Scholastic announced an update to its Book Fairs policy, after separating out books with BIPOC and queer characters and creators from elementary school fairs in a purported effort to protect teachers and librarians who are dealing with legislation that bans such titles. Scholastic apologized and reversed course in October, announcing that they would discontinue the share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice a la carte collection but without additional details about the future of the program. “From our experience in the fall, we have learned that separating out titles or highlighting titles that might make teachers and librarians vulnerable to serious […]
Book Bans
PRH Sues Iowa Over Statewide Book Ban Law
Penguin Random House and a group of four authors—Malinda Lo, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, and Jodi Picoult—have filed a lawsuit against the state of Iowa over a recently-enacted law that prohibits any books describing or depicting sex from appearing in public school or classroom libraries. The law, SF 496, also restricts books that include themes of sexual orientation or gender identity from students through sixth grade. (Other plaintiffs include the Iowa State Education Association, one Iowa librarian, two teachers, and one high school student.) The suit claims the book ban provisions of the law violate the First and Fourteenth […]
Attorneys Argue Over Definitions and Book Ratings in Texas’s READER Law
Oral arguments began today in the Book People v. Wong case against Texas’s READER book banning law before a panel of judges. The defense largely argued that the plaintiffs’ claims aren’t ripe, and that their assertations of harm are not sufficient. Judges often asked about the definitions of “sexually explicit” and “sexually relevant,” since booksellers would be barred from selling books categorized as such to public schools. While defense attorney Kateland Jackson explained that the definitions come from the penal code, plaintiffs’ counsel Laura Lee Prather argued that those definitions are “cherry picked” from the penal code, mostly dealing with […]
Scholastic Issues Additional Update on Segregated Book Fair Collection
Scholastic posted an additional update on its Share Every Story book fair program, with much more measured language than trade president Ellie Berger’s apology to authors and agents. “As we reconsider how to make our Book Fairs available to all kids, we will keep in mind the needs of our educators facing local content restrictions and the children we serve,” the statement reads. “It is unsettling that the current divisive landscape in the U.S. is creating an environment that could deny any child access to books, or that teachers could be penalized for creating access to all stories for their […]
Scholastic Apologizes, Will Discontinue Separate Book Fair Collection
Scholastic has reversed course regarding their separate, optional case of “diverse books” available for elementary school book fairs. The Share Every Story/Celebrate Every Voice book collection, which featured predominantly BIPOC and LGBTQIA creators and stories, was created in response to pending and enacted book ban legislation around the country. The case did not ship automatically with Book Fair orders, but was available as an add on. After librarians shared news of the case online and Scholastic wrote an explanation, the program drew widespread criticism from authors including Amanda Gorman, Celeste Ng, and Jacqueline Woodson. In a letter to authors and […]
Scholastic Creates Separate Diverse Books Collection For Elementary School Book Fairs
Following Reddit reports from librarians in September, the Mary Sue recently asserted that to comply with country-wide book bans Scholastic Book Fairs has grouped diverse titles into a separate, optional or excludable a la carte case. On Friday, Scholastic released a statement claiming, “The biggest misconception is that Scholastic Book Fairs is putting all diverse titles into one optional case. This is not true, in any school, in any location we serve.” The company notes the legislation “enacted or pending” in more than 30 states restricting books predominantly about LGBTQ+ and BIPOC experiences in schools. “Because Scholastic Book Fairs are […]