April is the month to celebrate American libraries

Whether it's supporting patrons with digital literacy classes, becoming a new telehealth hotspot, or hosting literacy tutoring nights, American libraries are hubs for learning and civic life. Especially in rural communities where meeting places might be lacking, the local library can be a welcoming gathering place.

To celebrate all the strength, smarts and social connections libraries across the U.S. contribute to their local regions and patrons, April 19 to 25 is set aside as National Library Week, with the theme 'Find Your Joy.'

How do individuals 'find their joy' at the library? That depends. Some kids love story time and the weekly craft, while other youngsters do puzzles or drag out all the games. A teen might relish the time reading alone in a cozy corner. One adult patron might love their library's new 3-D printer, while another loves being able to check out the latest mystery book for free. 

For school librarians, the entire month of April is set aside to remind students, parents, teachers and education professionals of the role libraries play in school learning and educational spaces.

Ways to celebrate libraries of all sizes in April:

• Participate in National Library Week (April): Attend special events, such as author signings, workshops and book club meetings hosted by local branches.
• Support library staff: Celebrate National Library Workers Day (Tuesday of National Library Week) by thanking librarians and staff for their contributions.
• Get involved and advocate: Attend "Take Action for Libraries Day" (Thursday of National Library Week) to support funding and programs. Volunteer or join a "Friends of the Library" group.
• Use and promote services: Visit the library to check out items, attend digital literacy workshops, or explore online resources such as e-books and databases.
• Support intellectual freedom: Celebrate Right to Read Day (Monday of National Library Week) by checking out and reading books that have been challenged or banned.
• Read up on a Checkout Challenge: Some libraries run challenges during the week to encourage borrowing items (physically or digitally)

Federal funding cuts, decreased use and a sluggish U.S. economy will cost some rural towns their libraries

The Tieton Library will close later this month, leaving the town's 
1,610 residents without a library for the first time since 1946.

Libraries in rural towns provide residents with a safe community hub that offers educational materials, meeting space, and sometimes even a place to escape inclement weather. But federal budget cuts, a slowing economy and demographic changes are forcing some small-town libraries to close.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order "dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which has provided around $270 million a year to public and academic libraries," reports Anna Griffin of The New York Times. Without those federal dollars, some libraries in smaller communities won't have enough funding to remain open.

While Trump's executive order faces a court challenge, some smaller libraries are already scaling back. "Some rural libraries in Florida and Mississippi, for example, have frozen inter-library loan programs, sharply reducing the range of materials available to residents in more remote areas," Griffin writes. "State libraries in Maine, Indiana, Connecticut and Washington have laid off staff members or warned that layoffs were coming."

While most U.S. library systems rely on federal and state funding and already operate within tight budgets, smaller libraries with a more limited tax base have a harder time raising funds to cover shortfalls. 

The Yakima library district in Washington state, which serves rural farming towns, is an example of a system that had to make changes to remain solvent. District leaders have already announced an increase in fees to maintain services. The fee changes, along with looming state and federal funding cuts, have already pushed a Yakima library in Tieton to schedule its closure for later this month.

Kate Laughlin, executive director of the Association for Rural & Small Libraries, told Griffin, "We had a financial model that wasn’t all that sustainable even before this administration. What you are seeing in a place like Yakima County is the start, not the end."

Quick hits: A 'new' Robert Frost poem; the penny's top advocate; the little farmer from the Super Bowl ad

The newly discovered poem by Robert Frost was written
in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1918. (Adobe Stock photo)

Laced with nature, deep and succinct -- Robert Frost's poems are a rich read. And it so happens, there's a previously unpublished poem by Frost to enjoy, reports Jay Parini for The New Yorker. "I opened “Nothing New” and saw at once that it was indeed something new. It was originally inscribed inside a copy of Frost’s second collection. . . that was found in a retired educator’s home library. . . It’s a good poem, short and aphoristic, from a period when Frost, writing at the height of his powers, had a special affection for poems of this kind: brief, rueful, tight, focused."

Taking truckloads of books to rural hither and thither after Hurricane Helene became this traveling librarian's mission. "In the 1930s, women employed by the Works Progress Administration rode pack horses through the mountains of eastern Kentucky, bringing books to rural residents in hard-to-reach places," reports Anya Petrone Slepyan of The Daily Yonder. "Nearly a century later, Kirsten Crawford Turner is carrying on that tradition, with the help of a truck and a U-Haul rather than a horse and saddle bags." Turner told Slepyan, "It started with one box of books on my porch. Now I have thousands." 

Weller would like to give every American
a penny for their thoughts. (A.S. photo)

 

Almost everyone despises pennies. "Except this guy," writes Joseph Pisani of The Wall Street Journal. "Mark Weller has been on a roll for three decades, arguing for the one-cent coin’s existence every chance he gets. When the penny is slighted in newspapers, it’s Weller who writes letters to the editor." Weller runs a pro-penny group and he keeps Congress abreast of all the benefits the penny affords. "He’s been to Capitol Hill countless times to convince Congress to keep the penny, which the U.S. Mint has been producing since 1793."

Fake meat is made of plants, which people are encouraged to eat. But it's also an ultra-processed food, which people should avoid. What's the low-down? Alice Callahan of The New York Times reports, "Here’s what we do — and don’t — know. . . . While it’s clear that eating red meat and processed meat is associated with health risks like heart disease, some types of cancer and earlier death, we really don’t yet know how fake-meat alternatives might affect our health in the long term."

