Moms For Liberty Lose Big In Florida and Other Library News, August 23, 2024

Hello from Denali! The weather is cold and the mountains are gorgeous. But I’m going to briefly dive back into the library world for you lovely folks, so here we go.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

The Digital Public Library of America and the Independent Publishers Group have teamed up to offer libraries an ebook ownership option.

York County Libraries (PA) may have to reduce operating hours next year as a result of budgetary constraints and inflation.

Cool Library Updates

Indianapolis’ first library for Black residents reopens through a school librarian’s leadership.

How Iowa libraries serve communities in the digital age.

Book Adaptations in the News

Allison Williams is set to star in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You.

Colleen Hoover’s Verity is also being adapted, but no casting updates have been announced yet.

Peter Swanson’s Eight Perfect Murders is being adapted for film.

Milly Bobby Brown is developing and likely starring in an adaptation of her debut novel Nineteen Steps.

My Lady Jane has been canceled at Amazon after just one season.

Here’s the trailer for the live-action version of Snow White.

30+ TV show book adaptations arriving this year.

Censorship News

What is weeding, and when is it not actually weeding?

Most Americans oppose school book bans and restrictions: new research supports the freedom to read.

“A proposed rule change by the Department of Education, which was likely to have delivered a major setback to the growing popularity of Inclusive Access and Equitable Access (IA/EA) programs for college students, has been tabled. The programs allow students to pay for their course materials as part of their tuition or as an additional fee in order to have all their materials available for the first day of class.”

The majority of DeSantis-backed candidates lost their school board races in the Tampa Bay (FL) area. The same happened in Broward County, Santa Rosa County, and Indian River, which is the birthplace of Moms for Liberty.

“A Florida college overhauled by the state’s Republican governor sent hundreds of library books, many of which contained LGBTQ+ themes, to a landfill.” The library dean has since been placed on administrative leave, and US Senators Susan Collins and Patty Murray have condemned the mass book disposal, as their co-authored book was one of the many titles discarded by the school

Greenville County Library (SC) wants to move trans books from the YA section.

Austin Peay State University (TN) professor Paul Collins has created a public art project to push back against the wave of book bans across the country.

The Elizabeth School District (CO) has “temporarily suspended” access to nineteen books.

San Diego County leader introduces a proposal to protect banned books.

“A small-scale investigation by the Index on Censorship, an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression, revealed that 28 librarians across the UK have allegedly been asked to remove books from shelves, with parents reportedly making more than half of those requests.”

Books & Authors in the News

Tommy Orange has been selected as the next author participating in the Future Library project.

The children’s book community has organized a “Kidlit for Kamala” coalition.

Appalachian authors are coming together to counter the narrative in Hillbilly Elegy.

Numbers & Trends

Trump made $300,000 from his Bible endorsement.

The 100 bestselling books in the UK over the past 50 years.

The most-read books on Goodreads last week.

The best-selling books of the week.

Award News

The British Fantasy Awards shortlists have been announced.

Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous

How teaching reading in every high school class can improve literacy.

A literary road trip across the US.

On the Riot

The best and worst of book adaptations.

The best US cities for book lovers.

And Here’s a Cat Wildlife Photo!

We went on a hike yesterday and had a squirrel sprint directly towards us and screech for about 5 seconds straight. It was enough time for me to grab my camera and snap a photo of him. Honestly, he reminded me of how Gilbert would holler at us when he wanted food. Such a sassy little guy!

All right, friends. I’ll be back next week! Enjoy the good weather this weekend if you have it!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.