Katie's parents never told her "no" when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she's not at work, she's at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves.
Twitter: @kt_librarylady
There’s certainly no shortage of censorship updates each week, and it’s next to impossible to keep up with everything, especially when board decisions get postponed and books quietly disappear from library shelves. One day’s headlines blur into the next. But then there are some situations that are so outrageous that you can’t help but sit up and say “What the actual eff?” Here are some of those examples.
Montgomery County (TX) Reclassifies Native American History as “Fiction”
The Montgomery County Citizens Review Committee ordered a juvenile nonfiction book that documents American history from the perspective of the Wampanoag tribe be reclassified as “fiction.” Another issue with the committee? Policy requires that every committee member be a resident of Montgomery County, but this is not actually verified in practice. [Editor’s note: thanks to pressure, the library is re-reclassifying the book as nonfiction].
Two Cy-Fair ISD (TX) Trustees’ Inner Circles Were Responsible for 52 of 58 Book Challenges
Cy-Fair ISD received 58 book challenges during the 2022/2023 school year. Fifty-two of those were submitted by a new board member, his wife, his campaign treasurer, and the wife of another board member. That’s almost 90% of the book challenges received that year. And it’s another clear example of what happens when bad actors infiltrate a public governing board.
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Susquehanna Valley (PA) School Districts Are Using the Same Religious Rights Law Firm to Draft Policies
The Independence Law Center (ILC) has helped multiple schools draft controversial policies, and the discussions surrounding these policies and partnerships are shrouded in intentional secrecy. This article also talks about the right-wing groups that fund the ILC’s parent organization, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, and (surprise!) a lot of them are affiliated with anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups, or are hate groups themselves.
York County Public Library (SC) Will Not Purchase Any New Materials for Readers Under 18
This is a direct result of state governments (and untrained politicians) creating poorly defined restrictions on what schools and libraries can have on their shelves. And in an effort to avoid legal problems, schools and libraries have opted to just not purchase new materials. And this is entirely the point. [Editor’s note: as of the special board meeting late last week, it’s been “clarified” that “only” books with “sexual content” will be prohibited from purchase—what that means isn’t defined]
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