Else M. Rike still uses a calculator
to do taxes. (Adobe Stock photo)

Even if you love your job, would you do it if you lived to be 100? Probably not. But that's not true for everyone. "Else M. Rike will be 101 years old on March 24 but doesn’t expect to take a day off to celebrate. She will be too busy preparing tax returns," reports James R. Hagerty for The Wall Street Journal. "Active tax professionals over 90 years old are rare but can be found here and there. . . .William D. Brew, who lives in Henderson, Nev., and will be 102 in March, continues to prepare taxes for a handful of clients. . . Wes Cobb, 94, a retired IRS agent in Keene, N.H., invites clients to spread out their tax materials on his kitchen table."

She's the Little Potato Farmer who could. She's also a little famous after a Super Bowl ad spotlighted her family's potato farm, which grows potatoes for Lay's potato chips. Her father, Jeremy Pavelski, is a fifth-generation farmer from Hancock, Wisconsin, reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "The Super Bowl commercial . . . was inspired by Pavelski’s story, after he hosted a farm tour for Frito Lay one day." Morgan adds, "The group was especially touched by Pavelski’s 7-year-old daughter, who is passionate about the potatoes her family produces."

A new analysis suggests that when rural areas lack access to civic infrastruture, it contributes to health disparities

The index is based on weighted health outcomes that measure the quality and length of one's life.

(Map by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder, from County Health Rankings data)

When compared to their urban counterparts, rural communities continue to face health disparities for a wide range of reasons; however, a new analysis of County Health Rankings & Roadmaps data by The Daily Yonder suggests that this "disparity is driven partly by unequal access to civic infrastructure," reports Sarah Melotte. A lack of "access to resources like high-speed internet and public libraries is part of the reason rural counties aren’t as healthy as metropolitan ones."

The 2024 CHR&R National Findings Report, Creating Thriving Communities Through Civic Participation, underscored the relationship between a community's civic participation access and the health of its members. Counties with well-resourced civic infrastructure, such as local news, broadband internet and public libraries, were healthier and often more urban.

More insights from the Yonder's analysis:

• Rural counties make up 17 of the top 20 most unhealthy counties in the health outcome index, a CHR&R tool that measures the length and quality of life in a county.
• People who live in rural areas are more likely to experience unequal access to civic infrastructure, according to the report. Rural communities are more likely to lack access to broadband internet and to pay more for a subscription when they do have it.
• Health outcomes also vary by region. Both rural and metro counties in the South are the least healthy compared to other regions, while some of the healthiest counties are in New England.
• The rural South exhibits the worst index scores compared to all other regions in both nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas.
• The states with the worst inequalities between rural and urban counties are Alaska and Hawaii.

Saturday is "Let Freedom Read Day," and organizers are promoting efforts to defend library books from censorship

Public libraries should have materials for everyone in the community, but with the increase in book bans, it can feel like the freedom to find "your thing" to read could be pulled from the shelf.

Tomorrow, Oct. 7, is Let Freedom Read Day. In the spirit of civic engagement, advocacy groups are asking Americans to stand up for library staff, educators, writers, publishers and booksellers who make the wide variety of books available to readers.

The organizers of Banned Books Week promote several ways for people to support the efforts:

Call a decision maker: Call school and library administrators, school board and library board members, city councilpersons, and elected representatives to ask them to support the right to read a variety of books. Find and Contact Elected Officials (usa.gov)

Support an advocacy organization: The Banned Books Week Coalition includes organizations that fight against efforts to ban books. Learn more about the members of the Coalition here.

Buy a "banned" book: Censorship doesn’t just harm libraries and schools; it also impacts writers, publishers and booksellers. Writers have had school visits canceled. Publishers and booksellers are encountering more obstacles to working with schools and libraries. One way to support the people who make and sell books is to buy them.

Do you want to help others access banned books? You can donate the books you purchase to:

• Public and school libraries: Contact your local library or school to find out what they need and how to donate.
• Little Free Library: Use the free LFL mobile app to find a Little Free Library book-sharing box in your area.
• Fundraisers: Many public libraries have friends of the library groups that use donated books to raise money for the library.
• A banned book giveaway or bookmobile: Call your local bookstore to see if they may be hosting a giveaway or supporting a bookmobile. 

More ideas are here.

It's Banned Book Week, and First Amendment advocates push back by training citizens how to fight bans

Photo via PEN America

Banned Book Week is this week, and First Amendment advocates are pushing to stem the tide of books removed from library shelves. "In the last few years, there has been an unprecedented wave of book bans and censorship spurred by parents and conservative groups to target books that center the LGBTQ+ community, Black history and diverse stories," reports Ariana Figueroa of The Kentucky Lantern. "During the 2022-23 school year, book bans occurred in 153 districts across 33 states, according to the PEN America report."

According to PEN, 3,300 books were banned during the 2022-2023 school year, up 33% from the prior year. To counter the dramatic increase, PEN "launched online training for students to fight book bans, and more recently, teamed up with bestselling authors to fight against book bans in Florida and across the country," Figueroa writes. "Some of those authors include Judy Blume, Ruby Bridges, Suzanne Collins, Michael Connelly, Gillian Flynn, Amanda Gorman, Nikki Grimes, Daniel Handler, Khaled Hosseini, Casey McQuiston, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult and Nora Roberts, among others."

Lawmakers have also entered the fray, with some supporting bans and others criticizing bans as free speech violations. In September, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee "held a hearing to discuss the consequences of book bans, but senators ultimately decided it was not Congress' role to intervene," Figueroa reports. "The White House in June announced that the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights would appoint a coordinator to counter the massive wave of book bans across the country.. . . However, the department has not responded to multiple requests from States Newsroom asking about the hiring status of the new coordinator. . . . One state, Illinois, became the first state to pass a law outlawing the banning of books."

Moms for Liberty, an organization formed in 2021, is often the force behind many book bans, Figueroa explains. The group generally "'targets local school board meetings, school board members, administrators, and teachers to push right-wing policies,' as reported by Media Matters. Moms for Liberty has about 300 chapters across 47 states."

States and the number of books they have banned from July 2022 – June 2023 include:
Arkansas - 4 books; California - 1 book; Colorado - 8 books; Florida - 1,406 books; Georgia - 4 books;
Idaho - 25 books; Indiana - 3 books; Iowa - 6 books; Kansas - 7 books; Kentucky - 3 books; Maine - 13 books; Massachusetts - 1 book; Michigan - 39 books; Minnesota - 1 book; Missouri - 333 books; Nebraska - 6 books; New Hampshire - 1 book; New Jersey - 3 books; New York - 6 books; North Carolina - 58 books; North Dakota - 27 books; Oklahoma - 2 books; Oregon - 38 books; Pennsylvania -
186 books; South Carolina - 127 books; South Dakota - 2 books; Tennessee - 11 books; Texas - 625 books; Utah - 281 books; Virginia - 75 books; West Virginia - 2 books; Wisconsin - 43 books
Wyoming - 15 books

Opinion: Appointed county school board grants itself 'sole authority' over library content; some residents push back

A sign on a road in Hanover County, where a battle is underway over a
push for an elected school board. (Photo by Greg Sargent, Washington Post)

America is no stranger to censorship, with the first U.S. book ban dating back to 1637. Some counties, such as Hanover County, Virginia, have a long history of the practice, writes Greg Sargent in his opinion for The Washington Post. In 1966, its school board removed To Kill a Mockingbird from shelves, and this year, it "removed at least 20 books after granting itself sole authority over library content. Last spring, it renamed a school christened after a Black historical figure," but some residents are resisting the bans in what is shaping up to be "A nasty fight in a rural Virginia school district."

In response, the "Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board" is campaigning to "take away county officials' power to appoint school board members, who are otherwise insulated from public accountability. Unelected boards are rooted in the state's Jim Crow past, as they were sometimes used to keep Black residents out," Sargent writes. "The case for an elected board in Hanover County, which stretches from Richmond's suburbs into outlying rural areas and backed Donald Trump in 2020 by 26 points, is strong. . . . It is one of only a dozen school boards in the state that are still appointed — and it's the largest among those."

"More residents started joining the push for elected boards last spring. First, the board voted to give itself sole authority over book-banning decisions for school libraries — and then promptly started nixing books from circulation, including several with LGBTQ+ themes," Sargent adds. "Liberal-leaning Kelly Merrill, a University of Richmond professor with a transgender teenager, said she was angered when the school board voted against accommodations for trans students."

"This saga goes back a century. At the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901-1902, delegates shut down a proposal for elected school boards after opponents made clear they believed that would give too much 'negro' control over the schools. . . . In the 1950s, the General Assembly retaliated against Arlington County's board (the only one at the time that was permitted to elect members) by revoking that status in favor of appointments. This ratified the idea of appointed boards as a bulwark defending segregation," Sargent writes. 

Historian Peyton McCrary told Sargent, "Appointed boards were part and parcel of how the Jim Crow system operated in Virginia." Sargent adds, "In Hanover, liberals and even some conservatives are mindful of that dark past. This fall, if residents vote to give themselves the power to hold school board members accountable moving forward, it will be another step toward repudiating it."

Book-banning zeal almost closed this library; it would have been the first in the nation

The Dayton Library will remain open after initiative
was barred. (Photo by Dean Rutz, The Seattle Times)

Many public libraries are facing increasing pressure to remove targeted books from shelves or even more extreme measures, such as asking voters to close the library, which almost happened to Dayton Library in Columbia County, Washington. "The library —  which was on the verge of becoming the first library in the country to shutter over disputes about what books it offers — will remain open," reports David Gutman of The Seattle Times, "after a Columbia County court Wednesday barred an initiative to close the library from appearing on the November ballot."

The Dayton Library is the only library in Columbia County, pop. 4,000, and the town of Dayton, where the conflict has wrangled residents for over a year, is "a one-stoplight farming town where wheat prices are displayed on Main Street," Gutman writes. "The library's opponents, led by Jessica Ruffcorn, a mother of two and the leader of the movement to shut the library. . . objected to the placement of books concerning gender, sexuality and race in the kids and young adult sections of the library. Initially, the complaints centered on one book, What's the T?: The Guide to All Things Trans and/or Nonbinary, but they quickly spread to a dozen others and now well over 100 books. . . . All the contested books are found in 'hundreds if not thousands of libraries across the country,' according to the Washington Libraries Association."

Columbia County, Washington

(Wikipedia)

In response, two Columbia County residents and Neighbors United for Progress filed a lawsuit against Jessica Ruffcorn to prevent the issue from appearing on the ballot. Gutman reports the filing said: "The initiative seeks to punish every single person in Columbia County by shuttering the Library in its entirety and depriving the community of its many vital resources. The loss of the Library would result in a loss of access to information, the loss of history, a decline in public resources, and the loss of one of the most beautiful buildings in the County."

If the initiative passed, "all of the library's books and materials would have been moved to the state library near Olympia, and the library's building and other property would return to the city of Dayton, which, prior to the formation of the rural library district, had been unable to fund the library," Gutman notes. "Columbia County Superior Court Commissioner Julie Karl ruled for the library's supporters, barring the county from placing the initiative on the November ballot. The initiative, Karl said from the bench. . .was unconstitutional, procedurally invalid and the signature gathering was marred by 'potential criminal acts.'"

