SLj Staff

Seek-and-finds, stories about escape challenges, and other engaging titles. 

Oklahoma and New Hampshire legislators file bills to monitor library materials and promote parental rights, while a New Mexico lawmaker moves to protect librarians.

“The law deputizes librarians and booksellers as the agents of censorship," judge Timothy Brooks wrote in the ruling. Plus, more news about book removals and community pushback on censorship attempts around the country.

A bill in Ohio would criminalize teachers and librarians for having "obscene" books in their collections; New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu pulls state librarian nomination after pressure from conservative groups; districts in Kansas and Tennessee remove and restrict titles; and more in censorship news.

The new law in New Jersey aims to limit book removals and protect librarians from criminal prosecution; in Illinois, some school districts are choosing to lose state grants instead of complying with its Freedom to Read law; additional titles removed in Oregon and Tennessee; and more in censorship news.

The Young Adult Library Services Association announced the finalists for the Morris Award for a YA title by a previously unpublished author and the Excellence in Nonfiction Award for nonfiction YA books for ages 12 to 18.

NCTE has announced Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools by Dan SaSuWeh Jones and The Last Stand by Antwan Eady, illus. by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, as the 2025 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck award winners, respectively. 

A class-action lawsuit alleges Lucy Calkins, Heinemann Publishing, and Fountas & Pinnell, among others, engaged in "deceptive and fraudulent marketing" that resulted in harm to students exposed to the whole language reading method and curricular products; registration is open for LibLearnx in January; auction offers rare items and experiences to benefit We Need Diverse Books; and more in News Bites.

In the face of rising censorship in schools and libraries, Lerner Publishing Group is hosting a Thursday, December 5 concert in Minneapolis. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to organizations engaged in fighting book bans and challenges, including EveryLibrary’s Fight for the First campaign, We Are Stronger Than Censorship, and the American Librarian Association’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative.