I don’t have a funny or pithy intro for this newsletter because I am so fucking angry. Once again, innocent children have paid the ultimate price for our elected officials’ negligence. I am not exaggerating to say that I’m so angry that I’m shaking. I’ve contacted my representatives. I’ve donated. I’ve signed up for a postcard mailing campaign for swing states for November. But it’s not enough. And the fact that this newsletter is once again packed with links about people continuing to ban LGBTQ books and books about racism, as if that’s the real danger in these children’s lives, is almost unbearable.
If you haven’t contacted your representatives, do so now. Phone, email, mail them a letter…doesn’t matter. Contact them directly and ask them what they are planning to do to keep our kids safe at school. Keep contacting them. Ask them why protecting guns is more important than protecting children. Ask the pro-life people why it’s more important to legislate a person’s uterus than it is to protect children who have already been born. Don’t let up.
I feel like I’m overstepping an enormous professional boundary right now to be so openly political, but fuck that. We’re going to talk about libraries now because that’s what this newsletter is supposed to do, but do not let your elected officials off the hook. Let them know how badly they’ve failed us.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
Rhode Island advances its library eBook bill.
Representative Jamie Raskin (MD) headlined the Libraries Are Essential program at the US Book Show.
Cool Library Updates
Huntsville-Madison County (AL) Public Library is going fine free.
The Summers County Public Library (WV) shines a light on rural food deserts.
Worth Reading
Reproductive health at the reference desk, or how to answer common patron questions about the leaked SCOTUS document.
Enhancing accessibility in makerspaces.
What makes the Library of Congress a monument to democracy.
Advice for universities looking to partner with public libraries.
Book Adaptations in the News
Bridgerton Season 3 will jump ahead in the book series to focus on Colin and Penelope’s story.
The Lincoln Lawyer is now the top show on Netflix, overtaking Ozark.
Eric Bana has started filming Force of Nature, the follow up to The Dry.
Amy Adams will be starring in the upcoming adaptation of Nightbitch.
Young President Snow has been cast for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Jenni Fagan’s Luckenbooth and The Panopticon will be adapted for TV.
Here’s the trailer for the third and final season of Love, Victor.
Banned & Challenged Books
School Library Journal has released an anonymous Controversial Books Survey. If you’re a school librarian, consider filling it out.
Book challenges could affect AP course designation.
You need to talk about the sex parts in banned books.
Congress holds its second hearing on banned books and censorship happening in classrooms. More than 1300 children’s authors have also petitioned Congress to condemn book banning.
State Farm has dropped its support of the GenderCool Project, which provides LGBTQ-themed children’s books to teachers and libraries. State Farm now says that “Conversations about gender and identity should happen at home with parents.” How much do you want to bet they’re still going to have some sort of Pride presence on social media next month?
The purpose of book bans is to make queer kids scared.
The hypocrisy of Disney+ content ratings and its treatment of Love, Victor.
The Texas librarian who was fired for “insubordination” was just trying to do right by readers.
Westlake (TX) schools move to restrict YouTube access on middle school devices to only show pre-approved videos.
More people are challenging books in the Eanes ISD (TX), including Being Jazz, How to Be an Antiracist, and the Bible.
A Texas librarian talks about the struggles of ordering new books for the school: “Should I play it safe or push the envelope?”
Virginia Beach School Board removes Gender Queer from libraries, calling it “pervasively vulgar.” Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble is being sued in Virginia Beach over Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury.
A Virginia Beach delegate has submitted a FOIA request looking for the names of library staff who ordered controversial books for their school libraries.
Florida high school activist Jack Petocz has been awarded a PEN award in recognition of his efforts to organize a statewide student walkout in protest of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
A Florida student who is suing over the “Don’t Say Gay” law says that his school is trying to censor his graduation speech.
Pasco (FL) braces for book challenges with ideas for new school library rules. As the superintendent says, “I don’t want this district to be in the book-banning business.”
After parents read rape scenes at a Sarasota County (FL) school board meeting, the district has decided to restrict access to The Bluest Eye and Sold.
The Citrus County (FL) Library Governing Board ignored a request that Councilwoman Jacquie Hepfer be removed from the board. This request came after the library board refused to ban LGBTQ books from display in the library.
The overwhelming majority of textbook reviewers in Florida found no evidence of objectionable content. Three reviewers did, however, and one of the reviewers has ties to Moms for Liberty, while the other two have ties to Hillsdale College in Michigan, which has become influential in conservative politics.
After Polk County Schools (FL) returned 16 challenged books to library shelves, an opposing group has threatened to sue the district.
Nixa (MO) school board votes to ban Fun Home and All Boys Aren’t Blue, while restricting several others.
The Wentzville School District (MO) removes another book from school libraries: this time, it’s The Bluest Eye.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has been challenged for the second time in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The first time, the challenge came from someone who was believed to have given a false name and address when protesting the book at a school board meeting.
