The novel DRAMA by Raina Telgemeier sits on a high school library shelf in western Arkansas. It went through the county’s review process twice and both times the committee decided to keep it on the shelves. Shannon Murphy, a parent of a senior at the school, is volunteering for the day and is stationed in the school library. She notices the book and reads the back blurb, realizing it contains the main character attracted to two brothers. Shannon attends the next school board meeting and declares that the school is “pushing pornography” at the students. Conservative media picks up the story, creating coverage of the “controversy.”

How would you respond to this threat to the freedom to read? A little scenario with the book DRAMA...

What would you do?

The workers at the world’s largest library association have a story they want to tell - Chicago Reader ALA Workers United would be joining the 13 cultural institutions that have unionized in Chicago since the pandemic shutdown.

In honor of National Library Workers Day, we stand in solidarity with the staff of ALA as they unionize!

buff.ly/LqqTpTF #nationalibraryweek #library #libraries

The Supreme Court is taking up a case that could shut LGBTQ+ families out of preschool The case out of Colorado centers on whether taxpayer-funded preschools affiliated with churches can refuse to admit children of LGBTQ+ couples.

NEWS: The Supreme Court is going to find a way to make it so that LGBTQ+ taxpayers will have their money sent to an institution that can legally reject their kid, won't it?

www.advocate.com/politics/nat...

Excited to share some good news for Illinois families — we’ve reached over 100,000 children in our state receiving books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Let’s keep reading.

Book Bans and Attempted Bans Remain at Record Highs in the United States - Bucks County Beacon “In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts. They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign," said Sarah Lamdan, e...

Book Bans and Attempted Bans Remain at Record Highs in the United States | “In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents & they were not the result of local grassroots efforts. They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign," said @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social's Sarah Lamdan.

Supreme Court to decide if anti-LGBTQ Catholic schools in Colorado can receive public funding Colorado said no to discrimination. Now religious schools are asking the Supreme Court to force taxpayers to pay for it.

#separationofchurchandstate #project2025

‘Dancing is resistance’: Zack Polanski and the Greens bring the party to the ravers In run-up to May local elections, the Green party is reaching people who may not normally attend a political speech

‘Dancing is resistance’: Zack Polanski and the Greens bring the party to the ravers

Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, with 'Sold' topping the list The American Library Association says book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs. Efforts to remove titles have become more coordinated and politicized.

When the FL SBOE publicly ordered one district to remove 55 titles without review or despite local decisions by parent-led committees to retain, most others followed. It’s not an official state banned list, but that’s how titles like “A Clockwork Orange” made this list.

apnews.com/article/bans...

Ray Bradbury quote: You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

Censorship doesn’t always look like fire. Sometimes it looks like quiet removals, restricted access, or making books harder to find. When stories disappear, so do the voices, histories & ideas that shape understanding. This isn’t just about books. It’s about keeping critical thinking alive.

Charter School Reckoning: Decline, Disillusionment and Cost - Network For Public Education Part I: Decline, the first installment of a three-part report, Charter School Reckoning,  presents sobering findings on the stagnation, retrenchment, and accelerating closures plaguing the charter school sector as it enters its fourth decade. The report, published by the National Center for Charter School Accountability, documents that in the first half of 2025 alone, 50 […]

There is no Charter School “million-student waitlist.”
There are empty classrooms, declining enrollment, and schools closing mid-year. #CharterMythBusted

Stop the waste. Start the reckoning.

Read our new report #CharterSchoolReckoning to learn more networkforpubliceduc...

$500 million a year.
That’s how much federal money is flowing into a shrinking charter school sector.
Growth is flat. Closures are rising.

Why are taxpayers still paying?
Find our more in our new report #CharterSchoolReckoning networkforpubliceduc...

Wife of LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer steps in to save NPR’s future with $80M gift NPR also received an anonymous $33 million donation in April

👏👏👏 Wife of LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer steps in to save NPR’s future with $80M gift www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Utah Bans Four More Books, Bringing Total to 32 The state of Utah has banned four more books from every public school statewide. That brings the total of state-sanctioned bans to 32.

The state of Utah has banned four more books, bringing the number of state-sanctioned book bans to 32.

Of those, 24 are by women and the average publication date is 2009.

bookriot.com/utah-book-ba...

RIGHT TO READ DAY. April 20, 2026. Everywhere. FOR YOUR FREEDOM TO READ. FOR ACCESS TO INFORMATION. FOR UNDERSTANDING OUR PAST. FOR OUR COMMUNITIES. FOR OUR LIBRARIES. Logos for Unite Against Book Bans and ALA150 American Library Association

From Jan. 2025 - March 2026, 100+ pro-censorship bills were introduced in state legislatures. At least 40 bills would penalize libraries and library workers with lawsuits, fines, or even jail time for protecting people’s the right to read.

