The government is at it again, and by “at it again,” I mean making it very difficult for libraries to function properly. The Chicago Public Library system is facing major budget cuts, school libraries are fighting book banning laws, and two authors had their school book talk visit canceled moments before the event because they were going to discuss book bans. Hold your nose, and let’s dive in.

Library Updates

• On the massive budget cuts proposed to the Chicago Public Library system.
• How local librarians keep AI slop off the shelves.
• 5 questions to ask your vendors about AI.
• I went to a library conference…now what?
• How libraries encourage local economic development.
• The end of shadow libraries?
• In praise of librarians in dangerous times.
• Unplugged, but engaged: no-tech activities for the library.
• AI is supercharging the war on libraries, education, and human knowledge.

Trump vs. Publishing and Libraries

• Trump has refiled his lawsuit against Penguin Random House and the New York Times.
• Federal agencies are posting inaccurate and incendiary website banners blaming Democrats for the government shutdown.
• The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court to let them fire Shira Perlmutter, the director of the US Copyright Office.
• Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka’s visa was revoked recently. I’m sure that the fact that Soyinka has been very outspoken against Trump had nothing to do with the decision.

Censorship News

• The banning of Banned Books Week.
• Will SCOTUS take up Texas’ book banning case?
• Texas school districts turn to AI to comply with Senate Bill 13.
• New York’s largest ICE detention center bans book deliveries.
• A Georgia reading bowl banned 8 books from the competition, and then reversed course after receiving overwhelming feedback. Meet the high school students responsible for reinstating the books to the competition.
• The Rutherford County Library System (TN) temporarily shuts down to ban books.
• A group of schools in Idaho are urging the Ninth Circuit Court to block House Bill 170, which requires schools and libraries to remove books that the state has deemed “harmful” to minors.
• The Country Club Elementary School (CA) canceled an author visit from Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin Pritchard, who wrote the picture book The Day The Books Disappeared. “Upon arrival at the school, both authors were called into the principal’s office. There was concern over what would be included in their presentation to students, who were already lined up and entering the library. The principal directed the authors not to talk about book bans and not to mention queer-authored or queer-centered stories at all.” And because the authors refused to change the content of their (age appropriate) presentation, the school told them the event would be canceled. You can’t make this shit up.

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