A Lehigh Valley (PA) school board member’s husband has been banned from meetings after allegedly threatening the board president.
Pennsylvania middle school students rally around a teacher who was placed on sudden administrative leave, which many believe is tied to his reputation as an LGBTQ advocate. The student protestors, in turn, have been threatened with truancy by the school administration.
Newtown (PA) students, parents, and members of the public spoke out against proposed policy changes that would ban certain books from school libraries and classrooms.
New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Public Library have created a banned books reading challenge. ]
Yorktown School District (NY) elects to keep Lawn Boy, The Hate U Give, Looking for Alaska, and Gender Queer. Five other books are still under review.
The majority of “parents rights” candidates lost in the Capital Region (NY) school elections thanks to a massive voter turnout.
Tangentially related: two drag queens are suing New Hampshire state representative David Love for defamation after Love made offensive remarks following a 2021 Drag Queen Story Time in Derry, NH.
A mass text message was sent out to Guilford County (NC) parents, asking them to show up to the school board meeting en masse to protest Salvage the Bones being on a high school recommended reading list.
The removal campaign continues in Moore County Schools (NC).
2 of 24 book challenges have been reviewed in Catawba County schools (NC). The Kite Runner is being kept, while The Perks of Being a Wallflower is being moved from the middle school library and will be reviewed for high school students.
A Hillsdale (MI) librarian resigns in the wake of a failed LGBTQIA+ children’s book ban proposal.
Rapid City teachers, students, and parents spoke to the school board regarding the five titles that were almost quietly destroyed after being purchased for the school district.
An Illinois man who has called Lyons Township High School board members “bobbleheads” and “worse than pedophiles” has been banned from both high school campuses.
Harlem School District (IL) votes to remove Gender Queer from school libraries.
Two Vinton (IA) residents attended a library board meeting to ask the library to a) reconsider the books being put on display and b) publish a list of the books being used at future storytime events. The board denied both of these requests.
The Keokuk (IA) school board voted to remove The Scottsboro Boys from the elementary school library and instead keep it in the middle school library.
A Des Moines nonprofit organization gets caught in the book banning controversy.
Shawnee Heights (KS) school board votes against banning 5 challenged books including The The Hate U Give and Gender Queer.
Forest Hills (OH) high school students walk out after the school cancels its planned Diversity Day activities.
Tennessee prisons ban a book opposing capital punishment.
Here are a sample of the books being challenged in Kentucky public libraries.
Kentucky’s public libraries are now punching bags and piggy banks for politicians.
When kids ask for books they’re “too young” to read.
A burn-proof edition of The Handmaid’s Tale is up for auction.
Books & Authors in the News
Mercedes Lackey was swiftly removed from the Nebula Conference for using a racial slur while participating on a panel.
Time announces its 100 Most Influential People of 2022, including authors Sally Rooney, Michelle Zauner, Emily Oster, and more.
The legacy of Gone Girl, ten years later.
Amazon starts a monthly book club.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Numbers & Trends
A new Freckle survey shows where Americans get their books.
Is BookTok changing the way we talk about books?
Award News
The Nebula Awards have been announced.
Alice Zeniter and her translator Frank Wynne have won the Dublin Literary Award for The Art of Losing.
Mohammed Alnaas becomes the youngest writer to win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
The British Book Awards have been announced.
Why our literary prizes have lost their luster.
Pop Cultured
Riverdale will end with Season 7 in 2023.
HBO Max orders an adult animated Velma Dinkley series, starring Mindy Kaling.
Teaser trailer for Only Murders in the Building, Season 2.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
Loganberry Books in Ohio is hosting a retirement party for their resident greeter kitty, Otis.
70-year-old Rita Collins drives cross-country in a bookstore on wheels.
Penguin Random House launches Read Receipts as a way to help people read more and reach their personal reading goals.
Want to read more books? A company will pay you $200 for every novel you finish. (And document in detail.)
On the Riot
School librarians are disappearing: here’s why they shouldn’t.
Algospeak and how it’s used to circumvent censorship and algorithms.
That time Isabel Allende got fired for (re)writing feminist characters.
7 great book subscription boxes for kids.
Kindle Oasis vs. Paperwhite: which is right for you?
I’m still ending on a cat photo, because sometimes the only things that keep me from screaming into the void are these fuzzy babies. These photos come courtesy of Blaine, who wasn’t feeling well earlier this week, and Dini decided that the best thing to do was flop on Blaine’s stomach like a fish. It didn’t…not…help Blaine feel better, so…success?
If you’re feeling the same rage as I am, try to channel it into something productive this weekend, whether that’s cleaning out a closet or contacting your Senators. Rest. And then come back to fight. I’ll see you on Tuesday.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.