The Color Purple book remains one of the most frequently challenged books more than 40 years after its release

In 2022, the ALA  documented over 1,200 attempts to ban or
restrict library materials. (Thought Catalog photo, Unsplash)

In 1982, Alice Walker's The Color Purple became a critically acclaimed bestseller. But alongside the accolades, the story stirred up enough controversy to became "one of the most challenged books in the nation, withstanding criticisms aimed at its depictions of race and sex, its portrayal of abuse and agony, and even its spelling and style," reports Erin Blakemore of National Geographic. The novel was praised for "its portrayals of both the brutality and sorrow of racism and sexual violence and its celebration of Black women. . . . Though educators recognized the book's potential as a teaching tool, some parents and community members objected to its presence in school curriculums and libraries.

"The first major attempt to ban the book occurred in 1984, when a parent petitioned against its use in an Oakland, California classroom," Blakemore writes. "In a 1985 essay, Walker recalled reading frequent updates on 'how the banning was coming along' and watching the book's sales skyrocket. . . Though the Oakland schools ultimately decided not to remove the book from classrooms, the book has consistently been challenged nationwide since its publication, repeatedly making it on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books."

Why? "Walker's use of slang and profanity, the book's portrayal of brutal Black men, a same-sex encounter between the two main characters, and its depiction of sexual violence in its first pages," Blakemore explains. "'One can eat from a cafeteria or a dumpster…but one would hope those placed in charge of our children would have exercised better oversight,' wrote one parent in a characteristic 2013 challenge in Brunswick County, N.C. (The book has survived multiple attempted bans in the Brunswick County school district.)"

A decade later, the book still faces challenges, but it is not alone. "In 2022, the American Library Association documented over 1,200 attempts to ban or restrict library materials—double the number of challenges from the previous year—and most of which attempted to remove multiple titles from shelves," Blakemore adds. "The Color Purple . . . was removed from library shelves in Florida's Indian County School District at the request of a parent group that objected to 156 of the books on school shelves, claiming the books contain everything from pornography to critical race theory."

The movie adaptation of The Color Purple musical is set for release in December, and once again, the book will be in the public spotlight. "Only time will tell if the movie will spark more challenges—but for now, the legacy of a book one 1982 reviewer called 'indelibly affecting' is secure," Blakemore writes. "To date, the book has sold over 5 million copies."

Some in rural N.C. county wanted out of regional library; Pride Month book display apparently prompted debate

The Yancey County Library in Burnsville, N.C. 
(Photo by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder)

In 2013, Tim Mandell of The Rural Blog wrote, "The public library remains one constant that has something for everybody." But in recent years, which books are showcased or shelved in libraries has become contentious. "Commissioners in rural Yancey County, North Carolina, considered withdrawing their library from the regional system amidst public debate about a Pride Month book display," reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. "The debate about withdrawing from the regional system reveals how political divisions can threaten public services in rural communities that need them the most."

"The high elevation usually keeps things cool in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina," Melotte writes. "But temperatures were sweltering by mountain standards on July 10, when hundreds of people gathered in a hot courtroom to show support for their regional library system" at a Yancey County commission meeting. During the public comment period, "Franklin Oldham told the commissioners, 'I am a white, Christian, heterosexual, American war veteran. I peace-kept in Kosovo in 2002. I fought in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. And I am a proud ally of the LGBTQ community.' Fifteen other residents shared their thoughts during the comment period, and all except four echoed Oldham's sentiment about supporting their queer neighbors and the regional system."

Yancey County's library debate began in June when the commission's chair moved to give the county manager authority to take over the library. The motion was tabled, and "backlash ensued," Melotte writes. "Patrons suspected that the motion to consider withdrawal came because someone complained about a Pride Month book display in the library. . . . Pulling out of the regional system would not only result in decreased access to funds, it would put county commissioners temporarily in control of the library until the commissioners appointed a new library board."

At its core, the debate "revolved around whether LGBTQ displays are political agendas or statements of welcome. . . . Chairman Jeff Whitson finally announced that they would not be pulling out of the regional system," Melotte reports. Yancey County is among a growing number of communities where LGBTQ books have created tensions. "Local libraries faced 1,269 demands to ban books last year, according to the American Library Association. That's more than any other year since they began tracking censorship attempts over 20 years ago."

Rural libraries are not just about books. They are "essential public spaces where people are more likely to have limited access to high-speed internet, an adequate number of healthcare providers and other kinds of infrastructure," Melotte reports. "An American Association of Libraries survey showed that 40% of rural libraries provide subscriptions to health databases that do things like help patrons sign up for health insurance or learn about what benefits they are eligible for. As a part of a regional library system, the Yancey County Library has access to extra grants and state aid resources that libraries run by local governments do not." Yancey County Regional Library Director Amber Westall Briggs told Melotte: "State aid exists to fund regional library systems [to] serve socioeconomic areas that needed more assistance so that they could equalize service to the people across the state."

Along party lines, Illinois denies state funding to libraries that restrict or ban books for partisan or doctrinal reasons

Shutterstock photo illustration

As localities across the nation debate book bans, one state has put itself athwart. "Illinois public libraries that restrict or ban materials because of 'partisan or doctrinal' disapproval will be ineligible for state funding as of Jan. 1, 2024," reports Claire Savage of The Associated Press. "The American Library Association in March announced that attempts to censor books in schools and public libraries reached a 20-year high in 2022 — twice as many as 2021, the previous record."

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, told Savage: "Illinois legislation responds to disturbing circumstances of censorship and an environment of suspicion." Savage reports, "To be eligible for state funds, Illinois public libraries must adopt the ALA's Library Bill of Rights, which holds that 'materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,' or subscribe to a similar pledge."

Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D) sponsored the legislation "after a school board in her district was subject to pressure to ban certain content from school libraries," Savage reports. Stava-Murray told her, "While it's true that kids need guidance and that some ideas can be objectionable, trying to weaponize local government to force one-size-fits-all standards onto the entire community for reasons of bigotry, or as a substitute for active and involved parenting, is wrong."

