News

Decision made on five of 58 books threatened with removal from Carroll County school libraries

Friday, September 15th, 2023

via Baltimore Sun (Maryland)

Carroll County public schools officials have made a decision about five of the 58 books that the superintendent ordered to be removed from library shelves last month amid challenges from the Carroll County chapter of Moms for Liberty.

Parent Involvement, Book Bans, School Board – General

Library ad opposes pulling books from school shelves

Friday, September 15th, 2023

via WBAL-TV 11 (Maryland)

The Enoch Pratt Free Library system is jumping into the debate over pulling certain books off Carroll County school shelves.

Parent Involvement, Book Bans

Out of print

Friday, September 15th, 2023

via Deseret News (Utah)

Can libraries survive the digital age?

Book Bans

Column: Stop pretending book bans are all about sex. If we ban books, ‘we will be banning knowledge, culture, empathy,’ says Illinois secretary of state.

Friday, September 15th, 2023

via Chicago Tribune (Illinois)

We elect our representatives to solve our problems, not distract us from them. Book bans are a distraction.

Book Bans, School Board – General

Sen. Mike Lee consistently appeals to very conservative Utahns

Friday, September 15th, 2023

via Deseret News (Utah)

Lee's latest Utah approval ratings show he wins support from the right, but not the left

Book Bans

‘Thunderdomes of controversy and strife:’ Giannoulias testifies about Illinois’ effort to block book bans

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

via Daily Herald (Illinois)

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C., this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans.

Book Bans, School Board – General

Indiana attorney general defending validity of new police bystander law

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

via NWI Times (Indiana)

Records show contracted attorney James Bopp Jr., a prominent conservative lawyer from Terre Haute, is representing Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita in the case.

LGBTQ+, Book Bans, School Board – General

Books that are inappropriate for the Senate don’t belong in schools

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

via Washington Examiner (District of Columbia)

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) read from two sexually explicit books titled Gender Queer and All Boys Aren't Blue. The passages, which discuss anal and oral sex, were shocking to hear as they were read aloud by a 71-year-old congressman. But Kennedy…

Book Bans

Alabama library service approves GOP chairman’s proposal to create list of controversial books

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

via al.com (Alabama)

People can submit books they think have questionable themes to the library service. The libraries will decide what to do with the books.

Book Bans

U.S. Senate hearing on book bans probes censorship attempts in local libraries ⋆ Michigan Advance

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

via Michigan Advance (Michigan)

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators at a committee hearing Tuesday discussed the consequences of book bans and parents' desire to control what their kids read — though they also acknowledged it's not an issue…

Book Bans, School Board – General, Racism

Parents, students and staff clash over book ban in Carroll County

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

via WBAL-TV 11 (Maryland)

Parents, educators and students are debating what books should be allowed on school shelves in Carroll County after the superintendent pulled several books.

Parent Involvement, Book Bans

Carroll County schools: Moms for Liberty is winning its fight to remove school library books

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

via thebaltimorebanner.com (Maryland)

A flood of challenges to school library books prompted Carroll County's superintendent to temporarily take 56 titles off the shelves and change book selection procedures.

Parent Involvement, Book Bans, School Board – General

U.S. Senate hearing on book bans probes censorship attempts in local libraries

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

via GPB Media (Georgia)

U.S. senators at a committee hearing Tuesday discussed the consequences of book bans and parents' desire to control what their kids read — though they also acknowledged it's not an issue for Congress…

Book Bans, School Board – General

Sexually explicit library books subject of Congressional hearing

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

via Washington Examiner (District of Columbia)

(The Center Square) – The books being made available to children in public schools and libraries was the topic of a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, with an Illinois law thrust into the spotlight.

Book Bans

Clarence Page: When is a book ban not a ‘ban’? Officials dance around censorship efforts

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

via Press Herald (Maine)

The number of reported challenges is up by more than 40% over last year; meanwhile, one state is pushing back by signing what might be the nation's first ban on bans.

Parent Involvement, Book Bans

Sen. John Kennedy gets last word by reading explicit school books at censorship hearing

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

via The Washington Times, LLC (District of Columbia)

Senate Democrats decrying school boards and parents for censorship got more than they bargained for when Sen. John Kennedy began reading aloud from a couple of the 'banned books.'

Book Bans

Carroll County schools consider book ban after parental concern

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

via WBAL-TV 11 (Maryland)

Carroll County schools are looking into more than 50 books that some parents believe should be banned. The books have already been pulled from school libraries.

Parent Involvement, Book Bans, School Board – General

In Washington, GOP senators grill Alexi Giannoulias over Illinois anti-book-ban law

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

via Chicago Tribune (Illinois)

Republican U.S. senators grilled Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias over a state law he championed that aims to deter book bans.

Book Bans, School Board – General

Book ban defenders use sex scenes to make their point at Senate hearing

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

via The Kansas City Star (Kansas)

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bans took a racy turn Tuesday, as Republican senators and a witness read scenes of various sexual content into the congressional record to defend the banning of multiple titles from U.S. schools. Max Eden, a research fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, kicked off the 'Book Bans:...

Book Bans, School Board – General