SLJ Staff

Ariana Grande, Guillermo del Toro, Padma Lakshmi, Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Sandra Cisneros, Amanda Gorman, Margaret Cho, and Ron Perlman are among the upwards of 175 public figures who signed an open letter calling on creative communities to leverage their voices to stop book bans. 

With Banned Books Week less than two weeks away, the American Library Association publishes information on documented attempts to censor books and other materials in school, public, and academic libraries in the first eight months of the year.

The longtime literacy advocate and host of Reading Rainbow and the LeVar Burton Reads podcast is the first actor to serve as honorary chair of the annual event, which is Oct. 1-7 this year. 

In a first for the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Meg Medina establishes office hours at the Library of Congress; AASL opens submissions for Innovative Reading Grant; there are big changes at Teachers College; the Mathical Book Prize submissions are open; and more in this edition of News Bites.

A Minneapolis metro library system will keep Gender Queer on the shelves after a challenge; Senators clash during a Congressional hearing on book bans; Osceola County, FL, students will no longer automatically get public library cards in response to new Florida law.

The National Book Foundation today announced the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Eleven newcomers to the National Book Awards comprise the 2023 class of longlist honorees.

The National Coalition Against Censorship and its partner organizations will offer Kids’ Right to Read Network affiliates resources, including monthly virtual and in-person meetings, training, talking points, strategies, and more.

A “shift in tone” in a recent Great Books piece prompted a reader’s response. “I don’t think these targeted communities need more stress,” she writes.

The author of the most challenged book in the country praises librarians and calls on people to support them; Alabama governor questions whether public libraries are family-friendly; South Carolina Board of Education severs ties with South Carolina Association of School Librarians; and more.