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias pointed out to Savage that Illinois taxpayers pay librarians who are experienced and educated to decide "what books should be in circulation," adding, "We are not saying that every book should be in every single library." 

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R), who voted against the measure, told Savage, "Our caucus does not believe in banning books, but we do believe that the content of books should be considered in their placement on the shelves." Savage reports, "Despite Giannoulias' assertion that 'this should not be a Democrat or Republican issue,' lawmakers' approval of the bill splintered across party lines, with Republicans in opposition."

Amid calls to ban books, rural Texas county votes to keep libraries open while lawsuit over book removal continues

A crowd gathered for the county commission meeting in Llano County, Texas. (Photo by Phil Reynolds, The Highlander)

Photo: Aaron E. Hernandez, American-Statesman

Not all big decisions are made in big places. Here's one from the Texas Hill Country. "When commissioners in Llano County, population 21,000, voted Thursday to keep its three-branch library system open, the moment was closely monitored by the biggest news organizations in the country," write Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent of The Washington Post. Technically, commissioners voted "to remove an item from their agenda to consider whether to 'continue or cease operations' of the Llano County Library System “pending further guidance'," The Highlander of Marble Falls reports, under a heading saying the commissioners voted to "postpone" the vote. But other stories cast the idea as dead.

Niki Griswold of the Austin American-Statesman reports that county officials made the decision "despite an ongoing push by some residents to close the facilities if certain books they claim are sexually explicit remain available for check out." There's a lawsuit, which "is part of an ongoing legal, political and cultural battle over what books children should have access to in public and school libraries, especially content that touches on race, LGBTQ+ issues and sexuality."

The Post explains, "Like many other similar conflicts, this one was triggered by a single Llano resident, Bonnie Wallace, who objected in 2021 to library books she pronounced 'pornographic filth.'. . . One of the big surprises of these sagas has been outbreaks of resistance to book purges in the reddest places, and here again, some locals dissented" and filed suit. Griswold reports, "A federal district judge in Austin issued a preliminary injunction in the case at the end of March, ordering the county to replace the books it had removed from libraries and prohibiting officials from taking away any other books while the court case is pending."

Llano County (Wikipedia map)

"Thursday's meeting drew dozens of residents from both sides of the issue," Griswold reports. "Michael McDavid, 60, who held a sign that read 'We love our library,' has lived in Llano County for 35 years. He said that closing the library system would cripple the community: "Our little library is our community center. . . . That's where everything goes on, from internet access to exercise classes, books, DVDs, and without our library, we're kind of a rudderless community."

Griswold reports, "Fifteen people addressed the Commissioners Court during public testimony with more than half vehemently against closing the county's libraries . . . Speakers included former teachers and librarians who defended libraries as "safe spaces for gathering" for children and adults. . . . Other speakers read explicit passages from select books. . . . one resident asked the commissioners, 'Does Llano, Texas, want to be known as the town that closed the public library?' Joanie Castleman, who attended the meeting but did not testify before the commissioners, told Griswold, "I'd like to see the library closed if they're going to leave those books in the library. It's not about banning books or burning them. It's about protecting our children."

Once the agenda item was dropped, administrative County Judge Ron Cunningham "read a two-page statement, condemning the ongoing litigation and its cost to the county and acknowledging the division the debate has brought to the community. He said, "This has been a very contentious situation. This is not what Llano County is about, ladies and gentlemen; we're better than this. . . . The library will remain open. We will try this in the courts, not through social media or the news media."

School libraries' content is hotly debated in some places; study finds disputes related to local politcal environments

School libraries are supposed to be quiet oases of reading and study. But when it comes to deciding what books are on the shelves, they have become a hotbed of cultural debate. "School libraries have become a key battleground in contemporary culture wars over public education," reports Kirsten Slungaard Mumma, a postdoctoral fellow at Wheelock Educational Policy Center of the Brookings Institution. "In the 2021-22 school year, PEN America reported a record-setting 2,532 book challenges affecting 1,648 different titles in 138 school districts. Many of the challenged titles contain content related to LGBTQ+ issues or race/racism, topics that have also been the concern of state legislative efforts."

Photo from Brookings Institution

Mumma did a study: "I assembled data on hundreds of titles in public school libraries across the country. The list of titles across controversial topics includes both fictionalized stories and nonfiction titles. . . . My school library sample consists of 5,240 elementary/middle and 1,391 high schools in 48 states. This sample includes schools in rural and urban areas, schools in counties with conservative and liberal political leanings, and schools that serve students of very different backgrounds. I use these data to identify patterns in library resources and content, especially as they relate to political preferences, state laws, and book bans."

She shares some of the main findings from that work:
Finding #1: Libraries in low-income areas have lower staffing levels and less up-to-date collections. Compared to school libraries in low-income areas, school libraries in high-income areas have higher book acquisition rates (2.05 vs. 1.40) and employ more full-time equivalent librarians (1.12 vs. 0.80 per school). School libraries in high-income neighborhoods also have nearly twice as many recent best-sellers in their catalogues for young adults (18.58 vs. 9.44 titles) and middle grades (8.43 vs. 4.02 titles)

Finding #2: Access to controversial content is related to local political environments.
School libraries in the most conservative areas have fewer LGBTQ+ titles and fewer books that deal with race/racism or abortion than libraries in the most liberal areas. Libraries in conservative areas also have more Christian fiction titles and more Dr. Seuss titles that were discontinued from publication in 2021 because of racist imagery.

Controversial content is also associated with state laws that restrict curricular content. Libraries in states with anti-Critical Race Theory laws are 3.5 percentage points (46%) less likely to have The 1619 Project, a particularly contentious publication that reframes American history around slavery and its legacy. 

