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Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I’m sure most of you are aware of the heinous situation that trans people are facing in Texas right now, so instead of my usual newsletter intro, I’m going to link to this updating Twitter thread of transgender organizations in Texas that need your support.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
The court blocks Maryland’s library eBook law.
Arizona could ease gun rules for schools, libraries, and other public buildings.
An LGBTQ activist was arrested at the Lafayette Parish Library for interrupting a board meeting.
The Boston Public Library holds a “Fill the Library With Love” rally after dealing with several disruptive anti-mask protests.
Owners of a Little Free Library say that its been targeted over LGBTQ+ books.
Cool Library Updates
The Austin Public Library is eliminating late fees.
Worth Reading
Systematically dismantling the library.
Book Adaptations in the News
Let’s all weep for our vanished childhoods: the final episode of Arthur has aired, with the characters in their 20’s in the year 2042.
Mindy Kaling, Amazon Publishing, and Amazon Studios announce Mindy’s Book Studio and a first-look deal.
Tom Hanks will be starring in the upcoming adaptation of A Man Called Ove.
Hillary Clinton’s production company is taking on the movie adaptation of State of Terror.
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu will be adapted for TV.
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson is being optioned for TV!
Casting update for The Time Traveler’s Wife.
Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!
Banned & Challenged Books
Here’s a state-by-state guide to anti-CRT bills across the country.
John Oliver addresses the CRT debate in standard John Oliver-fashion.
McKinney ISD (TX) parents challenge 282 “sexually explicit” books in school libraries.
A review of books in the Granbury ISD (TX) is underway.
Ted Cruz says teachers are bringing in “explicit pornography” to schools.
Records show Texas parents’ calls to ban books from schools.
Only 27% of Texans trust politicians’ judgement of school books.
The Lafayette Parish library board reduces librarian input on its book review committee.
A group of parents have successfully petitioned the Hudsonville Public School District (MI) to remove Half of a Yellow Sun from an optional reading list.
Michigan libraries are seeing a rise in book challenges, fueled by social controversies.
After recent attention due to library book removals, the Raymond (WI) school board election looms.
A Salina (KS) Board of Education meeting gets heated during a discussion of banned books.
Valparaison (IN) residents express concern over the possibility of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time being removed from the school curriculum.
North Allen County School (IN) district parents complained about I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings being included on the 10th grade reading list.
Indiana teachers predict a mass exodus if a state bill restricting how educators discuss race is passed.
Gender Queer is under review at the Pella Public Library (IA).
Iowa lawmakers are pushing a bill that would allow parents to sue schools over “obscene” books.
The Liberty (MO) school board voted to keep All Boys Aren’t Blue on school shelves.
Bixby Public Schools (OK) vote to keep Thirteen Reasons Why and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl on library shelves.
A Kentucky bill would make teaching about institutional racism illegal.
The McMinn County Board of Education stands by its decision to ban Maus despite the community uproar.
Union Grove Middle School in Tennessee has pulled the book Dragonwings from sixth grade classrooms, which is about the experiences of Chinese immigrants.
I really don’t like the headline here, but here’s a look at how the Moms for Liberty are pushing to have multiple titles removed from schools across Tennessee.
Tennessee lawmakers take up the governor’s proposed school library bill that school librarians worry could be used to purge books about “uncomfortable” topics.
A proposal to move sexually explicit content from the children’s and teen’s sections at the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library (AR) has failed a second time. The library has also elected to keep All Boys Aren’t Blue on shelves, without relocating the book.
Bentonville parents complain about explicit material in the high school library: A Court of Mist and Fury, The Bluest Eye, The Kite Runner, and The God of Small Things.
Several parents are concerned about books being removed from the curriculum at Bryant Public Schools (AR).
Ridgeland (MS) aldermen propose a new library contract after a raucous meeting.
Book banning battles hit North Carolina schools.
This writer read The Girl Who Fell From the Sky after multiple parents called for its removal from North Carolina schools.
Hayward County (NC) parents complain about the district’s decision to pull Dear Martin from the high school curriculum.
Hanover (VA) residents express concerns over school book banning. Meanwhile, a Hanover County supervisor is pushing the school board to fast-track its book removal decisions.
Virginia Beach will return six challenged books to school shelves: A Lesson Before Dying, The Bluest Eye, Lawn Boy, Good Trouble, Beyond Magenta, and Gender Queer.
The Virginia Senate has passed a bill directing school boards to notify parents about explicit materials.
Georgia lawmakers are advancing two bills meant to limit students’ access to “inappropriate” or “obscene” materials.
The Columbia County School District will keep To Kill a Mockingbird on library shelves, and rejected the claim that the schools are providing “pornographic” materials to students.
Amid fear and censorship, Florida school districts are pulling books off shelves in public schools.
Indian River County schools (FL) admit to pulling 156 books while they await review, even though this goes against the school’s stated policy on book removal.
Support for book bans spreads across Tampa Bay.
Polk County (FL) schools form a review committee to evaluate the 16 books that were removed from school libraries.
The Florida House votes to increase scrutiny of school library books and instructional materials.
The Suffield (CT) Board of Education tweaks its library book review policy.
West Chester (PA) parents are upset over sexual content in certain school books including Melissa (formerly published as George) by Alex Gino.
The Montana ACLU has filed a records request regarding the ImagineIF Library Board’s decision to remove books from library shelves.
A Manhattan Beach (CA) councilperson takes aim at Gender Queer and Lawn Boy.
After deciding to keep four books on library shelves, the Walla Walla School District heard an appeal and decided again to keep the books. The titles in question were The Bluest Eye, All Boys Aren’t Blue, Gender Queer, and The Hate U Give.
Debate continues over a potential book ban in Kent (WA) schools.
How a queer Christian student helped defeat a proposed book ban.
While some banned queer books see a sales bump, others quietly disappear.
How faith-based, right-wing money is waging war through book challenges.
Book bans are a result of white fear of a changing world.
Want to ban a book? Assign it for English class.
Books & Authors in the News
Britney Spears is writing a tell-all book for $15 million.
Coming to grips with authors whose values you don’t share.
Award News
Nicole Krauss wins the 2022 Wingate Prize for her essay collection, To Be a Man.
The LA Times Book Prize finalists have been announced.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Pop Cultured
I can’t believe I forgot to mention this last week, but here’s the trailer for Jordan Peele’s upcoming movie, Nope.
Stranger Things has been renewed for a fifth and final season.
The Beauty and the Beast prequel series has been put on hold at Disney+.
On the Riot
How to run a book quiz challenge in your school library.
Solar powered camel libraries.
Secret and mysterious libraries around the world.
How much does annotating help you remember what you read?
Confessions of a former slow reader.
Why this reader no longer reads physical books.
A definitive ranking of Goosebumps covers.
How literature helped this reader cope with platonic and romantic breakups.
You should always have a book with you.
Don’t forget to check out our new line of bookish, Wordle-inspired merch! There are mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, and more. The campaign is temporary, so order yours now!
Today’s featured cat is a memorial to our baby, Star, who crossed the rainbow bridge in July 2020. She and Gilbert were the best of friends, and her default sweetness setting was always set to 11. And if you look hard enough at the second photo, you might be able to see her little toofies sticking out of her mouth. We still miss her every day.
All right, let’s get some sleep this weekend. (This suggestion brought to you by my chronically sleep-deprived brain this week.) I’ll see you on Tuesday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson.