From the article:

"Driving the news: State Rep. Sahara Hayes (D-Salt Lake City) recently announced on Instagram that she planned to celebrate national Banned Books Week by placing titles that are banned in a Utah school inside Little Free Libraries.

Remember: this isn't a good faith discussion. People who ban books aren't doing so because they care about books, or literacy, or even children. They're doing so because they're bullies who want to control their fellow Americans.

Don't let them.

Remember when the Brooklyn Public Library offered a free library card to any American aged 13-26, so that they could access banned books via the Books Unbanned program?

We have some data on those who applied, thanks to a report by University of Washington MLIS students.

From a press release from the Brooklyn Public Library:

Young people need these stories.

Keep circulating the link.

Necessary reading, here, from the digital director of EveryLibrary. From the article:

"THIS IS NOT A GOOD-FAITH DISCUSSION

"The first thing we need to understand when we’re messaging about book bans is that we are not operating in a good-faith discussion, and we need to stop acting as if we were. In a good-faith discussion, both parties agree to an honest, respectful dialogue with the willingness to change their view if facts and data are presented. However, book banners are neither acting honestly nor respectfully. They will not consume new information and change their minds once educated on the issue. The individuals and organizations banning books are not looking to be educated. They don’t care about learning about the Miller Test for pornography, they are not interested in reading the books to put their propagandist images of a handful of pages into proper context, and they aren’t going to change their minds about books being banned. We have to stop acting as they will do any of these things.

"...Pro–book banning messaging and propaganda is used as a tool to build political power and influence for people and organizations to elect or appoint individuals to positions that allow them to govern and control Americans." [emphasis added]

They don't ban books because they care about books. They ban books because they are bullies, and they want to control people.

Don't let them.

"In their petition, the ardent culture warriors claim the books expose kids to “obscene depictions of sexually explicit acts.” The books in question include People Kill People, a YA novel by bestselling author Ellen Hopkins about the deleterious effects of gun violence; It Ends With Us, a romance novel by Colleen Hoover that was made into a Hollywood film starring Blake Lively; All Boys Aren’t Blue, a “memoir-manifesto” by journalist and LGBTQ activist George M. Johnson about his struggles growing up as a gay Black man; Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold, a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood centered on female empowerment; and Julia Scheeres’ Jesus Land: A Memoir, a New York Times bestseller about the author’s unpleasant childhood experience at a fundamentalist church camp."

Sure would be a shame if anyone, anyone at all actually read these books at their library, or through the Books Unbanned program, which will give you access to these materials, no matter where you are in the United States.

As it should be. ❤️📖

In which an extremist Granbury, TX police officer tried to get librarians arrested and jailed and/or fined for the heinous crime of providing families and kids with books.

"In an extraordinary look into the ramifications of the right-wing backlash against books dealing with racism, gender, sex and sexuality, an 824-page investigative file obtained by NBC News and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth shows how, for two years, [police officer Scott] London vigorously pursued felony charges against librarians in the Granbury Independent School District."

"This isn’t about liberty. This is about selling $180 worth of books under the guise of taking back the library."

Short version:

No librarian was ever mad that your dog ate a book. We just want to see pictures of the dog, we promise, because we need to confirm that your dog is a very good dog, book damage notwithstanding.

"The editors of A Handbook for Trans and Gender Diverse Inclusion in Library Work (tentative title) invite chapter proposals. The book will be published by ACRL Publications, and will be an edited volume focusing on how library workers in different library types and across different services can concretely implement trans and gender diverse inclusion. It will highlight real-world case studies, research-based guidance, and recommended practices for how library workers can support trans and gender diverse people in the course of their many different jobs and duties."

To learn more, follow the link. There will be remote information sessions on 6/18/2024 and 6/20/2024 for people interested in submitting chapters.