Finding #3: Book challenges may have chilling effects on the acquisition of LGBTQ+ content.
I find that schools in districts that were subject to book challenges over the last school year were less likely to have added recently published LGBTQ+ titles this fall. Specifically, libraries in districts subject to challenges were 0.55 percentage points less likely to have a recent LGBTQ+ title, a 55% decrease relative to the sample mean. I interpret this as suggestive evidence that book challenges are having “chilling effects” on the acquisition of LGBTQ+ content, leading librarians to avoid purchasing content that parents or politicians could find objectionable. 

Organized and influential, promoters and organizers of recent book bans seek influence over a lot more than books

Florida Freedom to Read Project members. The project opposes
restrictions on reading. (Photo by Todd Anderson, New York Times)

Rancorous conflicts over attempts to ban books in libraries are about a lot more than books, report Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter of The New York Times. 

"Traditionally, debates over what books are appropriate for school libraries have taken place between a concerned parent and a librarian or administrator," they write. "But recently, the issue has been supercharged by a rapidly growing and increasingly influential constellation of conservative groups" that have "pursued their goals by becoming heavily involved in local and state politics. . . . They have created political action committees, funded campaigns, endorsed candidates and packed school boards, helping to fuel a surge in challenges to individual books and to drive changes in the rules governing what books are available to children."

The efforts seem to have have a social agenda. "The materials the groups object to are often described in policies and legislation as sensitive, inappropriate or pornographic," the Times reports. "In practice, the books most frequently targeted for removal have been by or about Black or LGBTQ people, according to the American Library Association."

The battle is limiting how librarians do their jobs. Florida has a list of "challenged books," which it distributes to school districts. Michelle Jarrett, the library media supervisor for the School District of Osceola County, told The Times, “This list could be seen as a warning, like ‘Don’t even bother with these books.' Librarians across the state are already self-censoring for fear of retribution, and asking themselves, ‘Am I ready to defend this book, is this worth the fight?’”

The Keller Independent School District in Dallas "banned books from its libraries that include the concept of gender fluidity. The change was pushed by three new school board members, elected in May with support from Patriot Mobile, a self-described Christian cellphone carrier. Through its political action committee, Patriot Mobile poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Texas school board races to promote candidates with conservative views on race, gender and sexuality — including on which books children can access at school," the Times reports.

Keller parents who did not support the bans found themselves "outflanked by deep-pocketed organizations whose actions can change longstanding policies in a matter of months." Laney Hawes, who has four children in Keller schools, told the Times, “They ran on the campaign of, ‘We’re going to get pornography and sexually explicit books out of our school libraries.' The parents didn’t have a PAC. We couldn’t compete with these people.”

Organizing a national resistance to book bans is challenging, but pushback is happening. Emerson Sykes, a First Amendment litigator for the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Times, "The restrictions infringe on students’ right to access a broad range of material without political censorship.” Librarian groups have also been organizing resistance. The Times reports: "Librarians in Texas formed FReadom Fighters, an organization that offers guidance to librarians on handling book challenges. In Florida, parents who oppose book banning formed the Freedom to Read Project, which urges its members to attend board meetings and tracks the work of groups like Florida Citizens Alliance."

Voters expand Medicaid in S.D., reject abortion restriction in Ky., approve recreational marijuana in Mo. and Md.

Among the many referenda on Tuesday's ballots, Kentucky voters rejected a proposal that would have kept state courts from finding a right to abortion in the state's constitution. That clears the way for the state Supreme Court to hear arguments next week in a lawsuit by the state's two abortion clinics against some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws, one of which kicked in when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Both clinics are in Louisville, so rural access to abortion is difficult.

Voters in Michigan added abortion rights to their constitution. Voters in California and Vermont approved similar measures that would have little effect on existing law in those states, Lou Jacobson reports for U.S. News and World Report.

Voters in South Dakota expanded Medicaid to an estimated 42,000 people under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "The Republican-controlled state, where lawmakers have long resisted Medicaid expansion, is the seventh in the last five years to do so at the ballot box — and likely the last to do so for some time," reports Megan Messerly of Politico.

"A different health care proposal, in Oregon, was losing narrowly in early returns," Jacobson reports. "This measure was more vague.” It would add language to the constitution that says the state will "ensure" that every resident "has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right."

Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana, while those in Arkansas and the Dakotas defeated similar measures. Voters in Maryland also approved the idea, which carried every county except Allegany, at the state's western end.

"By a 2-1 margin, Iowa approved adding language to the state constitution affirming the right to own and bear firearms and require strict judicial scrutiny of any alleged violation, Jacobson reports. "Oregon voters were on their way to approving a measure to keep state lawmakers from running for reelection if they had 10 or more unexcused absences. The minority party – most recently Republicans – had used the state’s two-thirds quorum rule to shutter chamber business by not showing up for sessions. The measure was winning by a 2-1 margin. In Michigan, voters approved by a 2-1 margin a measure that would set 12-year term limits for state legislative service, as well as stiffen financial disclosure rules for legislators and statewide elected officials. And in North Dakota, voters approved an eight-year term limit for the governor and eight years in each legislative chamber. The measure passed with nearly two-thirds of the vote."

Nebraska and Nevada voters raised their states' minimum wages. "One blue state and one red state went their expected directions on ballot measures affecting labor unions," Jacobson reports. "By a 3-2 margin, Illinois appears to have passed a measure that would create a state constitutional right to collective bargaining. But in Tennessee, a right-to-work measure that makes it illegal for workplaces to mandate labor-union membership passed with 70%."

Voters in Jonesboro and the rest of Craighead County, Arkansas, cut the local library's property-tax rate in half. The vote "stemmed from protests over a gay pride book display in the library last year and a transgender author’s visit there earlier," Kenneth Heard writes for the Arkansas Advocate.

This story may be updated.

