Listening to the Imaginary Worlds podcast about the truly astonishing number of #books being banned from #school and public #libraries in the US. About half of them are about people of colour of queer people. And I remember #reading Inger Edelfeldt's #gay coming of age novel "Duktig pojke" as a set text in middle school in the mid 80s. My teacher brought a box of that book into class as one of a few options. USA, you are a travesty.
What's next in America's book ban battle? The book ban ban. Minnesota's Gov. Tim Walz has signed into law a measure prohibiting the removal of “a book or other material based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys.” The law allows books to be challenged, but mandates that trained and licensed librarians be part of the review. Minnesota's librarians and educators told CNN they welcome legal criteria for how to address book challenges, since some are worried about losing their jobs if they order books that prove controversial.
The Seattle Public Library was hit with a ransomware attack. A library that has offered youth across the country access to its digital holdings with a special library card. Curious. Sickening. It's still open for physical books, using paper forms for borrowing. Bring your library cards or at least the number!
Support libraries--they are places of wonder and lifelines for the community. @bookstodon @books #books#libraries#ransomware https://shelftalkblog.wordpress.com/today/
Anyone else read adult books in like middle school? And instead of adults freaking out, they encouraged it? I read horror "early" & everyone from teachers to neighbors were thrilled to recommend more, plenty with sexual content, worried more if the gore/terror would be too much.
My heart aches for the children who will no longer have access to their local library because some arrogant assholes decided to be offended by books with new ideas and different perspectives.
"Minnesota is poised to prohibit #bookbans in #schools and public #libraries... The law establishes... a 'Library Bill of Rights' and states that libraries cannot restrict access to material 'because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.'"
She Campaigned for a #Texas School Board Seat as a #GOP Hard-Liner. Now She’s Rejecting Her Party’s Extremism.
Courtney Gore, a Granbury ISD school board member, has disavowed the far-right platform she campaigned on after finding no evidence that #students were being indoctrinated by the district’s curriculum. Her defiance has brought her backlash.
My local #library didn't have a copy of Jordan Mechner's #book Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family, so I submitted a purchase request. I'm really looking forward to reading it.
I'll admit it, I got the idea from someone else on Mastodon, and I can't remember who. Hopefully someone reading this will be inspired to check out their own library. They are precious resources and should be supported with our patronage.