Libraries

For the median homeowner in Collinsville, whose home is worth $182,000, there will be an estimated increase of $9.38 in property taxes next spring. In Fairmont City, where the median home is worth $100,000, there will be an increase of $4.95, according to district documents.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program is now statewide in Missouri. The program provides children with a free book in the mail each month until their fifth birthday. The goal is to nurture a love of reading and improve literacy.

St. Louis Public Library and St. Louis County Library catalogs boast 5 million items for library members across 37 branches in St. Louis city and county. Here’s how to sign up for a library card.

Each of the state’s 28 prisons will receive $15,000 for books, magazines and other supplies — the first time they’ve received public funding of any kind in six years.

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.

A new statewide rule introduced by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has librarians concerned for their ability to curate their collections in a way that serves the entire community.

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.