If you care about books, about libraries, and about your own freedom to read (and write) whatever the hell you want, it behooves you to pay attention. Currently, Kelly Jensen is the only journalist devoted to this beat, 24/7, for several years now.
Here's her call to action: pay attention and show up locally; don't hope for someone else to stand up for your rights.
April is sexual assault awareness month, and Kelly Jensen, who has worked tirelessly for years to document and fight book banning and the destruction of libraries has a seasing piece on how these two things interest, over at Book Riot (CW for mentions of rape, sexual assault, forced prostitution, etc)
Double the #BookBans in half the time, via BookRiot:
"PEN’s report confirms that book bans are happening nationwide. The state’s political leanings don’t matter: 42 states, both red and blue, reported book bans in public schools over the three years of PEN’s record keeping."
A few weeks ago, a school board in Millburn school district 24, in Illinois, voted to end their participation in the Rebecca Caudill awards, declaring the award to be "woke" and "have a political agenda". Since the books are selected by middle school readers--students in the district--you can see the right wing bullshit coming.
Thanks to enthusiastic community involvement, the board reversed course.
Public libraries must remain public cultura infrastructure if they're to fulfill their mission at all, let alone survive.
Worth noting how little it costs to keep them functioning compared to what cities everywhere pay cops--who, lest we forget, have no constitutional obligation to save, serve, or protect the public; to know the laws they're "applying", or not to commit crimes themselves.
Via @tuphlos, I just found out that Oklahoma's Supreme Court bocked the right wing state from banning books from public schools and penalizing schools who refused to comply with the fascists.