North Dakota Public Library Creates New YA Nonfiction Section in Response to Challenges to Books About Puberty | Grand Forks Herald
The Grand Forks (ND) Public Library board approved a committee's recommendation to create a new section for young adult nonfiction and, on a split vote, to move three books—Sex Is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, What's Going on Down There? by Karen Gravelle, and Puberty is Gross but Also Really Awesome by Gina Loveless—to the new section.

‘We are not getting rid of books’ | EastIdahoNews.com
How libraries across Idaho are implementing new materials law.

East Tennessee Students Rally Against State Book Bans | 10 News
Students are upset about changes coming to school libraries this fall. In 2022, Governor Bill Lee signed the "Age Appropriate Materials Act" into law. But this year, lawmakers added even more specific restrictions. The changes to that law require schools to pull books with content deemed "sexual" or "excessively violent."

Texas District Board of Trustees Reverses Committee Decision, Pulls ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ from High School Library | People Newspapers
The Highland Park (TX) ISD Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to remove All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson from the Highland Park High School library. The board overturned the decision of a volunteer committee and pulled the book due to its “educational unsuitability for graphic sexual content harmful to minors.” In May, a review committee of three parents, an administrator, and two teachers had voted 6-0 to retain the book on library shelves.

California District Dissolves Controversial Book Review Committee | Stocktonia
Lodi (CA) Unified School District’s controversial book review committee has been dissolved and will not meet again, Superintendent Neil Young announced in an email to district community members. The review committee was convened in June to examine a series of formal complaints challenging the use of 10 books in district libraries and classrooms, notably Push by Sapphire. The committee—which had only advisory powers—mistakenly took votes on the status of three titles, spurring accusations that Lodi Unified had banned books. Young added in an interview that the complaints that came before the committee are now considered closed, and that parents could still choose to opt their children out of the books under the district’s new policy on materials containing “mature topics, graphic violence, vulgar language, and/or sexual content.”

South Carolina Law Limits Kids’ Access to Some Books in Public Libraries | 12 on your side
Public libraries across South Carolina are now under a new mandate to restrict children’s access to certain books. The new requirement says that county libraries must certify to the state library that their children’s section doesn’t contain any books or materials that appeal to the prurient interest of kids under 13. State code defines this as “a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex or excretion and is reflective of an arousal of lewd and lascivious desires and thoughts.” The new rule says kids must have explicit parental permission to access these books. If libraries don’t follow it, their funding from the state could be at risk.

U.S. Secretary of Education Talks Book Bans, Debt Relief, Feeding Programs & More | WACH FOX
Miguel Cardona discusses several education-related topics.

Challenges to Books by Bill O'Reilly, Ayn Rand, Dean Koontz: What did the school board do? | Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach County, FL, school board leaders denied three challenges to The O'Reilly Factor for Kids: A Survival Guide for America's Families by Bill O'Reilly, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and The Taking by Dean Koontz at Park Vista Community High School in Lake Worth Beach, FL. The person who challenged the books called them lessons in "hypocrisy," as they were written by two authors with ties to candidates who have supported Florida's book restrictions but whose own works include graphic sexual content. The challenger, Kenneth Derrick, who is not a parent of a child at Park Vista, was not pushing for the books to be removed from the library. Instead, he suggested the school district affix an advisory label to the books that calls out authors who support book challenges but include sexual content in their own novels. The board voted unanimously to deny his request to add the labels to the books.

Missouri District School Board Considers Updated Book Policies Giving Educators Greater Say in Book Approval Process | Fox2
The Francis Howell School Board in O’Fallon, MO, proposed new procedures for employees and residents to formally challenge materials in school libraries, along with guidelines for library books and greater transparency regarding book purchases and donations. After meeting with the community last week, the board made several changes to its proposal. The changes would give teachers and administrators a larger role in the book-approval process. It also pushed back the final vote, which could happen at next month’s meeting on August 15.

Freedom Scholars Fighting Against Banning Books | Rochester First
Members of the Freedom Scholars Learning Center in Rochester, NY, hosted a “Day of Social Action” to protest banning books. The protest included testimonials, a rally, and a silent “read in”—which encouraged people participating in the event to read a banned book. The Freedom Scholars Learning Center is calling for local and state representatives to pass legislation to prevent book banning.