Censorship

The Freedom to Read Project has released a free advocacy guide and workbook; ALA sets date for Youth Media Awards; educators and public librarians can submit proposals for a visit from National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett; and the National Women's History Museum opens registration for virtual field trips.

Some students in North Carolina will no longer have access to their public library through their school ID; Florida appeals Penguin Random House v. Gibson decision; book ban debates in Nevada and Iowa; and more.

Book bans continue at school libraries, and at an Arizona county public library system, children's books on puberty and sex ed were moved to the adult nonfiction section.

These resources and ideas from ALA, Unite Against Book Bans, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and others will help plan for Banned Books Week Oct. 5-11.

The film—which documents librarians across the country fighting back against censorship attempts and personal and professional attacks—will hit U.S. theaters in October.

As educators and authors wait on expected appeals in Penguin Random House v. Gibson, school librarians are in limbo and author Laurie Halse Anderson is "cautiously opimistic."

Des Moines (IA) Public Schools students can use their student IDs as library cards and avoid school library book restrictions; North Carolina district changes book policy to meet new state law and changes to Title IX; Maryland community protests removal of Flamer from district; and more.

In a precedent-setting win for the freedom to read, on August 13 Judge Carlos E. Mendoza ruled that Florida House Bill 1069, which sought to ban “pornographic” material and books describing “sexual conduct” from school and classroom libraries, was overbroad and unconstitutional.

School Library Journal and NCTE continue to champion works that have long been taught in classrooms, including YA classics like Caroline B. Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton and Robert Cormier's We All Fall Down.