Louisiana Supreme Court Allows Amanda Jones’s Defamation Lawsuit To Proceed | The Livingston Parish News
The Louisiana Supreme Court has unanimously rejected an attempt by Michael Lunsford and Citizens for a New Louisiana to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Livingston Parish school librarian Amanda Jones, clearing the way for the case to proceed to trial. The Justices ruled that Jones can press her claim that Lunsford, executive director of Citizens for a New Louisiana, and his group harmed her with allegations that she promoted inappropriate materials to children. The decision was released without comment.

The ruling affirms a 2025 decision by Louisiana’s 1st Circuit Court of Appeal, which found that Jones had demonstrated she could prevail on the merits and that it would be appropriate for a jury to decide whether some of the group’s remarks were defamatory. The appellate court said Jones has a right to argue that the comments “were knowingly false or made with reckless disregard of the truth, and caused Ms. Jones injury, including harm to her reputation, contempt, ridicule, anxiety, and emotional distress.”

Ryan Thames, the other defendant in the case and operator of the Facebook page Bayou State of Mind, settled with Jones in November 2025. Thames posted a video apology on Facebook and agreed to pay Jones $1.

“Burn the book and get rid of it forever” | The Livingston Parish News
Livingston Parish Library Board of Control voted 6–3 to relocate award-winning graphic novel This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki to the adult section of the public library despite legal advisors’ warning that the move violated Louisiana law and the board’s own policies.

The decision came after nearly an hour of heated public comment that included calls to burn books, biblical warnings of divine judgment, and multiple disruptions that forced the board president to repeatedly call for order as audience members shouted over speakers and board members. At the meeting, Amanda Jones spoke against the move to relocate the book.

‘Harmful’ Books Could Mean Criminal Charges for Georgia Librarians | WSB-TV2
Georgia librarians could soon face criminal charges if they give a child a book their board deems “harmful,” but what that means is open to interpretation. Supporters say it is about protecting children, and critics worry it may become a ban on controversial books.

Cy-Fair ISD Board Votes To Reinstate Removed Textbook Chapters | Houston Public Media
The newly reconfigured Cypress-Fairbanks (TX) ISD board of trustees began stripping back controversial policies enacted by their predecessors, starting with reinstating 13 chapters from five different textbooks that were previously deemed controversial in May of 2024 and removed. 

The specific lessons and topics addressed in the chapters include climate change, vaccinations, cultural diversity, depopulation and humans’ impact on the Earth and its ecosystems. The board voted 4–3 to restore several chapters in textbooks used in courses such as biology, environmental science, Earth systems, health science theory and principles of education and training.  The new policy also says the Houston-area district, which is the third largest in Texas, must ensure that the materials meet “community standards and present a fair and balanced perspective.”

New Jersey High School Students Cry Book Ban: Admin Choice to Halt Teaching of Acclaimed Novel Elicits Response from Author | The Village Green of Maplewood and South Orange
The district superintendent says the removal of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao at Columbia High School (CHS) in Maplewood, NJ, is a pause, not a ban, and is intended to safeguard student wellness after two recent deaths.

Named the 11th best book of the 21st century by The New York Times, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, published in 2007, has been a staple of the AP Literature curriculum at Columbia High School—until now. With stated concern about student mental health, the district took the Pulitzer Prize–winning book out of the curriculum for this year after being included in the CHS curriculum for more than 11 years, leading AP Lit students to start a petition to get it put back in, and Díaz himself weighing in.

Arizona Librarians Could Face Felony Charges for Suggesting Some Books To Kids Under Proposed Bill | KJZZ
Librarians who work in public school or government-run libraries could face a felony charge if they recommend a book or media that contains sexually explicit content to a minor—including anything that depicts “sexual conduct, sexual excitement or ultimate sexual acts”—under a proposed Arizona bill supported by Republican Sen. David Farnsworth. 

“My wife and I absolutely forbid our children from reading those horrible Judy Blume books,” he said. “And because we didn’t clean up our society back then, then we have to deal with absolutely horrific things today.”

Educator Who Read I Need a New Butt! to Students Wins Job Back in Court | The New York Times
Nearly four years after he lost his job, an appellate court ruled that the firing of the former assistant principal of an elementary school in Mississippi in 2022 had been “arbitrary and capricious.”

