Utah outlaws books by Judy Blume and Sarah J Maas in first statewide ban
State has ordered books by 13 authors, 12 of them women, to be removed from every public school, classroom and library
The 13 books could be banned under House bill 29, which became effective from 1 July, because they were considered to contain “pornographic or indecent” material. The list “will likely be updated as more books begin to meet the law’s criteria”, according to PEN America.
E-Books Can Subvert Book Bans, But Corporate Profit-Seeking Stands in the Way
Exorbitant costs and restrictive licenses are obstructing libraries’ efforts to resist book bans via access to e-books.
“The ultimate aim is to try to get five or six state laws passed, and then hope that the federal government says, ‘Okay, this is a mess. We’ve been kicking the can down the road for 30 years on this digital copyright stuff. It’s time for us to look at this and say, libraries have a vital function. We need to carve out special exemptions for them and make the terms under which they get books more fair.’”
It’s time yet again to take a look back at the memorable library stories from the past year.
Two themes dominated headlines in 2023: attacks on libraries; and the rising implications of generative artificial intelligence.
Fallout over politicians from both parties mishandling documents continued to make news early in the year.
In a peculiar bid to paint himself the victim of library policies, Kirk Cameron staged conflicts over his right-wing children’s books and related library events.
The Buchanan County party leader threatened not to allow city council members to run as Republicans if they approved the appointment of a gay pastor to the city’s library board. The controversy has created a push for broader change in St. Joseph.
In St. Joseph, local GOP pressured lawmakers to block approval of gay library board member
“This transgender and homosexual propaganda is pure evil, It is designed to destroy the family, to undercut traditional American values and our way of life, and ultimately institute governmental control that will undermine our city, county, state, and nation.”
Statement from Brewster Kahle, digital librarian of the Internet Archive:“When people want to listen to music they go to Spotify. When people want to study sound recordings as they were originally created, they go to libraries like the Internet Archive. Both are needed. There shouldn’t be conflict here.”
%u2018Criminal liability for librarians%u2019: the fight against US rightwing book bansSkye Perryman of Democracy Forward, which helped block a controversial Arkansas law, says attacks will continue
The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries
Alternative platforms already exist: one promising place to start might be the Palace Project and the associated Palace Marketplace, which right now mostly seems to let libraries buy ebooks and audiobooks from indie authors, and access out-of-copyright classics. The company behind it, Lyrasis, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; that doesn%u2019t mean it%u2019s immune to mismanagement, but it%u2019s a better legal framework than a for-profit B corp. And its board is teeming with actual career librarians, instead of one token librarian and a handful of investors and executives, like OverDrive. The Palace app is designed to combine content from multiple vendors, including OverDrive, which could help with transition. But the Palace Project so far has relationships with less than 5% of US libraries.
Librarians Are Finding Thousands Of Books No Longer Protected By Copyright Law
Up to 75 percent of books published before 1964 may now be in the public domain, according to researchers at the New York Public Library.
Librarians Are Finding Thousands Of Books No Longer Protected By Copyright Law
https://www.everylibraryinstitute.org/opposing_attempts_policy_brief_2023
The EverLibrary Institute is releasing a new Policy Brief “Opposing Attempts to Criminalize Libraries and Education Through State Obscenity Laws” to help state library associations anticipate this legislation and prepare properly to oppose unnecessary politicized changes to settled state law.
School librarians in Florida are now required to undergo specialized state training on the new rules for what can and cannot go in school media centers.
That training was a result of a state law passed last year and finalized last week. Citizens now have an opportunity to weigh in as it%u2019s reviewed by the state school board.
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