Banned Books

The number of bans and restrictions in the U.S. rose 33% in the last school year, according the report from free speech group PEN America. Florida had more bans than any other state, followed by Texas and Missouri.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias told the U.S. Senate panel that public libraries have become “thunderdomes of controversy and strife” across the country.

Citing a “vitriolic strain of white nationalism,” Gov. JB Pritzker signed the measure withholding state grant money from libraries if they ban books.

The rule include prohibiting libraries from giving materials to minors without parental permission, and banning “age-inappropriate” displays from children’s areas. Libraries risk losing state funding if they don’t comply.

Missouri is one of a growing number of places where government funding is being deployed as the newest weapon in the fight over books. Beginning May 30, a new state rule could deny state funding to libraries over books deemed inappropriate for young readers — although it's not clear how it will be enforced.

Missouri library leaders say a plan by state legislators to strip state funding for public libraries across the state would weaken rural libraries.

Representatives were racing to beat a Friday deadline to get bills out of the chamber, with about two months left in the spring legislative session.

A new Missouri law made it a crime to provide minors with sexually explicit visual material, leading librarians across the state to remove anything from their collections that they thought could be considered criminal.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is proposing a library rule about age-appropriate reading materials and events that could affect state funding to public libraries if they don’t comply.

The visits from law enforcement didn’t result in any actions, but they highlight the potential stakes of Missouri’s new law criminalizing certain books in schools.