Books Flagged As Potentially Objectionable, Pulled from Michigan School District’s Shelves for Review | MLive.com
Lapeer (MI) Community Schools has removed 82 books pending a review of their content, which will be conducted by a committee.  However, it is still unclear who will appoint members to the committee or who these members will be.

From Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, the group has flagged a total of 66 titles or 82 total books across three of Lapeer Community Schools’ libraries, including 58 books at Lapeer High School, 23 books at the Zemmer 7–8 Campus, and one book at the Rolland Warner Campus. Most books on the list were selected because the group has deemed them to be sexually explicit.

Maya Angelou’s Estate Joins Utah Lawsuit Over the State’s School Book Bans | The Salt Lake Tribune
The renowned author’s estate signed on alongside Kurt Vonnegut’s estate and three other authors.

Iowa Bill Would Ban Public School Partnerships with Libraries | WHO 13
Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill that would prohibit public schools from entering into agreements with public libraries allowing students to access resources. The bill, HSB 636, would bar public school districts, public charter schools, and innovation zone schools from entering into contracts with public libraries that allow students to use their school IDs to check out books, access electronic resources, or other educational materials. It would also prohibit schools from allowing bookmobiles, which the bill defines as vehicles owned by public libraries that are used to transport books, onto school property for any event allowing students to check out books.

Des Moines Public Schools entered into a partnership with the Des Moines Public Library (DMPL) at the beginning of the 2025–26 school year, allowing students across the district to use their student IDs to access thousands of resources at the DMPL. 

Nearly 3K Books in Tennessee District Libraries Remain on Shelves, for Now | The Tennessean
Nearly 3,000 books that were flagged as possibly running afoul of federal standards on gender topics have been temporarily saved from removal from public library shelves across Rutherford County, TN. In front of a packed council room, 2,712 books that were previously flagged as part of a state-instigated review of Tennessee public libraries’ juvenile collections were temporarily saved from removal, pending a future vote on specific titles.

Instead, the board voted to approve recommendations from Rutherford County Library Board Director Luanne James that would move 450 books out of the juvenile collection: 444 titles to young adult section, and six titles to the adult collection. The board will consider removing specific books from the 2,712, singled out on lists created by board members, at future meetings.

Sacramento City Council Repeals Kids’ Comic Book Ban | Fox40
The Sacramento City Council has formally reversed a city code that prohibited the selling, gifting, or distribution of certain comic books to minors. The ordinance was adopted in 1949. While the ordinance had not been actively enforced in recent years, it remained part of the city code until today’s vote.

Garfield County Libraries Has Resisted Censoring Books, But Leadership Changes Could Turn the Tide | Aspen Daily News
A yearslong effort by some locals to remove or restrict kids’ access to certain graphic novels with mature themes at Garfield County’s six public libraries has been largely unsuccessful so far. 

Several measures, including a restricted library card for kids, were considered by library trustees over the past year. But so far, the board has declined to implement any new policies. But with the commissioners’ January 5 appointment of two new library trustees who have openly expressed support for certain book restrictions, and with library district Executive Director Jamie LaRue—a staunch advocate against censorship—about to retire, changes could still be coming. 

She Fought a Book Ban. She May Never Teach Again. | San Francisco Examiner
When Oklahoma passed laws that pressured teachers to remove books on race, gender, and sexuality from their classrooms, Summer Boismier refused. Other teachers resisted, too—but Boismier did so loudly. She plastered her 10th-grade English classroom with signs of protest, posted to social media, and advised her students on how they could find books online. Eventually, she resigned.

She knew that in her conservative state, she would be criticized, but the reaction was much more severe than she expected. In 2024, the state took away Boismier's teaching license.

SC Republican Gubernatorial Candidates Call for Review of Charleston Libraries Over Explicit Book | The Post and Courier
Federal and state Republican politicians are calling for a funding freeze and a comprehensive review of the Charleston (SC) County library system, which they allege is exposing children to sexually explicit content in graphic novels and picture books. But library documents show that the two books in question have either already been removed from the library collection or were relocated to the adult section nearly a year ago as part of its request for reconsideration process.