Quick hits: Why libraries are a boon to rural areas; rural opportunity in CHIPS bill; rural LGBTQ+ Americans face greater health care barriers; latest on flooding in Kentucky

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

At least 16 people have died from catastrophic flooding in Eastern Kentucky, and more deaths are likely to be confirmed, Gov. Andy Beshear says. Read more here.

Many cities and small towns see a huge economic opportunity in just-passed House bill that would create incentives for domestic manufacture of computer chips. Read more here.

Libraries are a boon to rural society, and more important than ever during the pandemic, retired journalist Keith Roysdon writes for The Daily Yonder.

LGBTQ+ Americans in rural Appalachia face greater barriers to accessing health care, according to a recent survey of providers. That's partly because of many providers may not be familiar with unique LGBTQ+ health concerns, or willing or able to address them. Some patients may be reluctant to seek care because of stigma. Read more here.

In the rural West, 'self-reliance' can take a heavy toll on mental health. Read more here.

West Virginia has blocked five major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, from doing business with the state because they have stopped supporting the coal industry, which has become less profitable in recent years. Read more here.

Libraries and newspapers are natural allies for intellectual freedom and accurate information, librarians tell editors

Leaders from the Lexington Public Library spoke about intellectual freedom at the
International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors conference. (Photo by Heather Chapman)

Public schools in the U.S. saw 1,586 book bans from July 2021 to March of this year, and 41% of those were tied to some sort of official directive, according to a recent report by literary and free-expression group PEN America. And though libraries have seen book challenges and bans throughout history, such efforts have spiked dramatically in the past year.

That's one reason libraries and newspapers should support each other, since they are natural allies in the quest to protect and advance intellectual freedom, said a panel of leaders from the Lexington Public Library on Friday. The panel was part of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors' annual conference, hosted by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues (publisher of The Rural Blog) at the University of Kentucky.

"Diversity of viewpoints, civic engagement -- those values are appropriate for both sides of the aisle," said Heather Dieffenbach, the library's executive director. She said newspapers aren't obligated to support disputed books, but can correct misinformation often at the heart of such disputes, and help facilitate communication among locals. They can also help readers understand how libraries choose materials to add to their collections.

The misinformation can also come from people oppose book bans, said Alan Wartes of the Gunnison Country Times in western Colorado. He said when a local woman wanted Gender Queer, a frequent target of objections around the nation, taken out of the juvenile collection, defenders of the book said "This person wants to ban books." Wartes noted in a column that the woman followed procedure and went to the county commission only after the library didn't respond for two months.

Those who bring challenges often accuse libraries of being biased against conservative values, but librarians are bound by a code of ethics that calls on them to represent diverse viewpoints and ensure that they're bringing in factually accurate materials, said Tonya Head, deputy director of the Lexington library. Chief of Staff AnnaMarie Cornett, the daughter and sister of weekly newspaper publishers, said she is building a toolkit to help library patrons better understand these principles.

Patrons, papers and concerned citizens can do much to help advance intellectual freedom, said Cornett: They can inform others, and join library boards and/or the PTA. "We can be visible and vocal supporters when censorship comes for us; when it comes for libraries, for newspapers, for schools," said Cornett. "This is hard and it takes courage, especially for marginalized members of our communities. But we have a responsibility to use our voice, to use our privilege."

Libraries have long been seen as a symbol of resistance to tyranny, Dieffenbach noted. In 1939, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish warned in a speech that failure to educate Americans on how to value and preserve democracy would spur a descent into fascism. "Those of us who are concerned, for whatever reason, with the preservation of the civilization and the inherited culture of this nation find ourselves in a situation in which time is running out not like the sand in a glass but like the blood in an opened artery," MacLeish said. "There is still time left to us. But we can foresee and foresee clearly the moment when there will be none."

After quoting MacLeish, Dieffenbach said, "A lot of that could have been said yesterday."

Rural Iowa library closed for a month after third librarian in two years resigns over local pushback to 'liberal' books

The Vinton Public Library in Vinton, Iowa (Library of Congress photo)

The Vinton Public Libary in Vinton, Iowa, is reopening today for limited hours after being closed for a month following the resignation of the library's third director in two years. The librarians resigned after locals in the town of 5,000 objected to the library's hiring of LGBTQ employees and display of books that featured LGBTQ themes and political figures such as Jill Biden and Kamala Harris, Samantha Hernandez reports for the Des Moines Register.

It's an extreme example of what's happening in libraries all over the country, as locals push back against a perceived liberal bias in content. "As highly visible and politicized book bans have exploded across the country, librarians — accustomed to being seen as dedicated public servants in their communities — have found themselves on the front lines of an acrimonious culture war, with their careers and their personal reputations at risk," Elizabeth Harris and Alexandra Alter report for The New York Times. "They have been labeled pedophiles on social media, called out by local politicians and reported to law enforcement officials. Some librarians have quit after being harassed online. Others have been fired for refusing to remove books from circulation."

Vinton in Benson County
(Wikipedia map)

Interim director Colton Neeley was the latest to resign at the Vinton library. Neeley, who is openly gay, said many locals objected when he was hired two years ago as the children's librarian. He considered applying for the permanent director's position but was told he didn't have enough experience, even though he was serving as the interim director, Hernandez reports. Before that, permanent director Renee Greenlee resigned in June after only six months on the job. She had been hired to replace permanent director Janette McMahon, who lasted only a year herself.

McMahon, now the librarian in another small town in Iowa, said locals informally complained to her that the book selection was biased against conservatives, and repeatedly checked out the controversial books and refused to return them. She recently spoke with Ayesha Rascoe of NPR about how she decides on which books to stock at the library, and denied any sort of political agenda. But, "like in a lot of small towns, gossip and conjecture and the side conversations just kind of take over. And at that point, you become unable to really do your job well," McMahon said. "You know, you think small-town libraries - oh, they don't get the controversy of New York or the big cities. Well, actually, I think the controversies, it's in small towns, I think, even worse simply because you know everyone in small towns. And change is very hard. And when change comes, these things happen."

