HOW TO DIRECTLY IMPACT DEMOCRACY: BOOK CENSORSHIP NEWS, JULY 1, 2022
There’s no point in typing “it’s been a week” anymore because every week is A Week. But as we continue into a crumbling democracy, the growing sense of hopelessness is…
HIGH PLAINS LIBRARY DISTRICT PROGRAMMING POLICY WELCOMES CENSORSHIP
“We need to remain neutral in all that we do.” Those words emerged during a long board meeting in mid-November of the High Plains Library District (HPLD) in Colorado. The…
Texas residents sue county for removing books, firing librarian
A citizens group in Llano County, Tex., has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that county officials violated their constitutional rights when they unilaterally removed “award-winning books” from the…
How changes at Llano County libraries have divided the community
The changes at the Llano County Library System began last October, right around the same time Texas state Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) released a list of 850 books that he thought public schools…
Censorship battles’ new frontier: Your public library
LLANO, Tex. — In early November, an email dropped into the inbox of Judge Ron Cunningham, the silver-haired head chair of the governing body of Llano County in Texas’s picturesque…
Texas librarians face harassment as they navigate book bans
Librarian Suzette Baker said she faced a hard choice last year when her boss asked her to hide a book on critical race theory behind the counter. “OK, I’ll look…
Llano County librarian loses job after not removing books
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On March 9, Suzette Baker was fired as head librarian at the Kingsland Branch Library in Llano County. “This is the final warning and termination,” Baker said,…
Book bans are a symptom of our communal poverty
Each year more books, normally available, are challenged by one group or another. Books are removed, reviewed; some are replaced, others discarded. What’s going on? What are we to make…
With Rising Book Bans, Librarians Have Come Under Attack
Martha Hickson, a high school librarian in Annandale, N.J., heard last fall that some parents were going to call for her library to ban certain books. So at 7 p.m.,…
How Book Bans Turned a Texas Town Upside Down
The group began convening around lunchtime last summer, inside of the rose-beige conference room at the Llano Library. They sat on red plastic chairs atop drab carpet, surrounded by donated…