Bill to Arrest Librarians Filed for 2025 Alabama Legislative Session | Alabama Political Reporter
A bill that could have led to the arrest of librarians narrowly missed becoming law in the last session, but sponsors have already filed a follow-up. The bill is similar to its predecessor but has been streamlined to better detail the procedure for charging librarians with a crime.
“Fifty Alabama lawmakers want to throw Alabama librarians in jail for daring to shelve books that challenge their worldviews,” said Read Freely Alabama leadership in a statement. “Ripped straight out of the Project 2025 playbook, HB4 will criminalize librarians for vaguely defined ‘obscene’ literature that targets LGBTQ and racial justice content."

Florida School Board, Sued for Book Bans, Wants to Take Testimony of 7-year-old Student | Tallahassee.com
A Florida school board is trying to take the deposition of one of its seven-year-old students in the hopes it helps tank a federal lawsuit filed over some of its book ban decisions. The Escambia County (FL) School Board, which is simultaneously arguing its own members can't be deposed, says it "has the right to explore the claims and defenses in the case directly with the students." The case at hand was filed by PEN America, Penguin Random House, book authors, and parents of students who were denied access to school library books.

US Appeals Court Will Review Prior Order Keeping Banned Books on Shelves in Texas County | NBC-DFW
A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own order requiring a Llano County, TX, to keep eight books on public library shelves that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity, and racism. Llano County officials had removed 17 books amid complaints about the subject matter. Seven library patrons claimed the books were illegally removed in a lawsuit against county officials. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled last year that the books must be returned. On June 6, a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split three ways on the case, resulting in an order that eight of the books had to be kept on the shelves while nine others could be kept off. That order was vacated on July 3 after a majority of the 17-member court granted Llano County officials a new hearing before the full court. The order did not state reasons and the hearing hasn't yet been scheduled.

Minnesota School Board Rejects Ban of Elana Arnold Book | CCX Media
The Osseo Area (MN) School Board voted down a request to remove What Girls Are Made Of by Elana Arnold from one of its school libraries. The board rejected the request on June 25 in a 4-2 vote. A resident asked the school district to remove the book from the Osseo Area Learning Center library collection. Initially, a district committee rejected the request. That decision was appealed to the school board.

Wisconsin School District Removes ‘Love Makes a Family’ from Elementary School | The Freeman
The School District of Menomonee Falls (WI) removed Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer from Shady Lane Elementary following a challenge by a parent. Policy 871 allows parents to challenge supplemental materials used in schools, leading to a formal review process. The policy said the Board of Education recognizes the rights of parents/ guardians and District residents to question the suitability of the use of supplemental educational materials districtwide.

Virginia School Board Votes to Send Survey to Parents Over Library Policy
Since a new policy was implemented in December, Franklin County (VA) Public Schools has reported that 16 books have been challenged. Of those, five have been removed and two have been moved to a new YA+ section at the high school. One critical change in the new policy is that only a student, parent, or school employee or volunteer can challenge a book.

Banning Books Just Got a Lot Harder in the Green Mountain State | Burlington Free Press
As of July 1, 2025,Vermont public schools and libraries must establish clear, nondiscriminatory procedures for challenging and removing books from shelves. Books can no longer be banned or restricted for discussing politics, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual health, race, ethnicity, personal morality, religious views, or disability status. Vermont legislators passed the bill in response to rising incidents of book restrictions nationwide, which local lawmakers say threaten First Amendment, anti-discrimination, and civil rights.

Over 100 Wisconsin School Districts Fielded Inquiries, Challenges to Books | Milwaukee Courier
One in four of the state’s districts fielded inquiries about books or formal requests to remove them since 2020, according to a Wisconsin Watch review of records obtained from all but two of the state’s 421 public school districts. Many requests came from organized conservative groups and politicians rather than organic requests from parents concerned about required reading. In several cases, the school district didn’t even own the books someone wanted to remove. Requesters involved with school board or state-level politics filed nearly half of the challenges and concerns. Book ban requests in one district sometimes rippled into nearby districts, fanned by viral social media posts and conservative media personalities.

Study Finds Book Bans Target Diverse Authors and Characters | KUNC
Katie Spoon, a University of Colorado Boulder PhD student and co-author of the study published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus, categorized the more than 2,000 books restricted in schools and libraries in 2021 and 2022. Young adult LGBTQIA+ romance novels made up about 10% of the restricted books. The analysis also found books facing challenges were nearly five times more likely to be written by authors of color than white authors. About a quarter of the authors of the banned books were women of color, who were more likely to write children's books about diverse characters.