The Vinton library board is reviewing applications for a new librarian. They're hoping to find someone who can communicate effectively with locals to explain why certain books are in the library's collection, board director Jimmy Kelly told KCCI 8 News in Des Moines. And, Kelly said obliquely, the interview process will include a warning about local turbulence: "We also want to get them to understand the situations and circumstances they might be dealing with."

Quick hits: Many fireworks displays canceled; fewer of us drink milk; rural Texas students fight local book bans

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Communities across the nation are canceling their Independence Day fireworks displays because of wildfire hazards, supply-chain issues and worker shortages. Read more here.

In a town near Uvalde, Texas, teachers have carried weapons since 2013. Parents say they feel safer. Read more here.

An LGBTQ high school student in rural Texas organized students to fight the local school board's book bans. Read more here.

A recent study says that lack of water costs families, communities and the U.S. economy $8.58 billion each year. Read more here.

Bird-flu outbreaks are slowing down, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture is urging poultry farmers to be ready for a possible resurgence in the fall. Read more here.

Consumption of fluid cow's milk is continuing a downward trend that is proving difficult to reverse, according to a new USDA report. Read more here.

Registration deadline Wed., June 15, for annual conference in Ky. of International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors

By Al Cross
Director and professor, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, University of Kentucky

Editorial critique session at an ISWNE conference

The annual conference of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, July 20-23 at the University of Kentucky, will have programs on national politics becoming local, dealing with the evils of social media, new business models for weeklies, governments’ role in the news business, university help for community newspapers, a visit from a news-media leader from Mongolia, newspapers’ and libraries’ common interests, and the hallmark of the conference: editors' critiques of other members' editorials and editorial pages.

Those sessions are on the schedule for Friday and Saturday, July 22 and 23. As usual, the professional-development programming will be preceded by two days of tours in the area; the itinerary includes a historic newspaper, an iconic horse farm, a bourbon distillery, and a community that is headquarters to a big cannabis company and for 14 years was home to a newspaper created by UK students and their professor (this writer). For a detailed schedule, click here.

Attendees will stay in a university dormitory, and private rooms are available. The conference fee is $600 per person, and there's a three-day, $300 option. ISWNE membership is $50 a year. The registration form is here. The deadline is Wednesday, June 15. Questions? Email al.cross@uky.edu.

Friday’s opening session will examine the common interests of newspapers and public libraries. “Libraries and newspapers share the front lines in the battle for intellectual freedom,” says AnnaMarie Cornett, chief of staff at the Lexington Public Library, who will join with other leaders of the library to talk about their approaches to neutrality and challenged materials, and how libraries and newspapers can work together in the fight against censorship.

Next up will be a session on navigating the increasingly contentious political landscape. My informal survey of ISWNE members last year found that editors are becoming more cautious because the national divisiveness has made local public discourse more contentious, and I have heard likewise from other editors. I’ll present what I have heard, then lead a group discussion so we can learn more and help guide paths forward.

Allison Frisch of Ithaca College and Gina Gayle of Emerson College will discuss their research paper about the ways higher-education journalism programs can help community newspapers. They found that such partnerships can increase civic engagement, create new local media channels, and strengthen civic literacy, engagement, and democracy. They also can give students real-world experience covering a wide range of issues, and help newspapers in need of more resources.

After lunch and ISWNE's annual Associated Press Stylebook quiz, we will have a discussion with Bradley Martin, editor and publisher of the Hickman County Times in Centerville, Tenn., about dealing with the evils of social media, and when it’s necessary to dip into the cesspool. Brad has an object example of a social media mess that had a serious impact on a school, a student and his family. I’ll be you have some examples to discuss, too.

Should government help the news media, and if so, how? Canada has taken steps to help newspapers that would be off-limits in the U.S., where the newspaper industry is fighting battles in Congress and state legislatures. Gordon Cameron, group managing editor of Hamilton Community News in Ontario, will give a report from Canada, where government help hasn’t set well with some rural editors. I will discuss battles in the states over public-notice advertising, and efforts in Congress to help news media recover some of the revenue they have lost to digital platforms – efforts that are better suited to community papers than they were at the start, but U.S. editors and publishers are still debating what role government should play in sustaining local journalism. I’ll also discuss newspapers’ biggest victory in Congress lately, the great expansion of the ability to send sample copies to non-subscribers in their home counties.

What are the ethics of seeking public-notice ads and other support for local journalism from public officials whom you may have to cover and comment on? That will be the point of departure for a roundtable session about tough ethical calls, often a challenge in rural communities.

To wrap up Friday's discussions, we will have a session looking at new business models for community newspapers, drawing in part on our recent National Summit on Journalism in Rural America, where speakers talked about taking their newspapers into nonprofit status, working with a local community foundation to put philanthropy into their business model, and using e-newsletters and membership models to raise more revenue from readers. (For another Summit story, on the state of rural journalism, click here.)

On Saturday, after the editorial critiques, we plan to hear from a very special visitor: Enkhbat Tsend, chairman of the Press Institute of Mongolia and CEO of Control Media LLC. Mongolia ranks 90th on the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, but that is higher than most nations near it. The index says Mongolia “broadly respects the principles of freedom and media pluralism, though its regulation still lacks basic legal protection for the confidentiality of sources and imperfect defamation laws encourage abusive lawsuits against journalists, stirring self-censorship.”

So, the conference will reach from your county courthouse and city hall to state legislatures and Congress and to other nations, just as an ISWNE conference should do. Please join us.