On Friday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision that halted enacting a book banning law in Iowa. The decision, written by Judge Ralph R. Erickson, says that the lower court’s decision was “based on a flawed analysis of the law” and remanded it back to the district court “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” The suit, brought by Penguin Random House and joined by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, and several authors, challenged an Iowa law that would remove from schools any book that describes or depicts sex, regardless of […]
Book Bans
Open Road Launches Banned Books Geo-Targeting Initiative
In advance of Banned Books Week in September, Open Road Media is launching a Free Voices Geo-Targeting initiative, a marketing service that aims to help communities impacted by book bans find and purchase challenged books. Previously, they launched a similar tool called Free Voices, highlighting challenged books, but without the geo-targeting element. The new initiative is aimed specifically at the ten states with the highest frequency of book bans: Texas, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Utah, Iowa, Idaho and Nebraska. Enrolled titles will be featured in four weeks of promotions in these targeted areas. Additionally, “publishers will have the option […]
Coalition of Authors Launch “Authors Against Book Bans”
A coalition of 1,500 authors, illustrators, audiobook narrators, and translators have launched Authors Against Book Bans (AABB), an organization that will combat books bans and challenges all over the US. AABB is partnering with local organizations already at work on this issue, with aims of creating a framework for grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, support for teachers and librarians, and more. They write in a release, “Member authors attend school board meetings, meet with state, local and national legislators, and advocate for people fighting to access books and materials wherever challenges occur.” Members include Elizabeth Acevedo, Judy Blume, Alexander Chee, Dhonielle […]
TX Book Ban Overturned, Some Titles Returned to Library
On Thursday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas upheld part of preliminary injunction returning some banned books to a local library, ruling that “Government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to ideas with which they disagree.” The suit was brought by seven patrons of the Llano County, TX library system, who asserted that the government’s 2021 removal of books based on their content “violated their First Amendment right to access information and ideas.” Seventeen books were removed from the library, including “‘butt and fart’ books,” “young adult […]
ALA Report: Books Targeted For Censorship Surged in 2023
The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom released a new report on library censorship attempts in 2023, recording a 65% increase from 2022 in the number of titles targeted. A total of 4,240 unique book titles were targeted at schools and public libraries, up from 2,571 the previous year. These titles were distributed among 1,247 demands. The report notes that public libraries saw the biggest increase, with the number of censorship attempts rising 92%. At schools, demands were up 11%. The ALA writes, “Groups and individuals demanding the censorship of multiple titles, often dozens or hundreds at a time, drove this […]
Pen America and PRH’s Suit Against FL Schools Will Continue
Pen America and Penguin Random House’s lawsuit against the Escambia County, FL school board will move forward, U.S. District Judge Kent Wetherell ruled on Wednesday. The plaintiffs, which include a group of authors and parents, argue that the school system’s removal of more than 1,600 titles–including dictionaries and encyclopedias–is a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. “Today, we urged the court to vindicate the Constitutional rights of students, parents, authors and publishers,” Pen America, Florida director Katie Blankenship said in a statement. “We are heartened that Judge Wetherell agreed and that our case can proceed. These books need to […]