Censorship

Leading our most viewed posts of the week, a deeply personal appreciation by SLJ’s Kimberly Fakih of the Sydney Taylor classic.  Meanwhile, our 2023 profile of Mychal Threets made the rounds, as the much-loved ambassador of libraries departed the Fairfield (CA) Civic Center Library March 1.  

District employees drew clothes on Maurice Sendak characters in one Florida district, while students, legislators, and library workers fight back against censorship in Virginia, Oregon, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

In Florida, governor Ron DeSantis is pushing for an adjustment to his law that created a mass of book challenges, as bills on both sides of the fight for intellectual freedom are debated in Oregon and Utah, while West Virginia and Georgia seek to strip librarians' legal protections.

A teacher fears students will select "unacceptable" library books.

In partnership with coalition members, including School Library Journal and dozens of publishers, Unite Against Book Bans today launched a free book résumé resource to help counter censorship attempts.

The most viewed posts of the week. 

The interim library director in Lafayette, LA, lifted the ban on certain book displays; Florida county gets new, restrictive library cards for kids; legislation to change book review policies moves forward in Idaho and South Carolina; and more news.

In a timely update of "Reading Rainbow," LeVar Burton revisited the iconic PBS series to discuss banned books with a rapt group of confused children, who shared their thoughts on the matter. The bit, featuring a field trip to a school board meeting, aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Advocates rally against legislation in Georgia; students protest book removals in Virginia; The Curse of King Tut's Tomb taken off shelves in South Carolina; and more.