Celebrating Little Free Libraries, and More Library News

As we close out May and enter June, I have a sampling of library news for you to carry with you, including a not-so-surprising censorship update, a horror author obituary, and more.

But before we dive in…

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Most Of Utah’s State Book Bans Come From Just Two Districts

As of May 18th, Utah has banned 34 books from all public schools across the state, but The Salt Lake Tribune has learned that most of the book bans are originating from just two school districts: Davis County and Washington County. In Utah, the law states that if a book is banned from three school districts, it has to be removed from all public schools. What’s more, the books don’t just have to be removed—they have to be destroyed. Something something something protecting the precious innocence of youth, I’m sure. (Also, I absolutely appreciate the photo selection for the beginning of The Salt Lake Tribune article: the sheer exasperation on the librarian’s face speaks volumes.)

Two Deluxe Editions of HEATED RIVALRY

Rolling Stone announced two upcoming deluxe editions of Heated Rivalry from Amazon: a deluxe hardcover edition with fancy new cover art and sprayed edges, along with deluxe paperback editions of the entire Game Changers series. Now, my hypothetical question for all you fiction selectors: do you purchase deluxe editions for your collections? I suppose I could see the need if the new editions came with additional content, but if it’s just a fancy new cover and sprayed edges and we already owned copies of the original novel, I couldn’t justify spending the money!

Koji Suzuki Has Died at 68

Influential Japanese horror novelist Koji Suzuki died on May 8th at 68 years old. He was known as “the Stephen King of Japan,” helped create the subgenre known as J-horror, and wrote the 1991 novel Ringu, which eventually inspired the 2003 blockbuster horror movie, The Ring. Although Ringu and its sequels weren’t as well-known in America, The Ring remains one of the scariest and most highly-regarded horror films of all time, and for that, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Suzuki.