a partisan issue; they are opposed by large majorities of voters regardless of personal political affiliation.
“The survey results confirm what we have known and observed: that banning books is widely opposed by most voters and parents,” said ALA President Patricia “Patty” M. Wong in a March 24 statement. “As a career librarian who began in public libraries working with children, I’m thrilled to see that parents have a high degree of confidence in school libraries’ decisions about their collections and very few think that school librarians ignore parents’ concerns. This truly validates the value and integrity of library professionals at a time when many are feeling burned out because of accusations made by small but loud groups.”
More than 330 cases of book bans and challenges were reported to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) between September 1 and November 30, 2021. The total number of challenges in 2021 was more than double the number of reports from 2020 (156 challenges) and exceeded the overall number of challenges from 2019 (377 challenges).
OIF will announce the full 2021 book challenge totals and its annual Top 10 List of Most Challenged Books on April 4, during National Library Week (April 3–9). Additionally, the annual accounting of book censorship in the US will be released as part of ALA’s State of America’s Libraries 2022 report.
More data points from the poll:
The poll was conducted by Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research on behalf of ALA. It included 1,000 voters and 472 parents of children in public schools. The sample is demographically and geographically representative of voters and parents in the US. Additional survey findings and methodology can be found on the ALA website.""
Elizabeth A. Harris and; Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S.
Challenges to books about sexual and racial identity are nothing new in American schools, but the tactics and politicization are.
"“It’s a pretty startling phenomenon here in the United States to see book bans back in style, to see efforts to press criminal charges against school librarians,” said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of the free-speech organization PEN America, even if efforts to press charges have so far failed.
Such challenges have long been a staple of school board meetings, but it isn’t just their frequency that has changed, according to educators, librarians and free-speech advocates — it is also the tactics behind them and the venues where they play out. Conservative groups in particular, fueled by social media, are now pushing the challenges into statehouses, law enforcement and political races...
So far, efforts to bring criminal charges against librarians and educators have largely faltered, as law enforcement officials in Florida, Wyoming and elsewhere have found no basis for criminal investigations. And courts have generally taken the position that libraries should not remove books from circulation.
Nonetheless, librarians say that just the threat of having to defend against charges is enough to get many educators to censor themselves by not stocking the books to begin with. Even just the public spectacle of an accusation can be enough.
“It will certainly have a chilling effect,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s office for intellectual freedom."
DARIAN BENSON, NPR; Why your local library might be hiring a social worker
"For years, libraries have been a place people turn to for information to help them solve problems. But the challenges patrons are dealing with are increasingly beyond the scope of what most librarians are trained to handle — and that's where social workers can fill in the gaps."
JANINE JACKSON, FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING (FAIR); ‘A For-Profit Company Is Trying to Privatize as Many Public Libraries as They Can’
CN: And so it’s all about slashing pensions, slashing pay from salaries to hourly rates, kind of nickel-and-diming workers. And that does save money. But the other dimension to that is that these are library budgets and county budgets that are miniscule compared to the other things that money is being spent on. So it’s this sort of race to zero idea of, there’s already not really much money. So in the case of Riverside, and I go over this in the article, they kind of have this narrative, it’s their flagship case, it’s like, look at what the private sector can do for the public sector. Look at how much better we are at running this.
But really, if you look at the amount of money that Riverside was spending on their libraries, it just wasn’t enough money. It just wasn’t a good fraction of the budget. And also the savings that they claimed to have engineered come from places that are not necessarily linked to what this company has actually done. It’s all kind of a shell game, scam, illusion. It’s a grift.
And the same people that are running this company are the same usual suspects as have done other grifting, notably the Scantron Corporation, which has arguably changed the way that we do public education in the United States—for the worse, if you ask most people. The CEO of Library Systems & Services came from the Scantron Corporation. So these are people with experience in this type of, we are going to take our private interests into the public and capitalize off of taxpayer dollars without being accountable...
And so on that same note, I don’t understand why American Library Association, for example, is not coming out much more forcefully against this happening, and is not being much more pivotal in forwarding this discussion. There are non-profit groups, like Every Library that has been working on individual cases where libraries are trying to be privatized by this company. But why isn’t the professional organization that governs all of librarianship, literally accredits the schools that give us our master’s degrees, why aren’t they protecting this most precious public good? So that’s a big question that I have. But also, like, where’s the rest of the media?
Why aren’t we talking about this? ‘Cause it’s happening. According to LS&S, they have 80 public library systems they are operating, making them the third-biggest public library operator in the country. I guess that’s probably behind New York Public Library, and maybe LA? I’m not really sure what exactly their metric is. But they’re bragging about that on their website. So I’m just like, no no no no no no; that can’t be how this is.
Because Americans love public libraries. And they love the public part of public libraries. It is one of these things that’s like, we all love the post office and we all love libraries. We can kind of agree on that. And as you mentioned before, the post office is another example of where this kind of attack is happening."
