Latest news with #bookbans
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Texas parents, school boards may have more control over school library books after House OKs bill
The Texas House gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would give Texas parents and school boards a bigger role over what books students can access in public school libraries. Senate Bill 13 would give school boards, not school librarians, the final say over what materials are allowed in their schools' libraries by creating a framework for them to remove books based on complaints they receive. The bill would allow school boards to oversee book approvals and removals, or delegate the responsibility to local school advisory councils if 20% of parents in a district sign a petition allowing their creation. Previously, SB 13 mandated the creation of those councils when it passed through the Senate in March, but the petition requirement was added in a House committee. SB 13, initially passed by the House 87-57, also includes definitions for what constitutes harmful material and indecent content, which led Democratic representatives to express concerns about overzealous bans on books. During the discussion on the House floor Monday, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, pointed specifically to bill language requiring approved books to adhere to 'local community values,' which he said could lead small, vocal groups of people to limit students' book access. Talarico said titles often taught in public schools — like Catcher in the Rye, Lonesome Dove and the Bible — could end up banned under some of the bill's vague and subjective interpretations. 'If your answer to 'could Romeo and Juliet be banned,' if it is anything other than 'of course not,' then that is a serious problem,' Talarico said. Rep. Erin Zweiner, D-Driftwood, also worried the bill could lead to overly broad book bans. 'What is indecent for a 17 year old is not the same as what is indecent for a five year old,' she said. Rep. Brad Buckley, the bill's House sponsor, called community values the 'bedrock' of public policy, and the Salado Republican dismissed potential removal of classics as a 'red herring' argument. 'A speaker before me said we should cherish the value of books. Well, maybe so, but I would argue we should cherish and value our kids more, and Senate Bill 13 will do exactly that,' Buckley said. Representatives supportive of the bill said SB 13 would give parents better control over what materials their children can access.' About 16% of complaints about school library books last year were initiated by parents, according to a report from the American Libraries Association, while 72% came from elected officials, pressure groups and board members and administrators. Several amendments by Democratic representatives aiming to loosen the bill's language on profane content failed. An amendment by Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, which also failed, would have lowered the threshold to petition the creation of an advisory council to 50 signatures from parents, and would have required that the councils only be made up by people who signed the petition. The bill would also extend regulation introduced by a law passed in 2023 aimed at keeping 'sexually explicit' material out of school libraries. House Bill 900 was partially blocked from implementing a book rating system by a federal appeals court. Opponents of the bill have worried not only about restricting book access, but also about the administrative backlog that having to approve each new library book could create. School boards will have 90 days after complaints on each book are filed to reach a decision on whether to add, keep or remove material from school bookshelves. Roughly 540 books were banned in Texas schools during the 2023-24 school year, according to PEN America, an organization that has tracked book bans throughout the country. The bill, one of Senate leader Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick 's listed legislative priorities, now heads back to the upper chamber to be approved. ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas parents, school boards may have more control over school library books after House OKs bill
The Texas House gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would give Texas parents and school boards a bigger role over what books students can access in public school libraries. Senate Bill 13 would give school boards, not school librarians, the final say over what materials are allowed in their schools' libraries by creating a framework for them to remove books based on complaints they receive. The bill would allow school boards to oversee book approvals and removals, or delegate the responsibility to local school advisory councils if 20% of parents in a district sign a petition allowing their creation. Previously, SB 13 mandated the creation of those councils when it passed through the Senate in March, but the petition requirement was added in a House committee. SB 13, initially passed by the House 87-57, also includes definitions for what constitutes harmful material and indecent content, which led Democratic representatives to express concerns about overzealous bans on books. During the discussion on the House floor Monday, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, pointed specifically to bill language requiring approved books to adhere to 'local community values,' which he said could lead small, vocal groups of people to limit students' book access. Talarico said titles often taught in public schools — like Catcher in the Rye, Lonesome Dove and the Bible — could end up banned under some of the bill's vague and subjective interpretations. 'If your answer to 'could Romeo and Juliet be banned,' if it is anything other than 'of course not,' then that is a serious problem,' Talarico said. Rep. Erin Zweiner, D-Driftwood, also worried the bill could lead to overly broad book bans. 'What is indecent for a 17 year old is not the same as what is indecent for a five year old,' she said. Rep. Brad Buckley, the bill's House sponsor, called community values the 'bedrock' of public policy, and the Salado Republican dismissed potential removal of classics as a 'red herring' argument. 