Latest news with #AmericanLibraryAssn
Los Angeles Times
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Judge: Trump administration can dismantle Institute of Museum and Library Services
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday denied a request by the American Library Assn. to halt the Trump administration's further dismantling of an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the country, saying that recent court decisions suggested his court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had previously agreed to temporarily block the Republican administration, saying that plaintiffs were likely to show that Trump doesn't have the legal authority to unilaterally shutter the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which was created by Congress. But in Friday's ruling, Leon wrote that as much as the 'Court laments the Executive Branch's efforts to cut off this lifeline for libraries and museums,' recent court decisions suggested that the case should be heard in a separate court dedicated to contractual claims. He cited the Supreme Court's decision allowing the administration to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in teacher-training money despite a lower court order barring the cuts, saying that cases seeking reinstatement of federal grants should be heard in the Court of Federal Claims. The American Library Assn. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit to stop the administration from gutting the institute after President Trump signed a March 14 executive order that refers to it and several other federal agencies as 'unnecessary.' The agency's appointed acting director then placed many staff members on administrative leave, sent termination notices to most of them, began canceling grants and contracts and fired all members of the National Museum and Library Services Board. The institute has roughly 75 employees and issued more than $266 million in grants last year. However, a Rhode Island judge's order prohibiting the government from shutting down the institute in a separate case brought by several states remains in place. The administration is appealing that order as well.
Los Angeles Times
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Free speech organizations denounce Education Department for calling book bans a ‘hoax'
NEW YORK — Organizations that track the removal of books from schools and libraries are denouncing a Department of Education announcement that called bans a 'hoax' and dismissed 11 complaints that had been filed during the Biden administration. A conservative group praised the department's actions as 'welcome news.' Over the last few years, PEN America and the American Library Assn. have reported thousands of bans around the country, with targeted books often containing LGBTQ+ or racial themes, from Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir, 'Gender Queer,' to Angie Thomas' novel 'The Hate U Give.' Many of the removals were organized by Moms for Liberty and other conservative organizations that advocate for more parental input over what books are available to students. Legislatures in Iowa and Florida among other states passed laws that restrict the contents of library books and give parents and other local residents more power to challenge books. The Biden administration had criticized the removals and appointed a coordinator to handle complaints. But the Trump administration last week reversed those policies, eliminating the coordinator's position and ruling the complaints were without merit. 'The department is beginning the process of restoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their children's education,' the department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Craig Trainor, said in a statement. The Education Department's announcement is headlined: 'U.S. Department of Education Ends Biden's Book Ban Hoax.' Such language is 'alarming and dismissive of the students, educators, librarians, and authors who have firsthand experiences of censorship happening within school libraries and classrooms,' said Kasey Meehan, who directs PEN America's Freedom to Read program. The library association called the department's announcement part of a 'cruel and headlong effort to terminate protections from discrimination for LGBTQIA+ students and students of color.' 'Book bans are real,' the association's statement reads in part. 'Ask students who cannot access literary classics required for college or parents whose children can't check out a book about gay penguins ('And Tango Makes Three') at their school library. Ask school librarians who have lost their jobs for protecting the freedom to read. While a parent has the right to guide their own children's reading, their beliefs and prejudices should not dictate what another parent chooses for their own children.' Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, said the department's ending investigations into 'so-called 'book-banners'' was 'welcome news.' 'For years, parents have said they deserve to know if sexually explicit materials were available to young children, and they were maligned by the media and the Biden administration for it,' she added. Italie writes for the Associated Press.
