Welcome to Check Your Shelf, where it has been a WEEK. To put it bluntly, we’ve been in crisis mode at work for a long time, and on Tuesday, one of my fellow managers and I had an opportunity to address the library trustees about the impact this staffing crisis has had on the employees, and we didn’t pull any punches. There is a lot of change happening, and a lot more change still to come, but I think our statements had a positive impact.
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Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
Leslie Burger has been appointed the Interim Executive Director of ALA, following Tracie D. Hall’s departure earlier this year.
Worth Reading
Here’s what students miss out on when their schools don’t have librarians.
Sacred space: why libraries are essential to incarcerated writers.
Why we need public libraries now more than ever.
7 surprising ways the public library can save you money.
Book Adaptations in the News
It’s not a book adaptation, but Michael Connelly’s Wonderland Murders and the Secret History of Hollywood podcast is getting a docuseries adaptation at MGM+.
What’s going on with Enola Holmes, season 3.
Season 2 of House of the Dragon will premiere early next summer.
Censorship News
Kelly Jensen talks about having her own book banned in retaliation for her reporting on censorship issues.
Queer in a time of book banning: a library worker’s story.
How much does the book banning crusade cost American taxpayers?
Kirk Cameron launches his own book fair in response to Scholastic, saying that his program will provide children’s books without pornography. The link is from Fox News, although I typically try not to link to them.
Censorship in prisons is part of slavery’s legacy.
Innocence, here and abroad: taboos about what can and can’t be shown in picture books around the world.
Librarians who have been fired due to their refusal to ban books are turning to the EEOC for assistance.
Book bans and the librarians who won’t be hushed.
Election updates: Election Night 2023 library wrap-up; Liberal and moderate candidates take control of school boards in contentious races across the US; Republicans suffer crushing defeat in “transgender battle;” Moms for Liberty-backed school board candidates overwhelmingly lose in elections.
Booksellers and publishers urge the appeals court to uphold the block on the contentious Texas book rating legislation.
P!nk and PEN America have teamed up to give away 2,000 banned books at her Florida concerts.
This Florida high school librarian explains how the ongoing fight against censorship drove her to quit a job that she loved.
Steve Martin has a snappy comeback for the Collier County Public School district (FL) for banning his novel, Shopgirl, which is cute, I guess, but Collier County schools have removed 313 books from their school libraries, and that’s not getting nearly as much attention.
Students in New Haven, Connecticut, rally for the right to read.
Five new candidates were elected to the Pine-Richland School District (PA), and four of them are in support of book bans.
Inside the knock-down, drag-out fight over the soul of a Pennsylvania school district (Central Bucks).
(Paywalled): Carroll County School District’s (MD) assistant superintendent reverses a committee’s decision to retain five challenged titles.
(Paywalled): The Lexington-Richmond Five School District (SC) will retain A Court of Mist and Fury.
Parents in Marietta, Georgia, are fighting to get Flamer back on school library shelves.
Farmington School District (AR) will keep Kingdom of Ash.
Boyle County Schools (KY) removed over 100 library books in response to their interpretation of a new state law restricting how human sexuality is taught or mentioned in the classroom. However, the law didn’t actually apply to library materials, and now the district has to put the books back on the shelves.
The Okemos School District (MI) has canceled their planned Scholastic Book Fairs this fall over Scholastic’s initial plan to segregate “diverse” books in a separate collection. “We will revisit the use of Scholastic Book Fairs when they share their new plan.”
Iowa’s proposed rules on banning books in schools are out. Here’s what to know.
A Fresno County (CA) supervisor introduces a proposal that would give parents more control over the books in the children’s section at the library. “He made it clear the legislation would not ban any of the books, it would just remove them from the children’s section.” THAT’S STILL CENSORSHIP!
(Paywalled): 18 LGBTQ+ books were challenged at Helix Character School in Oregon, but all will remain on the shelves.
“Dozens, if not hundreds, of library boards throughout America have faced growing scrutiny in recent years and become embroiled in censorship debates. Seemingly overnight, people in cities throughout the country have tried to ban certain books in the name of protecting children. Others have argued book bans are un-American and an infringement on freedom of speech.” This is about city council drama in Liberty Lake (WA) that stems from an attempt to get Gender Queer removed from the library last year, but I am so damn sick of news outlets giving the “both sides” treatment to censorship issues.
Sitka High School (AK) students introduce a resolution to their school board in strong opposition to book banning.
Books & Authors in the News
A judge has dismissed part of the AI copyright lawsuit filed by a group of authors.
All Seasons Press sues Mark Meadows over alleged lies in his memoir, The Chief’s Chief.
Numbers & Trends
Has it ever been harder to make a living as an author?
10 books trending on TikTok right now.
The best-selling books of the week.
Award News
Two sponsors withdrew from the National Book Awards ceremony after learning that some of the authors involved were planning to make a political statement about the Israel-Gaza conflict. This was the official update/response from the National Book Awards.
Barnes & Noble has named The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store as their 2023 Book of the Year.
ALA has announced the finalists for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals.
Voting for the Goodreads Choice Awards has opened up.
Pop Cultured
25 of the best serial killer shows for you to stream immediately.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
What this parent reads to their child when the world is on fire.
A history of Ángela Ruiz Robles and her Mechanical Encyclopedia, which people consider to be a precursor to the modern ereader.
On the Riot
What’s new in the world of reading research?
How to create a Fellowship of the Traveling Book.
This Rioter is trying desperately to read anything that’s not a book.
No words, just vibes.
Well, that’s all I have for today, friends. I’m going to take a nap and hopefully wake up a bit more refreshed next week. See you on Tuesday!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.