'A speaker before me said we should cherish the value of books. Well, maybe so, but I would argue we should cherish and value our kids more, and Senate Bill 13 will do exactly that,' Buckley said. Representatives supportive of the bill said SB 13 would give parents better control over what materials their children can access.' About 16% of complaints about school library books last year were initiated by parents, according to a report from the American Libraries Association, while 72% came from elected officials, pressure groups and board members and administrators. Several amendments by Democratic representatives aiming to loosen the bill's language on profane content failed. An amendment by Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, which also failed, would have lowered the threshold to petition the creation of an advisory council to 50 signatures from parents, and would have required that the councils only be made up by people who signed the petition. The bill would also extend regulation introduced by a law passed in 2023 aimed at keeping 'sexually explicit' material out of school libraries. House Bill 900 was partially blocked from implementing a book rating system by a federal appeals court. Opponents of the bill have worried not only about restricting book access, but also about the administrative backlog that having to approve each new library book could create. School boards will have 90 days after complaints on each book are filed to reach a decision on whether to add, keep or remove material from school bookshelves. Roughly 540 books were banned in Texas schools during the 2023-24 school year, according to PEN America, an organization that has tracked book bans throughout the country. The bill, one of Senate leader Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's listed legislative priorities, now heads back to the upper chamber to be approved. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
A wave of new owners brings fresh energy to independent bookselling
NEW YORK (AP) — Amber Salazar is the kind of idealist you just knew would end up running a bookstore — a lifelong reader who felt angered 'to the core' as she learned of book bans around the country. A resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Salazar last year opened Banned Wagon Books, a pop-up store she sets up everywhere from wineries to coffee shops, featuring such frequently censored works as Maia Kobabe's 'Gender Queer,' Angie Thomas' 'The Hate U Give' and Toni Morrison's 'Beloved.' 'I decided that no matter what it looked like, I was going to open a bookstore so that I could contribute in some small way and stand up for intellectual freedom in the U.S.,' explains Salazar, 33, who donates 5% of her profits to the American Library Association and other organizations opposing bans. 'Since we were coming out of the pandemic at that time, I started thinking about ways to combine my love of literature and passion for intellectual freedom with my appreciation for the small businesses in my city who weathered some difficult storms through shutdowns and supply chain concerns.' Salazar is among a wave of new — and, often, younger — owners who have helped the independent book community dramatically expand, intensify and diversify. Independent bookselling is not a field for fortune seekers: Most local stores, whether run by retirees, bookworms or those switching careers in middle age, have some sense of higher purpose. But for many who opened in recent years, it's an especially critical mission. Narrative in Somerville, Massachusetts, identifies as 'proudly immigrant-woman owned & operated, with an emphasis on amplifying marginalized voices & experiences.' In Chicago, Call & Response places 'the voices of Black and other authors of color at the center of our work.' Independent stores will likely never recover their power of 50 years ago, before the rise of Barnes & Noble superstores and the online giant But the days of industry predictions of their demise seem well behind. In 2016, there were 1,244 members in the American Booksellers Association trade group, at 1,749 locations. As of this month, the ABA has 2,863 individual members, at 3,281 locations. And more than 200 stores are in the process of opening. 'It's incredible, this kind of energy,' says association CEO Allison Hill, remembering how, during the pandemic, she feared that the ABA could lose up to a quarter of its membership. 'I don't think any of us would have predicted this a few years ago.' Hill and others acknowledge that even during an era of growth, booksellers remain vulnerable to political and economic challenges. Costs of supplies remain high and could grow higher because of President Donald Trump's tariffs. ABA President Cynthia Compton, who runs two stores in the Indianapolis area, says that sales to schools are down because censorship laws have made educators more cautious about what they purchase. The ABA's own website advises: 'Passion and knowledge have to be combined with business acumen if your bookstore is to succeed.' Salazar herself is part of an Instagram chat group, Bookstores Helping Bookstores, with such like-minded sellers as the owners of The Crafty Bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana, 'specializing in Indie books & custom bookish accessories,' and the Florida-based Chapter Bound, an online store with a calling 'to connect great books with great people — at prices everyone can afford.' 'In the age of social media, people are craving genuine connection and community,' Salazar says. 'And books often provide a catalyst to that feeling of community.' Stephen Sparks, who is 47 and since 2017 has owned Point Reyes Books northwest of San Francisco, believes that the pandemic gave sellers of all ages a heightened sense of their role in the community and that the return of Trump to the White House added new urgency. Sales are up 20% this year, he says, if only because 'during tough times, people come to bookstores.' The younger owners bring with them a wide range of prior experience. Salazar had worked in retail management for nine years, switched to property and casualty insurance sales 'in search of advancement opportunity' and, right before she launched her store, was a business process owner, 'a blend of project management, customer and employee experience management.' Courtney Bledsoe, owner of Call & Response, had been a corporate attorney before undertaking a 'full career shift' and risking a substantial drop in income. The 30-year-old held no illusions that owning a store meant 'pouring a cup of coffee and reading all day.' Calling herself 'risk averse,' she researched the book retail business as if preparing for a trial, before committing herself and launching Call & Response in May 2024. 'This endeavor is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life,' she says, acknowledging it could take a couple of years before she can even pay herself a salary. 'We're just doing this to serve the community, doing something we love to do, providing people with great events, great reading. It's been a real joy.'