This #RightToReadDay, take action: https://bit.ly/43D9Dtw

Supreme Court takes up another clash between religious & LGBTQ rights The Justices agreed to decide whether Colorado’s universal pre-K program must fund Catholic preschools that won’t accept kids with same-sex parents.

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Colorado can exclude Catholic preschools from the state’s universal pre-K program because they won’t agree to accept children with same-sex parents.

What the Dem platform for 2028 must be:
1. Epstein Trials
2. ICE Trials
3. War Crimes Tribunals

We don’t want to hear about a $10,000 tax credit for starting new AI businesses.

We demand JUSTICE.

Happy
#NationalLibraryWeek

Iowa went all-in on school choice. It's hurting this city's public schools With school choice programs ascendant not just in Iowa but across the U.S., Cedar Rapids offers a preview of who wins and who loses when education meets the free market.

www.npr.org/2026/04/19/n...
#FullyFundPublicSchools
#NoVouchers4PrivateSchools

Trump Administration Persists in Multi-Pronged Attack on D.E. I. and Civil Rights We have all watched the Trump administration turn the definition of civil rights protection on its head. President Trump’s Department of Education and Department of Justice and others in the …

Trump Administration Persists in Multi-Pronged Attack on D.E. I. and Civil Rights janresseger.wordpress.com/2026/04/16/t...

Dr. Martin Peterson writes that educational censorship at Texas A&M forces students to “settle for less.” Read his story at: pen.org/snapshots-of... Take action to defend academic freedom at Texas A&M at: pen.org/dont-censor-...

‘I Tend to What Didn’t Die in Me’: Rachel Eliza Griffiths on Writing After Unbearable Loss In this PEN Ten interview, Rachel Eliza Griffiths discusses The Flower Bearers and the vulnerability required to be any kind of artist.

In her new memoir The Flower Bearers (@penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social), Rachel Eliza Griffiths reflects on writing through grief, survival, and what remains after loss. In a new PEN Ten, Griffiths talks with Malcolm Tariq about friendship, trauma, and rebuilding the self: pen.org/rachel-eliza...

Surveillance in the Classroom: Tip-Lines, Recording, and Social Media Campaigns This panel explores intersections of virality, teaching, surveillance, and the current political moment, including guidance for educators.

On April 22, join us and @ucfreespeech.bsky.social for “Surveillance in the Classroom: Tip-Lines, Recording, and Social Media Campaigns,” featuring Sarah Brown @chronicle.com, Heather Akou, @sobieraj.bsky.social and @isaackamola.bsky.social: pen.org/event/survei...

At the #PENLitAwards, we took the chance to ask some of the best writers around to share (if they would) their best (and their worst) writing advice. Here's what we heard.

#writing #writers #writingadvice

Cannupa Hanska Luger, Winner of the 2026 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, Knows the Power of Make-Believe We spoke to 2026 PEN/Jean Stein winner Cannupa Hanska Luger about free expression and the unrealized power of make-believe.

Cannupa Hanska Luger won the 2026 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for SURVIVA: A Future Ancestral Field Guide.

We spoke with Luger at the #PENLitAwards about his reaction to winning the award, his perspective on the state of free expression, & the unrealized power of make-believe. pen.org/cannupa-hans...

Learn More About Read. Lead. Run! Democracy needs library supporters and readers in office. Democracy needs you!

Democracy needs library supporters and readers in office.

Democracy needs you!

www.everylibrary.org/aboutreadlea... via @everylibrary.bsky.social #nationallibraryweek #read #reading #library #libraries

It's National Library Week! Libraries need you! Find out how to run for office at ReadLeadRun.org

#NationalLibraryWeek #library #libraries #librarianship #Read #Reading

What Elected Officials Can Do for Libraries The scope of what an elected official can do for a library is wide. Here is a look at the levers of power that matter most:

When library supporters step into leadership roles, they bring the values of access, curiosity, and service to the heart of government, where they can shape the future of their communities.

buff.ly/xgzGL5x

#NationalLibraryWeek #library #libraries #librarianship #Read #Reading

The United States is destroying itself | Rebecca Solnit The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

“The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled.”

Kathy Zapilleto Supports Libraries and Ran for Office, Why Not You? Running for office might feel like a big leap, but if you care about libraries, your community already needs you in the room where decisions are made. Every day, elected officials shape funding,…

Running for office might feel like a big leap, but if you care about libraries, your community already needs you in the room where decisions are made.

buff.ly/JT6fAUL #NationalLibraryWeek #library #libraries #librarianship #Read #Reading