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Welcome back, library friends. As we all know, censorship news continues to run rampant, but there are a few key stories related to federal- and state-level legislation and lawsuits that deserve a bit more attention.
Let’s dive in.
A New Federal Book Banning Bill
Republican senators have announced a companion bill to the book banning legislation introduced in the House. Both bills would eliminate funding for any public schools that provide student access to materials that Republicans deem “inappropriate.” More of the same, but now it’s another federal problem that needs to be stopped. The fact that this bill was introduced right before the Senate went on recess shows that Republicans did not want it to gain public attention. EveryLibrary has issued a statement.
Florida County Officials Question The Importance of School Libraries
After banning hundreds of books, Clay County, Florida, school officials are debating the importance of high school libraries, which is the next logical step in the book banning agenda. As part of this discussion, Chief Academic Officer Roger Dailey cited the fact that high school students are checking out books at a low rate: “‘We’re spending a lot of resources on a problem that I acknowledge exists, and at the same time, kids aren’t actually reading the books at all, they’re not reading the good ones either.’” Of course, he neglects to mention that his school board is responsible for removing hundreds of books and the students barely have anything to read at all.
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Fired Florida Professor Suing the School
Florida professor Vinita Prabhakar was fired from South Florida State College for assigning the 2013 Ottessa Moshfegh short story, “Bettering Myself,” after the college president called it inappropriate and “political.” Prabhakar has since filed a lawsuit against the school, saying that she has taught the story for several years without incident and her firing violates the First Amendment.
Tennessee Library Board Faces Lawsuit
In more First Amendment news, the Anderson County Library Alliance, a nonprofit library advocacy group in Tennessee, is filing a lawsuit against the county and the library board. The Alliance says the library board’s recent discussions about book banning are politically motivated and unconstitutional. Or, as the lawsuit states, “‘These mechanisms, while not as unhinged as a book ban, still cannot remove the stench of government regulation violative of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.’” I love seeing a strongly worded and sassy lawsuit.