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The Latest Breaking News from PEN America

Get on the bus: banned books tour hits the road, from New York to Texas

Book banning in public schools jumped by 33% this year, so a group of enthusiasts is tackling censorship with a bus tour

The Guardian - US

Michael Connelly, Nikki Grimes, Judy Blume and other authors unite against book bans

During what the ALA is calling Banned Books week, more than a dozen high-profile authors are taking a stand against censorship. Author Michael Connelly alone has donated $1 million to the cause.

WEKU

Judy Blume, James Patterson and other authors are helping PEN America open Florida office

Judy Blume, James Patterson and Michael Connelly are among 24 prominent writers who have raised more than $3 million to help PEN America open a center in Miami and expand it efforts to counter Florida’s surge in book bannings in recent years

The Independent UK

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Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #79

Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance.

Ballotpedia

‘Eating away at democracy’: book bans in US public schools rise by a third in a year

According to a new study by Pen America, there were 3,362 instances of book bans in school classrooms and libraries – with more than 40% of all cases occurring in Florida

The Guardian - UK

Book bans and challenges surged over the last school year with 40% in Florida alone, report finds

Censorship campaigns are increasingly targeting community public libraries, not just schools

The Independent UK

Book bans spiked 33% last school year

"Eating away at the foundations of our democracy"

Salon

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School book bans show no signs of slowing, new PEN America report finds

The number of bans and restrictions in the U.S. rose 33% in the last school year, according the the report. Florida had more bans than any other state.

WEKU

‘We’re facing another old enemy’: Rushdie warns against global authoritarianism

Speaking in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Rushdie says US Republicans are moving away from democratic values including free speech

The Guardian - US

Republican senator reads explicit passages from LGBT+ memoirs in misleading stunt at book ban hearing

Neither of the books are shelved in library children’s sections in John Kennedy’s state

The Independent UK

Drew Barrymore dropped as National Book Awards host after her talk show resumes during strike

The TV host has resumed production of ‘The Drew Barrymore Show,’ drawing the ire of striking members of the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild.

Chicago Sun-Times

Virginia library at risk after rightwing push to defund it over LGBTQ+ books

Samuels Library set to close on 1 October after far-right community members claimed LGBTQ+ books were pornographic

The Guardian - US

Ohio's Issue 1 Doesn't Mention Abortion. But That's Why People Are Voting Today.

Plus: What media gets wrong about "book bans," Yellow Corporation to default on $700 million pandemic aid loan, and more...

Reason

Texas county moves to restrict ‘explicit’ and ‘objectionable’ books at public libraries

The book ban occurs alongside the closure of dozens of school libraries in the Houston public school district

The Independent UK

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WEKU

A Texas A&M professor was suspended for allegedly criticizing lieutenant governor

Joy Alonzo was suspended and investigated after she allegedly criticized Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a lecture on the opioid crisis. Free speech advocates call the probe "blatantly inappropriate."

Reason

The Solution to Chinese Censorship Is Not Show Hearings

Government bullying won’t fix censorship caused by government bullying.

Daily Mirror

'Crumbling' Putin's reaction to Wagner rebellion shows he's 'weak' says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky has called the Russian President "weak" and said the "power he used to have is just crumbling down" in scathing new comments about the Wagner rebellion

The Independent UK

Award-winning Ukrainian writer dies of injuries suffered in Russian missile attack on restaurant

The PEN America rights group says award-winning Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina has died from her injuries suffered after a Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant last week

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Axios

States fight to save books from growing number of bans across U.S.

Illinois this week became the first state to pass a law penalizing libraries that ban books.

The Independent UK

‘And Tango Makes Three’ penguin picture book authors sue Florida over ban under ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

School district restricts access to a picture book about the true story of a penguin family with two fathers

The Week

Elizabeth Gilbert and the debate over cancelling Russian culture

Elizabeth Gilbert has withdrawn her forthcoming novel “The Snow Forest” from publication amid increasingly vociferous fallout over her decision to set the narrative in Russia while the war in Ukraine is ongoing.

The Independent UK

Biden condemns ‘hysterical’ threats to LGBT+ Americans as White House pushes back on book bans

‘It’s an appeal to fear and it’s an appeal that is totally, thoroughly unjustified and ugly’

The Independent UK

Arkansas librarians are suing to block state law that threatens them with jailtime

Booksellers and library workers face unconsitutional restrictions and ‘extreme punishments’, plaintiffs argue

The Independent UK

Florida mom who tried to ban Amanda Gorman’s book has ties to far-right groups

A woman at the centre of a widely derided complaint attended rallies and protests with extremist groups and posted antisemitic content as she joined far-right book ban activism, reports find

The Guardian - US

Amanda Gorman ‘gutted’ after Florida school bans Biden inauguration poem

Poet, 25, vows to fight back after single complaint, which wrongly ascribed The Hill We Climb to Oprah Winfrey, prompts removal

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