Public Libraries

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.

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.

The 2021 School Librarian of the Year reiterated her intention to exhaust all possible actions in the litigation of her defamation case: "I am committed to going the full distance."

A Texas teacher is finding a way to get her students access to titles; in Alabama, the public library system breaks ties with ALA and is set to review 82 books, while a grassroots organization aims to fight censorship in the state.

Florida legislation is discussing an effort to curb the large number of book challenges. But it's not all good news in the Sunshine State. The state just rejected all suggested books for a monthly story time program from a civil rights museum, including stories of Tuskegee Airmen and on voting rights.