A series on books that are facing challenges to their placement in libraries in some areas around the U.S.
Special Series
Banned and Challenged: Restricting access to books in the U.S.
First in series…
All Boys Aren’t Blue, a memoir for teens and young adults about growing up Black and queer, appeared on many “best books” lists when published in 2020. It’s being challenged in some U.S. counties.
December 24, 2022, 8:01 AM E, By Analise Ober and Arielle Retting
Joy is a core value at NPR. Something we talk about at our news meetings in seeking out stories, and something we know we need more of than ever.
So this year we launched I’m Really Into, a space to celebrate our unique hobbies and interests.
In this series, our journalists share a hobby that brings them joy, what drew them to it, and what it says about their shared community. We’ve heard from people who found a new passion in the pandemic, as well as people who persevered and continued finding ways to do what they love. We also heard from thousands of readers like you, and we are continuing to share the hobbies that bring you happiness.
Here are some of your favorites, and you can see the full catalog here.
Posted November 22, 2022; Washington, D.C. – Books We Love!
NPR’s biannual, interactive reading guide – is back for its 10th year with 400+ books published in 2022!
Mix and match tags including “Book Club Ideas,” “Eye-Opening Reads,” and “Kids’ Books” to browse titles hand-picked by NPR staff and trusted critics.
Click back through a decade of recommendations to find more than 3,200 books – we’ve got your next favorite read and something for every person on your holiday shopping list. Discover the books that comforted, challenged, and captivated us this year.
READ BOOKS WE LOVE HERE.
“There were so many great books published this year, and we’re excited to once again bring readers recommendations from our staff and freelance critics,” said Meghan Collins Sullivan, NPR’s senior books and culture editor. “This guide pulls together all of our favorite books from 2022, from a group with many varying individual interests, so readers are bound to find something that they love, too.”
This year’s recommendations come from employees across NPR including Ari Shapiro, Ayesha Rascoe, Bob Mondello, Elise Hu, Eric Deggans, Juana Summers and more. Books are featured along with links to coverage from NPR and NPR member stations.
Happy reading!
Source: NPR’s 10th year of Books We Love! offers 400+ new reading recommendations : NPR
By Jade Hindmon / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Andrew Bracken / Producer, KPBS Midday Edition
Published September 19, 2022 at 4:03 PM PDT
A new report from the American Library Association found a rise in the number of book banning attempts throughout the country. To help counter the trend, libraries this week are commemorating Banned Books Week, whose 2022 theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.”
“I should say, it doesn’t stop with just banning books. What we’re seeing across the country is they’re banning voices, modern voices, librarians, teachers,” said Patrick Stewart, CEO of the San Diego Public Library Foundation. “It’s gone beyond just the banning of a book, or a certain piece of literature or textbook.”
Stewart joined San Diego Public Library director Misty Jones on Midday Edition Monday to talk about their reaction to the report’s findings.
“It’s disheartening,” Jones said. “It is seeing just the increase in the number not only of challenges, but the extent and the links to what people are going for, these challenges going before school boards, the personal attacks on librarians and teachers for doing their job.”
Many of the books being targeted involve topics on race and sexuality.
Source: https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2022/09/19/report-finds-increase-in-attempts-to-ban-books
By NPR, Published August 22, 2022
Now Playing – Audio with article…
Why a pet’s death hits so hard: New book explores dealing with the loss of a beloved companion | on-demand
E.B. Bartels has cared for many pets in her life: Fish, dogs, birds and a tortoise. And she watched many of them die.
In her new book, “Good Grief: On Loving Pets Here and Hereafter” she explores how people mourn and grieve their animals. With her own losses, Bartels says she often diminishes her feelings by telling herself it was a only dog or a bird that died, not a human being.
“The truth is, we can have really deep, special, important relationships with animals that sometimes are even more profound than our relationships with other people,” Bartels says. “I interviewed so many people for my book who said, ‘It hit me way harder when my cat of 20 years died than when my dad who I was sort of estranged from passed away.’”
Thanks to Library Link of the Day for this one…
http://www.tk421.net/librarylink/ (archive, rss, subscribe options)
Heard on Morning Edition, By Jim Zarroli, June 21, 20225:12 AM ET
When the Kentucky Legislature started mulling a bill that would tighten control over public libraries earlier this year, librarians across the state called their lawmakers pushing for its defeat.
In the past, legislators would at least have heard them out, says Jean Ruark, chair of the advocacy committee of the Kentucky Library Association. Not this time.”
It seemed as though our efforts fell on deaf ears. There was a big outcry about the passage of that and they did it anyway,” Ruark says.
At a time when public school libraries have increasingly become targets in the culture wars, some red states are going further, proposing legislation aimed at libraries serving the community as a whole. A few of the bills would open librarians up to legal liability over decisions they make.
While some of these bills have quietly died in committee, others have been signed into law, and librarians worry that the increasingly partisan climate is making them vulnerable to political pressure.
Source: Some states are changing the laws that govern community libraries : NPR
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